Emeritus Professor Clive Harper
AM
Emeritus Professor
Pathology, School of Medical Sciences
Bosch Institute
Telephone | +61 2 9351 3663 |
Fax | +61 2 9351 3429 |
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Biographical details
Professor Clive Harper was a student at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and graduated in Medicine from the University of Sydney in 1967. He completed his residency and postgraduate training in Pathology (FRCPA) at the Royal North Shore Hospital in 1972. During the next thirteen years he worked as a neuropathologist in Scotland, Switzerland, the USA and Perth and was appointed as Foundation Professor of Neuropathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney in 1985. He holds honorary appointments at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Glebe, Concord Hospital, and in the Central Coast Area Health Service. He obtained his MD Degree at the University of Sydney in 1996. Professor Harper was Head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Sydney for seven years. In 20067 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (AM) and the Royal Prince Alfred Foundation Medal for Research for his contributions to neuroscience and public health policy.
Research interests
Professor Harper’s most important research contributions have been on the effects of alcohol and associated nutritional deficiency states on the brain. He and his colleagues provided the first quantitative pathological data on the effects of alcohol on the human brain, in particular, confirmation of ‘brain shrinkage’ and loss of nerve cells from the frontal lobes. These studies led to the development of national and international scientific collaborations and to important public health programs. The latter included safe drinking educational programs and the supplementation of bread with thiamine (vitamin B1) throughout Australia to help minimize or prevent brain damage in people who abuse alcohol. The latter program, commenced in 1991, has led to a dramatic reduction in the prevalence of the most devastating alcohol-related brain disease - the Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) that is caused by thiamine deficiency. Their research also suggested that components of alcohol-related brain damage can be reversible – an important public health message.
Current projects
Retired
Associations
Professor Harper has been involved in many different University committees and medical societies. He is a Foundation Member and was President of the Australian & New Zealand Society for Neuropathology. He was Treasurer of the Research Committee for the ALS/Motor Neurone Disease Society from 1988-2001. He was a Member of the Board and Chairman of the Finance Committee for the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism and is on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australian Neuroscience Network for Addiction. He was Director of the Neuroscience program for the Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research, Royal North Shore Hospital and was Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cure for Life Foundation. He has organized several international conferences: the 1997 Congress of the International Society of Neuropathologists and the 1994 and 2006 World Congresses on Alcohol Research hosted by the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. He was on the editorial board of four journals and was Associate Editor of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Awards and honours
In 20067 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (AM) and the Royal Prince Alfred Foundation Medal for Research for his contributions to neuroscience and public health policy.
Selected grants
2007
- Not known - to be advised; Harper C; Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation/Research Grant.
2005
- Using our brains tissue donor program: continuation of interviews and the analysis of cognitive effects in drinkers and non-drinkers-Australian normative data; Harper C, Garrick T, Green A; Australian Brewers Foundation/Alcohol-Related Medical Research Grant Scheme.
2004
- National Network of Brain Banks; McLean C, Kril J, Harper C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Enabling Grants.
2003
- Neural tissue repository; Harper C; Mental Health Research Institute Of Victoria/Research Grant.
- Brain Bank Extension; Harper C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Tissue donor program using our brains: A brain donor program to enhance the tissue resource centre and promote research into the effects of alcohol on the brain.; Harper C; Australian Brewers Foundation/Research Support.
2000
- Brain Tissue Resource Center for Alcohol Research; Fryer J, Kril J, Harper C; National Institutes of Health (USA)/Research Grant.
- A human tissue resource centre - a facility for research groups interested in the study of alcohol-related brain damage; Harper C; Australian Brewers Foundation/Alcohol - Related Medical Research Grant Scheme.
- Brain bank network; Harper C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
- Robust non-invasive diagnosis of focal infections in brain by magnetic resonance methods; Sorrell T, Towner R, Harper C, Mountford C; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Project Grants.
1999
- Tissue processor for human brain research; Harper C; Clive & Vera Ramaciotti Foundation/Research Grants.
Selected publications
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