The John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair (BRC) is a component of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. The other components are: the Departments of Neurology and of Neurosurgery, and the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre.

The Centre was formed to bring Cambridge scientists working across the many fields of modern neuroscience together in cross-disciplinary research efforts directed at the problems associated with preventing or repairing the effects of brain damage. The approach being taken is both a long term one of trying to understand the underlying disease mechanisms, and a more immediate examination of strategies which might have potential for clinical application. Towards this end a major goal of the Centre is to provide a forum for interactions between investigators in the clinical and basic neurosciences.

The focal point of the Centre is the ED Adrian building on the University Forvie site at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. In this location, the main activities of the Centre are well placed to take advantage of, and contribute to, the rich and lively neuroscience environment in Cambridge. The building is part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, situated next to the Institute of Public Health, the Parke-Davis Neurosciences Research Centre and the Laboratory for Medicinal Chemistry, and close to the Regional Neurosciences Centre for East Anglia, on the south side of Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

In addition to providing research facilities for principal investigators working within the building there are strong collaborations with other departments and institutions in Cambridge. The Centre provides a clinical testing areas for investigators to evaluate ambulatory patients involved in research studies The Centre is committed to training future generations of investigators by providing a co-ordinated training programme for PhD students,  young doctors and post-doctoral fellows.