Area physicians, radiologists, neurological specialists and Bradley faculty members soon will collaborate on brain research, neural feedback and brain imaging through a new center located at Bradley University.
Bradley has established the Center for Collaborative Brain Research (CCBR) to promote and support research between the Department of Radiology at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, the Illinois Neurological Institute, and Bradley University. The Department of Radiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria will also be a research collaborator. Bringing these entities together for collaboration using their individual strengths allows for stronger research possibilities. An inaugural reception with representatives of the collaborators will be held today at 5 in the Markin Family Recreation Center on campus.
“Our vision is to enable this center and our collaborators – academic researchers and clinical caregivers, alike – to become leaders in brain research – in the region, in the nation, and even throughout the world,” said Bradley President Joanne Glasser. “Make no mistake: this center and those working within it will produce first-class, world-class research.”
Co-Directors of the Center are Dr. Lori Russell-Chapin, professor in Bradley’s College of Education and Health Sciences, and Dr. Wen-Ching Liu from the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Department of Radiology.
“This collaboration between our institutions will increase the communication of academic, research and clinical needs,” Russell-Chapin said. “By sharing the combined resources, clinical treatment will be greatly improved, research will be elevated significantly, and the Peoria community can benefit economically.”
“This new network will provide researchers from each institution opportunities to easily work with others who have common interests yet different specialties,” said Dr. Liu. “With more vigorous contacts between institutions and basic sciences, the CCBR will provide a more effective research environment.”
While the Center will be located on the Bradley in the College of Education and Health Sciences and eventually in the renovated Westlake Hall, researchers will use a functional MRI facility at OSF Saint Francis for data acquisition and viewing human brain function mapping. Radiologists, neurological specialists and faculty will collaborate and conduct new research studies.
“We expect additional peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary research projects to be published as a result of the work taking place through the Center,” Russell-Chapin said. “Our areas of impact will be broadened as the body of knowledge increases in the various disciplines.”
Within the first three years of the Center, it is expected that research projects will be generated in the area of neuropsychological brain research impacting counseling, neurology, psychology, radiology, education, dietetics, nursing, physical therapy and many more.
Within Bradley are many faculty focused on special interests in brain research. OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is a Level One trauma center and the Illinois Neurological Institute is well known for its academic research and clinical treatment in brain-related illnesses. The functional MRI program in Radiology has been established since 2001. It is equipped with cutting-edge equipment capable of real time fMRI data acquisition and viewing human brain function mapping simultaneously. The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria has served the region with medical education, patient care and research since 1970, and its physicians receive most of the area’s NIH research grants.