Dr Bronwen Connor is an Associate Professor in Pharmacology and head of the Neural Repair and Neurogenesis laboratory in the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. Dr Connor has established a research programme focusing on the potential use of stem cell therapy for the treatment of brain injury and disease. Her research [...]

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and research has shown that the immune system plays an important role in the disease process. Some immune-based therapies show great promise for the future treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and Dr Wood will cover recent and planned research techniques that are currently being investigated for both the treatment and the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. He will also answer questions on matters relating to cognitive decline in the elderly.

Dr John Reynolds is an Associate Professor in Neuroscience and Medicine at the University of Otago, and is Deputy Director of the university’s Brain Health Research Centre. Dr Reynolds’ research looks at the normal function of the basal ganglia and cortex of the brain and how this is altered in Parkinson’s disease and stroke. He [...]

Professor Lianne Woodward is a developmental psychologist and leader of the Canterbury Child Development Research Group at the University of Canterbury. A graduate of the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, she has 20 years’ research experience with typically developing and high risk children.  Areas of specialisation include brain development and injury, children’s mental health, [...]

In May 2003, Shane Thrower was knocked off his cycle by a car travelling at over 100kph – he was training for the New Zealand Ironman. He suffered severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, paralysis and broken bones. Medical staff told Shane he would never complete his study, play competitive sport or work again. [...]

Hamish became a tetraplegic in October 1994 after being charged by a cow on his family farm in the Hawkes Bay and sustaining a discolated neck at C5/C6 level. Hamish spent five months in rehabilitation at the Burwood Spinal Unit then returned to the farm, which he sold 18 months later, then went into partnership [...]

Dr Parr-Brownlie completed her PhD at the University of Otago in 2003. She then spent a number of years working at the National Institutes of Health in the United States before returning to Otago in 2007. Dr Parr-Brownlie took up a lectureship at the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology in 2010. Her research focuses [...]

Dr Russell Snell is an Adjunct Professor with The Neurogenetics Group and the School of Biological Sciences, at the University of Auckland. Dr Russell Snell’s world-class research group aims to unravel the complexities of brain diseases where cell death occurs, particularly Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and to identify the genes involved with the ageing [...]

Dr Karen E Waldie is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Auckland. Her research is in the area of developmental neuropsychology and focuses on the neural bases, and long-term outcomes, of neurodevelopmental disorders. She was born in Victoria, BC, Canada, and received [...]

Dr Suzanne Ackerley is a neurological physiotherapist at the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Auckland. Every day 22 New Zealanders have a stroke and many will be disabled and need significant daily support. Dr Suzanne Ackerley is part of a New Zealand-based team investigating new approaches to rehabilitation following stroke [...]

Ann Andrews is author of the book, Positively Parkinson’s, published last year in August 2011. More than 10,000 New Zealanders have Parkinson’s disease, but many thousands more are dealing with Parkinson’s every day – relatives and friends, carers and health professionals. This event takes on an interview format with Sue Giddens from the Neurological Foundation [...]

Dr Anne La Flamme is an Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, at Victoria University of Wellington. There is currently no cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that causes nerve degeneration leading to impaired vision and coordination and, eventually, paralysis. MS affects one in every 1400 New Zealanders. Immune cells are [...]

Dr Gina Grimshaw is a senior lecturer at the School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington. Depression is a debilitating mental illness with high emotional, physical, and financial costs to patients, their families, and society. Some individuals are predisposed to developing depression, and can be identified through recordings of the brain’s electrical activity. Most [...]

Dr Tracy Melzer is the MRI Research Manager at the New Zealand Brain Research Institute in Christchurch (NZBRI, formerly the Van der Veer Institute). As a physicist, he has a specialist understanding in the principles of the scanning procedure known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). With access to a powerful 3 Tesla MRI scanner at [...]

Dr Margaret Ryan is a Research Fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the University of Otago. Her research interest is in how memories are formed and stored in the brain at the molecular level and how this may be altered in Alzheimer’s disease. In 2009, Dr Ryan received a Neurological Foundation [...]

Dr Young is based in the Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology Department at the University of Auckland’s School of Medical Sciences. Her research interests are broad and include the study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases. Dr Young is a long-serving member of the Neurological Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee.