Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB), Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre

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The Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB) was established in 2006 as a collaborative research initiative between the Schizophrenia Research Institute; the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle; the Medical Genetics Laboratory, Hunter Area Pathology Service; the Centre for Rural and Remote Health; the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, University of Queensland: the Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, University of Western Australia and the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne. The ASRB is a medical research database and storage facility that links clinical and neuropsychological information, blood samples and structural MRI brain scans from people with schizophrenia and healthy non-psychiatric controls. A proportion of these volunteers have also indicated a willingness to be contacted about participation in future schizophrenia research projects. Information about the ASRB is available on line at http://www.schizophreniaresearch.org.au/bank/index.php The primary aim of the ASRB is to facilitate scientific research into schizophrenia by: 1) Collecting, storing and providing comprehensive, cross-referenced clinical, neuropsychological, genetic and brain imaging data from people with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and 2) Providing researchers with access to a pool of volunteers as an ancillary recruitment resource for participation in schizophrenia research projects. The ASRB is based on a case (schizophrenia) and control (non-psychiatric) sampling design. The sample is drawn from five Australian States and Territories: NSW (Sydney, Hunter, Illawarra, Orange), Canberra, Queensland (Brisbane), Western Australia (Perth) and Victoria (Melbourne), collected through new and existing recruitment resources associated with the ASRB collaborators, including media advertisements, inpatient, outpatient and community mental health service providers, non-government organisations, rehabilitation services, and cold telephoning using the electoral rolls in each State (recruitment of healthy controls only). MNC have been involved in the collection and analysis of 180 MRI scans from Victorian patients. Time period: 2008-present