Prana's Senior Scientific Consultant to Take Up Federation Fellowship in Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jun 23, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Prana
Biotechnology Limited (Nasdaq: PRAN; ASX: PBT) today announced that Dr Ashley
Bush, co-founding scientist and senior scientific consultant to Prana
Biotechnology, has been awarded the highly prestigious Federation Fellowship
from the Australian Research Council to continue, in Australia, his ground-
breaking research into neurodegenerative diseases. Dr Bush will return from
Harvard Medical School to take up the five-year Fellowship at Melbourne's Mental
Health Research Institute (MHRI), which initiated and sponsored his application,
and guaranteed financial, infrastructural and equipment-related support. The
Federation Fellowships are designed to develop and retain " ... world-class
Australian researchers in key positions, and create new ... incentives for the
application of their talents in Australia."
Dr Bush's research, conducted with Professor Rudy Tanzi at Harvard Medical
School, forms the basis of the Prana's technology to treat Alzheimer's disease.
As a result of the Fellowship, Dr Bush will make the Mental Health Research
Institute in Australia his primary research base, while maintaining his close
collaborations around the world by continuing his work on the role of metals in
the brain and their relationship to neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in
Alzheimer's disease.
Executive Chairman of Prana, Geoffrey Kempler, stated, "We are delighted and
applaud the high profile recognition and support of Ashley's skill by the ARC
and the Mental Health Research Institute.
"In our rapidly ageing society, neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's
and Parkinson's diseases will present a huge medical and economic challenge and
demand novel and powerful science such as Ashley's research into the
interactions between metals and proteins in the brain.
"This Federation Fellowship will lead to a deeper understanding of the basic
mechanisms underlying such disorders, which is likely to improve the treatment
of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders," concluded Mr
Kempler.
Federation Fellowships, awarded via the Australian Research Council, were
created to develop and retain outstanding research in Australia. The
internationally competitive salary that accompanies each Fellowship makes the
return to Australia by expatriate researchers an attractive proposal.
Prana's MPACs (metal protein attenuating compounds) are chemicals that bind zinc
and copper, and have been shown by Prana to lower the levels of the amyloid beta
protein and the associated toxicity in the brain. A better understanding of
metal-protein interactions in the brain is expected to advance the development
of Prana's MPACs. One of them, PBT-1, has already established proof of concept
of Prana's technology in a successful clinical trial. ends
About Prana Biotechnology Limited
Prana is a Melbourne-based biotechnology established in 1997 to commercialize
research into Alzheimer's disease and other major age-related degenerative
disorders (Nasdaq: PRAN; ASX: PBT). Prana's technology was discovered by the
company's researchers at prominent international institutions including
Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School, the University of
Melbourne and the Mental Health Research Institute in Melbourne. For more
information about Prana, please visit http://www.pranabio.com
About the Mental Health Research Institute (MHRI)
The MHRI is Australia's premier mental health research institute. Our mission is
to discover the causes and improve the diagnosis and treatment of the major
functional psychoses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major
depression, and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's Type Dementia.
The Institute's research is multidisciplinary and seeks to integrate basic and
clinical platforms. Comprised of over 90 staff of whom more than 30 are
doctoral, the MHRI is an independent institute (company limited by guarantee),
which has close and productive links with Melbourne and Monash Universities, the
Austin Hospital and related institutes. The Institute is a founding partner of
Neuroscience Victoria and has several links with Industry including Eli Lilly,
Schering AG and Prana. The award of a Federation Fellowship to Ashley Bush
through and at the MHRI will have a major positive impact on the Institute's
science, especially in the area of neurodegenerative disorders.
SOURCE Prana Biotechnology Limited
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