[cincopa Ontario took a major step to help the one million people in the province with neurological disorders and the 2.6 million Ontarians who will be affected by a neurological condition in their lifetime.

A new brain institute is being established in Ontario. The Ontario Brain Institute will bring the province’s top brain researchers together with people who know how to commercialize good ideas. Together, they will turn health care discoveries made in the lab into products and services to help people who are affected by brain diseases and disorders.

The province is providing $15 million in start-up funding over the next three years for the new institute, which will create jobs, reduce health care costs and improve the quality of life for Ontario families.

Premier Dalton McGuinty made the announcement today at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. The Ontario Brain Institute will help the province’s life sciences companies win a bigger share of the global market for products that support patients with brain diseases and disorders.

One of the Ontario Brain Institute’s first international partnerships will be with Israel. Premier Dalton McGuinty met with Israeli president Shimon Peres during a trade mission in May 2010, at which time Peres proposed a joint Israeli-Ontario “virtual institute” on brain research.

The Ontario Brain Institute is part of the government’s Open Ontario Plan to export our expertise to the world, create jobs and provide quality care at home.