A pioneer in neuroscience credited with the critical discovery of brain stem cells 23 years ago fears a scarcity in funding could affect future breakthroughs in research.
Professor Perry Bartlett, the founding director of the Queensland Brain Institute, lamented the "golden era" of funding in science in Australia appears to be over as he collected a lifetime achievement award on Wednesday.
As the country faces a "tsunami" of dementia and Alzheimer's diagnoses in an ageing population, he said it was more important than ever governments and philanthropists commit to continued investment in research throughout the country.
"The problem we have at the moment is that we focus too much on short-term returns when funding for research and we must invest in long-term research, even if you don't know where it will lead," Prof Bartlett, 68, told AAP.
"When we started our research 25 years ago we had no idea where it would go, and it turned out to be fundamental to our understanding about the brain.
"Australia performs extremely well in biomedical science but in terms of money spent on research it's performing very badly compared to other countries.
Prof Bartlett is particularly worried about the opportunities for students.
"For some who do have a career in science it's become very difficult, not only to get given money but to get a fellowship to support that," he said.
It was Prof Bartlett's discovery of brain stem cells in 1992 which overturned the long-held dogma that the adult brain can't change and regenerate.
He has overseen the expansion of Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland from 10 people in 2003 to just over 500.
Prof Bartlett has more recently turned his attention to dementia and is about to launch clinical trials to see if exercise can reverse the damage caused by the disease in humans following successful studies on mice.
He was Wednesday awarded the biannual CSL Florey Medal and $50,000 by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science in Canberra for his crucial contribution to biomedical science.
