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National Trauma Research Institute
Introduction
The National Trauma Research Institute (NTRI), incorporating the VTF Centre
for Trauma Research & Practice (VTF-CTRP) at the Alfred was officially
opened in July 2004. The Institute is integrated with the largest clinical
trauma service in Australia, enabling laboratory research to be readily
transferred into a clinical setting. The institutehas a strong focus on
clinical and fundamental research on traumatic brain injury. This is enabled
by an iterdisciplinary approach involving various departments of the Alfred,
Trauma, Neurosurgery, Intensive Care and Laboratory of Basic Research.
Neurotrauma samples available
for research
Studies on patients with severe brain injuries are facilitated through
the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid collected via intraventricular catheters
used for treatment and monitoring of brain swelling and elevated intracranial
pressure. Over the past years, the laboratory headed by Dr Cristina Morganti-Kossmann
has collected cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples from approximately
50 patients on consecutive days beginning from the first 24 hours post-trauma.
These samples are exclusively analysed for research purposes.
The NTRI would like to stimulate collaborative projects
of basic research applied to these samples. The NTRI's experience suggests
that the cerebrospinal fluid is an excellent tool to study brain tissue
molecular changes triggered by traumatic injury.
The CSF and serum tissue bank has been kindly supported
by The Mazda Foundation.
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