Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) is an independent not-for-profit medical research institute tackling the brain health challenges that shape our lives.
For more than 30 years, it has worked to prevent, treat and cure disorders of the brain and nervous system, with researchers studying dementia, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, chronic pain and mental health across more than 120 active projects.
Based in Sydney’s Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct, the institute is home to one of only two major brain banks in the country, partners with the AFL on concussion research and runs treatment trials with patients.
Funded by grants and philanthropy in an environment where only about 8% of grant applications succeed, NeuRA feels every dollar. Overheads compete directly with research for the same limited pool.
As the institute grew, that got harder. The in-house IT team was supporting everything from live clinical trials to the Brain Bank and was stretched thin, with cybersecurity demands adding to the load.
The challenges
- Outgrowing in-house IT capabilities
- Securing sensitive patient data
- Ageing on-premises servers
- Patchwork of ad-hoc tools
- Maintaining live clinical trials
The solutions
- End-to-end managed IT services with on-site support
- Microsoft 365 platform consolidation
- Microsoft Azure cloud migration
- Microsoft Defender XDR, Entra ID P2, Sentinel, managed SOC
- Three-year strategic roadmap
The outcomes
- Handover completed in three months
- 168 applications, 50 research platforms
- 1,000 service desk requests resolved
- No disruption to clinical trials or research
- Enterprise-grade security
