Richard Banati

Richard Banati is an internationally-recognised scientist with interdisciplinary research interests in the brain’s innate immune system and the development of advanced medical imaging for the detection of subtle, non-obvious brain pathology. The tracer principle, on which this medical research is based, has applications far beyond neuroscience, such as the measurement of naturally occurring isotopes (‘isotopic signatures’) as well as the detection of hazardous trace contaminants due to human activity as they bio-accumulate in water, food and aerosols.

While it is well understood that the health of the environment is intimately linked to human health, the actual pathways of contaminants into the human body and their impact on human health can be difficult to assess. In 2008, Professor Banati joined the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) as a Distinguished Research Fellow, to develop new applications of nuclear technologies to study biological material.

The research of Professor Banati and his colleagues has amongst others received recognition through the bi-annual Award of the German league for Research into Alzheimer's Disease. He is a regular public speaker, such as at the Blue Planet Scientific Forum of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, Vienna) and TEDxSydney (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjlVgNUaSGM) . Richard Banati is Professor and Foundation Chair of Medical Radiation Sciences at the University of Sydney, and has held the positions of Director of the Ramaciotti Centre for Brain Imaging at the Brain & Mind Research Centre (BMC) and University of Sydney node of the National Imaging Facility. Professor Banati acts as German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Ambassador and is a Fellow of the Royal Society (NSW).

He is member of the ANSTO Nuclear Science, Technology and Landmark Infrastructure Team and supports the organisation in the focus areas of strategic research, national and international collaborations and partnerships.
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