Leading Scientists To Reveal Latest Brain Repair Research, Australia

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 22 Oct 2007 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Some of the world's leading experts in brain research will discuss new directions in neuroscience, and how this research is expected to lead to better treatments for brain disease or injury, on Tuesday, October 23.

"Neurogenesis" - a natural process that results in creation of new nerve cells - is being heralded as one of the most important research areas in medical research.

Speakers from the Queensland Brain Institute will include Director Professor Perry Bartlett, Professor Brent Reynolds and Dr Rod Rietze. In addition, the seminar welcomes special guests Professor Richard Faull and Dr Bronwen Connor from the University of Auckland.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 (2 pm - 4pm)

WHERE: The Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Building 79, St Lucia Campus.

WHO:

- Professor Perry F. Bartlett, Director of the Queensland Brain Institute, will discuss how neural stem cells regulate brain development and function. He will also discuss the mechanisms by which endogenous stem cell population can be used to produce new neurons to replace those lost following disease or damage in the adult brain.

- Professor Richard Faull heads a broadly based, multidisciplinary research program on "Neurodegenerative Diseases of the Human Brain and Spinal Cord" at the University of Auchland's Department of Anatomy with Radiology. The program studies donated human tissue using the molecular, cellular biological and imaging resources.

- Dr Bronwen Connor, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and head of the Neural Repair and Neurogenesis laboratory at the University of Auckland, will discuss research into the potential use of stem cell therapy and gene transfer techniques for treating brain injury and disease.

- Professor Brent Reynolds heads a Queensland Brain Institute team specialising in developing adult neural stem cell assays, which can provide an accurate and meaningful read-out of stem and progenitor cell number. The assays are also being used in drug screening to identify compounds that increase neurogenesis in the brain.

- Dr Rod Rietze heads a neural stem cell lab laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute whose overall aim is to understand, at a molecular and cellular level, how endogenous mammalian neural stem cells are generated during development, and how their actions are regulated in the adult CNS, both under normal conditions and following disease or degeneration.

The University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia

• Additional
• References
• Citations