Neurodegenerative Disorders
Our ultimate goal is to understand how we can harness the brain’s own stem cells and/or modulate nerve cell’s connections (i.e. how we can harness neural plasticity) to help treat Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and Alzheimer’s disease, all of which result from loss of nerve cells and their connections from specific regions of the nervous system. We study how abnormal signalling at nerve cell junctions contributes to these movement and memory disorders and we work to understand why the nervous system’s own repair systems, i.e. the formation of new nerve cells, is ineffective in these conditions. We hope to find novel stem cell treatments that will profoundly impact people with brain diseases.
Staff
 Research OfficerDr Andrea Abdipranoto |
 Research AssistantLyndsey Konen |
 Research AssistantRichard Tan |
 PhD StudentSandy Stayte |
 PhD StudentRaphael Zinn |
 PhD StudentAmanda Wright |
| Visiting Scientist Dr Gordon Royle |
News
Potential to harness a newly uncovered mechanism of learning
MEDIA RELEASE:
05 Oct 2010
By examining how we learn and store memories, Garvan scientists with American colleagues have uncovered a new mechanism of learning that might prove useful in helping people who have lost their capacity to remember as a result of brain injury or disease.
Drawing the correct conclusions from clusters of data
MEDIA RELEASE:
18 Aug 2010
There’s a science to analysing science, say Garvan researchers, and some common methods of analysis can lead to completely incorrect study conclusions, particularly if experiments rely on 'clustered data'.
Findings that should speed the development of drugs for Parkinson’s Disease
MEDIA RELEASE:
18 Nov 2009
Neuroscientists at Garvan have significantly advanced our understanding of dopamine release from nerve cells, findings that should speed the development of more effective drugs for treating Parkinson’s Disease.
