The first Human Brain Tissue Repository (HBTR) in India had its origin in 1985 following “Brain Storming session in Neurobiology” held at NIMHANS. The brain storming session on Neurobiology was conducted in October 1985, participated by most of the scientists in various fields in Biology and physical sciences related to study of nervous system, a multi-disciplinary scientific interaction. It was to take a stock of the work being carried out in India and identify the thrust areas relevant to India and other tropical countries, that needs to be pursued with vigour.

During the deliberations it was realized that majority of the studies were carried out on experimental animals and extrapolated to human system. It has dawned to the neuroscientists that efforts have to be directed to study human material for realistic evaluation of the biological process in human system, and hence the need for a Human Brain Bank, a National Research Facility.

Through persistent efforts of Prof.P.N.Tandon, an eminent Neurosurgeon and a clinical neuroscientist, the Human Brian Bank was established as a National Research Facility in 1995.

As the very concept of a “Bio-banking” was new to the neurologists and neurosurgeons in the country, a mammoth effort was needed to convince the need for the Human Brain Bank for India, as a valuable resource for research on human brain.

The Human Brain Bank was initially located in a room allotted in the Animal House (the kitchen space), with facility to keep five deep freezers (-80oC) and minimal histology equipment.

For the first five years (1995-2000), this National Research Facility was collectively funded by the Dept of Science and Technology (DST), Dept of Biotechnology (DBT) and Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).