UHN today established the Krembil Brain Institute (KBI) to formally create an academic health sciences entity that harmonizes the clinical and research priorities in the neurosciences.
This new Institute will help clinicians, scientists and researchers based at Toronto Western Hospital and across UHN work together to seek better treatments and cures for diseases of the brain, spine and nerves.
Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, neurosurgeon, scientist and Program Medical Director, Krembil Neuroscience Centre at UHN, and Dr. Donald Weaver, dementia neurologist, medicinal chemist and Director of the Krembil Research Institute, will act as co-directors of the Krembil Brain Institute.
"Aligning the clinical and research priorities at Krembil is crucial to making a bigger impact in our field, the community we serve, and for improving outcomes and wellness of the aging brain," said Dr. Zadeh.
"It is important we devise strategies that accelerate and focus our research discoveries, education and training towards improving clinical outcomes and standards of care in order to advance early detection, prevention and treatment of brain conditions," she said.
The Krembil Neuroscience Centre and the Krembil Research Institute will remain as operational entities within UHN alongside the Krembil Brain Institute, however, UHN will move towards usage of a single Krembil Brain Institute brand for neuroscience activities.
It is estimated that one in three Canadians will be affected by a brain disease, disorder or injury in their lifetime and that 3.6 million Canadians are currently affected by a neurological condition.
Gives UHN a competitive advantage
"In this coming century, the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases will emerge as one of the pre-eminent pursuits of modern medicine," said Dr. Weaver.
Establishment of the Krembil Brain Institute gives UHN a competitive advantage over other organizations by establishing a single identity and offering integrated, multidisciplinary, comprehensive neuroscience healthcare that is second to none in Canada and among the best in the world.
The designation is also expected to help UHN recruit leaders in the neuroscience field, attract high-quality students and build on pre-existing partnerships with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and other organizations provincially, nationally and internationally.
"We have the expertise, the people power and the ambition to take neurosciences to the next phase, which is to understand where we can make the biggest impact on outcomes," said Dr. Zadeh.
"The establishment of the Krembil Brain Institute allows us to position ourselves to be the predominant leader in brain medicine now, and in the years to come," added Dr. Weaver.
About the Krembil Brain Institute
- Home to more than 100 neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists, neuroanesthesiologists, neuropsychologists, neurointensivists, neuroscientists
- 400 nurses and other allied health professionals
- 112,330 outpatient visits a year
- 3,340 inpatient visits per year
- 2,575 neurosurgical procedures per year
- 216 researchers focused on neuroscience
- 947 peer-reviewed publications produced
- 65,000 neuroimaging studies
