While a medical school student at the University of Western Australia, Colin Masters became fascinated by brain diseases above all else. He focused specifically on 'slow virus diseases' of the brain, including those with a delayed clinical onset such as prion diseases. (See CV)

Masters first looked at prions to study the deposition of protein aggregates called amyloids. Seeing a possible link, he turned that work into a project studying the nature of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's patients. He says the decision to research neurodegenerative diseases was the first pivotal moment of his career. At the time, the field adhered to a more descriptive study of neuropathology. With his collaborators, Masters capitalized on the newly available power of protein purification, identification and sequencing. Together, they sequenced the amyloid protein and began a fruitful decade of discoveries.

Having championed the amyloid theory of Alzheimer's, which holds that the accumulation of toxic amyloid protein impairs cognition, Masters is most proud of sparking an explosion of interest in the field. The amyloid protein is one of the most highly studied proteins in the whole of cell biology, boasting more than 800 papers annually.

In 2000, after running a laboratory at the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria (MHRI) in Melbourne since the late 1980s, Masters turned his focus to the environmental and genetic contributors to Alzheimer's. His shift coincided with industry collaborations geared towards developing therapies for the disease, and the co-founding of a small biotech company called Prana Biotechnology. With one potential therapy currently undergoing early phase II drug trials in Sweden, Masters has turned his attention back to research.

As executive director of the MHRI, Masters plans to use his Alzheimer's experience to address psychoses and mood disorders. The synergy between the MHRI and the nearby Howard Florey Institute at the University of Melbourne should help.

“Colin Masters coming to Melbourne gives us the opportunity to bring molecular imaging and genetic techniques to psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,” says Fred Mendelsohn, director of the Howard Florey Institute.

Says Masters: “Clearly understanding how the brain and mind work are the biggest challenges for the next 10–20 years — and I want to be there as it is unfolding.”