McGill partners with leading Swiss neuroscience research group

Building on its worldwide reputation as a leader in neuroscience research, McGill University today joined with two leading Swiss research institutions - the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) - to enhance neuroscience research in a host of areas, in fields that include pain therapy, Alzheimer's disease, synapse modelling and repair, neuroimmunology and genetic mechanisms of brain diseases. The collaboration, backed by $200,000 in annual funding for three years, will see the institutions exchange scientists, develop research projects, establish fellowships for exchanges of graduate students, provide seed money for pilot studies and hold workshops into a variety of neuroscience research areas. The two Swiss institutions form the Neuroscience Center of Zurich (ZNZ), which brings together 440 neuroscientists in clinical and basic science research. Established in 1998, the ZNZ is one of the first international programs of graduate studies of neuroscience in Europe. 'We are delighted to advance our cutting-edge neuroscience research through an international partnership with a leading network of neuroscience researchers,' said McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum who, accompanied by Dr. Rémi Quirion, Vice-Dean (Science and Strategic Initiatives) in McGill's Faculty of Medicine, signed the memorandum of understanding in Switzerland.