The Centre for Research in Neuroscience is located in the Research Institute of the Montreal General Hospital, a teaching hospital with the McGill University Health Centre.
The CRN was established as a University Centre some 25 years ago under the leadership of Dr. Albert Aguayo. Historically the focus of the CRN has been in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural regeneration with an aim to mitigating the effects of trauma to the CNS. The intellectual fulcrum for this work derived from now-famous studies by CRN members Aguayo, Richardson, David, Bray and Rasminsky which showed that CNS neurons had the capacity to regenerate axons long distances within peripheral nerve grafts. Knowing that CNS neurons had the capacity to regenerate launched a world-wide effort to identify factors that would mimic peripheral nerve grafts and stimulate regeneration in the central nervous system.
With support from a Canadian Centres of Excellence Grant the group expanded its focus to include issues of axon guidance, synapse formation and neurodegenerative disorders. The McGill CRN is a vibrant centre for neurological research combining basic and clinical scientists, with nine highly interactive research groups. The faculty members hold academic appointments in a number of departments across McGill University and at other institutions. True to our tradition, in recent years we have launched physiological, genetic, molecular and cellular studies into neural degeneration and re-growth. This work has led to major advances in basic and medical neurosciences, including the discovery of novel mechanisms of neuronal function and new insights into the mechanisms of neuronal growth and synapse formation during development and regeneration.
The CRN offers a program designed to train pre-doctoral students for an MSc or PhD in Neuroscience, as well as MD's for careers as physician-scientists. Please see our Graduate program section for more information.
Need more information?
Contact the CRN at 514-934-8094.
