Funded projects

• 

  Dr Christi Essex

  University of Auckland

  First fellowship - $241,312 - Funding Round: 2025 B

  Magnetic Resonance Imaging signatures of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: An ex-vivo histological validation

  Repeated head knocks, even without symptoms of brain injury, are the main risk factor for the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Currently, it can only be confirmed after death, by examining brain tissue under a microscope. This fellowship will use recent advances in MRI technology to look for distinctive biomarkers of CTE in confirmed cases at the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank, and compare these scans with microscope images of the same tissue. If CTE can be detected by MRI, it may allow diagnosis during life and open possibilities for management and treatment.

• 

  Dr Christi Essex

  University of Auckland

  Small project grant - $20,000 - Funding Round: 2026 A

  Building a probabilistic CTE lesion atlas: an empirical guide for neuropathological and neuroimaging research

  Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain disease linked to repeated head injuries that can currently only be diagnosed after death. This project will use donated human brain tissue to map where CTE damage occurs and identify these patterns using MRI. This will support the development of brain scanning tools that could detect CTE during life.