Public talk from ground-breaking neuroscientist

Public talk from ground-breaking neuroscientist

The Australian scientist whose research led to the understanding that the brain is not fixed but has the potential to repair itself will speak at a public talk in Hobart tomorrow night (November 26).

The Australian scientist whose research led to the understanding that the brain is not fixed but has the potential to repair itself will speak at a public talk in Hobart tomorrow night (November 26).

The inaugural Director of the Queensland Brain Institute, Professor Perry Bartlett, will speak about the developments in neuroscience that are transforming our understanding of the treatment of brain disease.

In 1992 Professor Bartlett's laboratory discovered the presence of stem cells in the adult brain that had the capacity to produce new neurons. In 2001 his group was the first to isolate and characterise these stem cells.

Professor Bartlett's trip to Tasmania has been organised by Dr Kaylene Young, a neuroscientist and stem cell researcher from the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research.

"We are really looking forward to Professor Bartlett's presentation. He is a pioneering and inspirational Australian scientist whose research has really transformed the way we view the brain,' Dr Young said.

"Went he went in search of the brain stem cell some scientists thought he was mad, but the fact that he was right - he found that stem cells really do exist in the adult brain - has led to our current understanding that the brain is not fixed but is incredibly plastic. He essentially created an entirely new field of brain repair research."

Professor Bartlett is also Foundation Chair in Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Queensland.

Where and when:

Wednesday November 26

5.30pm-6.30pm.

Medical Science Precinct

17 Liverpool St, Hobart

Professor Bartlett will be available for interview on Wednesday between 2-3.45pm:

Miranda Harman

Marketing and Communications Manager

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

University of Tasmania

Phone: 61 3 6226-7751

61 427 199 562

Email:  miranda.harman@utas.edu.au

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