Traditional medicine and science have uncovered the causation and have provided therapeutic approaches to treat what were, hitherto, scourges of human-kind like infectious diseases.

Enormous advances have occurred in unraveling the human genome and harnessing molecular biology, but the integration of science with a more humanistic point of view has lagged in our understanding of health and disease.  Intuitively, we recognize that emotion, responses to stress and psycho-social circumstances all contribute to the maintenance of health as well as the regulation of disease. Scientists and practitioners require a better understanding of how the brain and the nervous system are involved in these processes.

Anchored in traditional scientific approaches, the Institute (BBI) aims to further explore the role of the brain and the nervous system in relation to common diseases and apply the new knowledge to benefit the population.

"It takes a potent mix of vision, technology and leadership to conceive of a new research institute. 
It must be embraced by the scientific community, stocked with exceptional
talent and blessed
by serendipity and funding to bring
it into being."

Kevin Smith, Ph.D.,
President & CEO,
St. Joseph’s
Healthcare Hamilton