Professor John Furness
PhD, FAA, FAHMS, AO

Professor John Furness is a full-time research scientist holding dual positions at The Florey and the University of Melbourne. His current work concentrates on digestive physiology, on animal models and translation of digestive diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and gastric disorders.

John is best known for his work in unravelling the intrinsic circuits in the digestive tract (the enteric nervous system), for the chemical coding hypothesis and for the discovery and identification of sensory neurons intrinsic to the digestive tract.

Major current research projects are:

• the stomach, its control systems, and therapies for gastric disorders
• inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
• the use of stem cells for neuronal repair and replacement in Hirschsprung Disease and in disorders of the stomach
• enteroendocrine cells: organisation, innervation and roles
• characterisation of drugs and identification of targets for the treatment of digestive disorders.

He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Melbourne and Flinders University. He spent periods of time in research in England, Japan, France and the United States.