Macquarie and GE Healthcare will be conducting ground-breaking research in the early identification and treatment of brain diseases.

GE Healthcare (a unit of General Electric Company) and Macquarie University’s Australian School of Advanced Medicine will be researching brain diseases including hypertension and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).

GE Healthcare will make a significant contribution of sponsorship and equipment over three years to support neuroscience research at the School.

Country Manager of GE Healthcare, Harry Simeonidis believes "Macquarie University will play a significant role in developing innovative ways to identify and treat some of today's most pressing neurological problems."

Simeonidis says GE Healthcare is committed to working with the healthcare community to move the focus from treating symptomatic 'late-stage' disease to earlier pre-symptomatic detection and intervention.

"Catching chronic neurological disease earlier than we do at present will have a critical impact on healthcare providers and more importantly, patients' lives."


Research will be conducted at the 144-bed Macquarie University Private Hospital (due for completion 2009)

(L-R) Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steven Schwartz signing the new partnership contract with Country Manager of GE Healthcare, Harry Simeonidis

The partnership is a major achievement for the newly established Australian School of Advanced Medicine, which provides specialty training for surgeons and physicians.

Macquarie is one of the few universities to be named an international luminary research site by GE Healthcare. Other research partners include the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Imperial College London, Oxford University and the European Cancer Centre in Milan.

"This partnership is testament to the very high quality of researchers and clinicians assembled at the new Australian School of Advanced Medicine," says Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steven Schwartz.

"It's exciting to consider what benefits to patients might result from their collaboration with other leading researchers around the world based at GE's partner sites."

For more information on the Australian School of Advanced Medicine, visit the website.