The Neuroscience Group
One of our major research interests is neurological disorders including depression and Parkinson’s disease. These disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern society due to dramatic changes in our daily lives associated with high levels of stress, and the aging population. Both depression and Parkinson’s disease are very complex disorders, and the effective treatments are currently lacking. Thus, an improved understanding of these disorders is urgently needed.
Another area of research interest is hypoglycaemia in diabetes which can lead to death in 4-10% of patients with Type 1 diabetes and remains one of the most critical issues in the management of these patients. We investigate the neural mechanisms that are responsible for physiological defences against hypoglycaemia and how these defence mechanisms are altered in Type 1 diabetes.
We have extensive expertise in animal models of diseases. We use these models and variety of modern analytical techniques to investigate behavioural, hormonal, cellular and molecular mechanisms; sex differences; role of gut–brain connections and nutrition; biological markers as well as novel therapeutic approaches.
We work closely with clinicians, clinical diagnostic laboratories, and researchers within Australia and oversees who are involved in neurological diseases and diabetes research, diagnosis and management/treatment. We also have access to the post-mortem human brain samples through our collaborations with SA pathology.
