Brain Tumour Flow Cytometry Screening Facility

The ACRF grant allowed for the building of an integrated Brain Tumour Flow Cytometry Screening Facility is based at the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland. The facility was built around the latest in flow cytometry technology, allowing processing and analysis of large numbers of samples to characterise and build phenotypes of glioma. Funding provided by ACRF was specifically directed towards the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the new facility. The Brain Tumour Flow Cytometry Screening Facility was afforded dedicated self-contained laboratory space within the new Queensland Brain Institute building, which was completed in mid-2007. The overall goal of this project was to establish the world’s first automated high throughput screening facility focused on functional cell-based analysis and identification of stem cells derived from human brain tumours. Successful application of this technology significantly advances the discovery process for identifying molecules that specifically target tumour-inducing stem cells in the central nervous system and the anticipation that the technology will ultimately find application to other solid tissue cancers including breast, skin and prostate. Director of Research: Professor Perry F Bartlett FAA, Program Leader Chief Investigators: Professor Andrew Boyd PhD, Assistant Director and Head of Cancer and Cell Biology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Professor Brandon J Wainwright PhD, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Queensland and Professor Brent A Reynolds PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Queensland Brain Institute