Leading minds gather at the Florey for The Melbourne Brain Symposium

The Melbourne Brain Symposium has a proud history of showcasing excellence in neuroscience from around the world. Now in its ninth year, The Florey and The University of Melbourne hosted the 2019 symposium last week, bringing together leading experts to share research, foster new collaborations and celebrate recent achievements in neuroscience.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of the Mendelsohn Awards by Professor Fred Mendelsohn himself, former Director of The Florey and Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at The University of Melbourne. The awards recognise students for outstanding research.

Caio Seguin (The University of Melbourne) received the first-prize award and shared his research project in neural communication and the clinical relevance of network communication models in understanding how neural signals are affected during disease. Elie Gottlieb (The Florey) and Leonie Duehlmeyer (The University of Melbourne) were also recognised for their research excellence.

Speakers who presented their work at the Melbourne Brain Symposium include:

  • Professor Liqun Luo, Stanford University – Wiring Specificity of Neural Circuits
  • Associate Professor Muireann Irish, University of Sydney – Memory, dementia and the wandering mind
  • Caio Seguin, University of Melbourne –  Brain network communication models
  • Professor Jennifer Wilkinson-Berka, University of Melbourne; – Harnessing the adaptive immune system to prevent retinal inflammation and vision-threatening vasculopathy
  • Professor Bernard Balleine, University of NSW – The role of the prefronto-striatal convergence in decision making
  • Professor Trevor Kilpatrick, The Florey and The University of Melbourne – MS as a Syndrome – Implications for Future Research and Management