A £3m state-of-the-art neuroimaging research centre has opened at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
The UEA’s new Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre is officially in operation at its school of psychology.
It features a cutting-edge Siemens 3 Tesla MRI scanner, as well as clinical testing rooms, changing facilities and a waiting room.
The research-dedicated facilities will support many experts from across UEA who will collaborate to understand how the brain develops in childhood, responds to traumas like strokes, or changes during healthy ageing and dementia.
This unique blend of research across the lifespan could improve people’s lives through the development of new diagnostic tools, methods of early identification of disease risks, and rehabilitative techniques for neurological conditions such as an acquired brain injury or stroke.
The MRI scanner is the first in Norfolk to be used solely for research purposes and is being made available, along with all of the equipment at the UEA Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, to other researchers across the region.
Dr Raliza Stoyanova, Acting Head of Neuroscience & Mental Health at Wellcome, said: “The UK is a world leader in the application of brain imaging to answering some of the most pressing questions in neuroscience.
“Answering these fundamental questions is at the heart of Wellcome’s new strategy and we look forward to seeing the exciting science that the new UEA Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre will enable.”
The first participants were two children scanned at the new centre as part of the research of Prof John Spencer, Professor in Psychology at UEA, into early brain development.
The centre has come about thanks to funding totalling £1.3m from two charitable foundations - The Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.
Prof David Richardson, UEA Vice-Chancellor and President said: “The UEA Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre underpins UEA’s ambitious neuroimaging research agenda and will accelerate world class cognitive and clinical neuroimaging research in Norfolk that translates to improve people’s lives.
“We are deeply grateful to Wellcome and the Wolfson Foundation for their continued partnership on our campus and their endorsement of the University’s growing research expertise.
"We look forward to many future advances in our understanding of the brain and its functioning as a result of their very generous support."
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