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Neuro exam of a man.

A test subject is given test pulses using a transcranial magnetic simulator to indirectly measure the functions of the neurotransmitter systems of the brain.

UEF Brain Research Unit in the spotlight

The University of Eastern Finland Brain Research Unit (BRU) conducts high-quality clinical research and drug research and collaborates with local, Finnish and foreign research groups and the pharmaceutical industry. The unit’s areas of competence particularly include brain biomarker analyses as well as clinical drug trials, diagnostics, prevention and treatment of neurogenerative diseases and cerebrovascular disorders. The unit also has the capacity to examine the genetic background, risk factors and pathogenetic mechanisms of polygenic diseases.  

Key R&D infrastructure provider   

The Brain Research Unit operates at the Institute of Clinical Medicine of the University of Eastern Finland and is a key resource for the development of neurosciences in Kuopio. The unit focused on clinical research carried out on volunteer research subjects and their controls investigates cerebral diseases and looks for new solutions for their prevention, diagnostics and treatment.   

The unit’s special areas of competence include brain biomarker analyses as well as clinical drug trials and prevention studies on neurogenerative diseases and cerebrovascular disorders. The unit is also equipped to examine the genetic background, risk factors and pathogenetic mechanisms of polygenic diseases. With its partner network, the unit provides the international and Finnish pharmaceutical industry with drug research services ranging from clinic to molecular biology.   

The Brain Research Unit plays a key role as a provider of research, development and innovation services and infrastructure and enables brain health research at the international top level.  

The Brain Research Unit has research and sampling facilities for extracting blood samples, cerebrospinal fluid samples and punch biopsies. The unit also has laboratory facilities (incl. a biomarker laboratory) for the processing of specimens. For clinical imaging, the unit collaborates with the Kuopio University Hospital Imaging Centre in carrying out extensive imaging. The unit’s clinical research staff include two physicians, four research nurses, one psychologist, and the manager of a development project and the project’s specialist controller. Biomarker laboratory staff and academic researchers in neurology collaborate closely with the employees at the unit.   

Potilaalta otetaan selkäydinnestenäyte Aivotutkimusyksikössä.
Cerebrospinal fluid samples can also be extracted at the Brain Research Unit’s facilities.