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 AssistantSara Wu |
 Research AssistantSarah Woodworth |
 PhD StudentSandy Stayte |
| Research Assistant Richard Tan |
 PhD StudentAmanda Wright |
 Honours StudentRaphael Zinn |
Visiting Student Tina Yang |
| Honours Student Lyndsey Konen |
Visiting Student Barbara Hohensinn |
News
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.
Harnessing the brain's own ability for repair
MEDIA RELEASE:
02 Jun 2009
New findings uncovered by Garvan scientists throw light on how the brain heals itself and may change the way we think about treating chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
