Professor Martyn D. Goulding delivered the 2009 Toshiya Yamada Memorial Lecture to a large audience at the Queensland Brain Institute on Tuesday, 24 March.
Professor Martyn Goulding, who heads a laboratory at the world-renowned Salk Institute in San Diego, California, provided an insight into his laboratory’s latest research into how gene expression influences spinal cord development.
Professor Goulding pioneered the use of mouse genetics in combination with classical electrophysiological studies to reveal the identity and assign specific functions to neural networks in the spinal cord.
His work led to a paradigm shift in spinal cord physiology and changed the way scientists study neural circuits in the spinal cord. These efforts grew out of earlier studies aimed at understanding how interneuron cell types are generated in the embryonic spinal cord.
The Toshiya Yamada Memorial Lecture was established in memory of Dr Toshi Yamada, an internationally renowned research scientist from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
Dr Yamada’s discovery of the molecules essential for regulating the correct wiring of the spinal cord and parts of the brain forms much of the basis of modern neurobiology and was instrumental in the resurgence of Australia as a world leader in this field.
The free public lecture is held annually in March, during or close to Brain Awareness Week, and is an opportunity to honour Dr Yamada’s memory and celebrate his scientific achievements.
ABOVE (L-R): QBI Director Professor Perry Bartlett, Linda Yamada, Kenji Yamada, Akira Yamada, Lisa Yamada and Professor Martyn Goulding, who presented the 2009 Toshiya Yamada Memorial Lecture.
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Notes to the Editor
QUEENSLAND BRAIN INSTITUTE
The Queensland Brain Institute was formed in 2003 as part of the Queensland Government’s Smart State Initiative, building on a long history of neuroscience at The University of Queensland. QBI is dedicated to understanding the molecular basis of brain function and applying this knowledge to the development of new therapeutics to treat brain and mental health disorders.
