BrainMatters

Dr Tom Smejka is a researcher at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, where he investigates the impacts of stroke on sleep.

In this episode, Dr Smejka talks about his work on rehabilitating stroke patients with sleep problems, comparing traditional in-person cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia with internet-based programs designed for improved accessibility. He also gives general sleep advice that he has learned over the years of studying sleep research.

To learn more about Dr Smejka, you can find his profile on the Radboud University website: https://www.ru.nl/en/search?w=tom+smejka

and his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-smejka-201509133/

The intro and outro song are sourced from: //pixabay.com/music/beats-intro-184995/

Research mentioned in order of appearance:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsr.13971

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02699052.2022.2034182

https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/no-snooze-you-lose-sleep-problems-after-stroke-and-avenues-for-tr/

Professor Teresa Schuhmann is the principal investigator of the clinical neuromodulation group at Maastricht University, where she works on non-invasive brain stimulation techniques. In this episode, prof. Schuhmann talks about how transcranial magnetic stimulation works, what it is being used for currently and the research she is looking forward to seeing in the field. She also discusses her recent partnership with Mondriaan (https://www.mondriaan.eu), a psychiatric institute in the Netherlands, where she helps psychologists put TMS to use in treating patients.

To reach out to prof. Schuhmann for discussion or potential collaboration, you can find her email on her profile: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/t-schuhmann

The intro and outro song are sourced from: //pixabay.com/music/beats-intro-184995/

Research mentioned in order of appearance:

Prof. Paul Maruff is an honorary professor of UniMelb and a lead researcher in the Neurodegeneration and Neuropathology group at the Florey Institute in Melbourne. 20+ years ago he made the leap from academia to industry when he took his expertise in Alzheimer's research into a company, Cogstate, where he now serves as Chief Innovation Officer.

In part two, I ask Paul what advice he can give to students looking to start their careers upon leaving university. Although the conversation mostly focused around pursuing a career in industry, there were still many takeaways and tips for all students!

You can reach out to prof. Maruff via his socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-maruff-a282a31b/?originalSubdomain=au and at https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/136594-paul-maruff

The intro and outro song are sourced from: //pixabay.com/music/beats-intro-184995/

Prof. Paul Maruff is an honorary professor of UniMelb and a lead researcher in the Neurodegeneration and Neuropathology group at the Florey Institute in Melbourne. 20+ years ago he made the leap from academia to industry when he took his expertise in Alzheimer's research into a company, Cogstate, where he now serves as Chief Innovation Officer.

In this first half of our conversation, prof. Maruff uses his years of experience from walking in both worlds, to give advice to students and researchers who have thought about making the move from a career in academia to one in industry.

You can reach out to prof. Maruff via his socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-maruff-a282a31b/?originalSubdomain=au and at https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/136594-paul-maruff

The intro and outro song are sourced from: //pixabay.com/music/beats-intro-184995/

Dr Philip Ryan is lead researcher of the Fluid Homeostasis group at the Florey Institute in Melbourne, working closely with the Addiction Neuroscience group to unpack the importance of oxytocin as a regulator of the desire to drink fluids. He is also medical director at Nucleus Network, a clinical trial research organisation based in Melbourne.

On this episode, Dr Ryan talks through his experience of discovering a cluster of neurons sensitive to oxytocin that are integral to monitoring fluid homeostasis in the body. He discusses how many attempts there were before success, the methods employed including optogenetics and DREADD, and how his understanding of the dynamics of addiction has increased his compassion for patients.

You can reach out to Dr Ryan here: https://florey.edu.au/researcher/philip-ryan/

Research mentioned in order of appearance:

James Gattuso is a PhD candidate in the Genes, Environment and Behaviour Group at the Florey Institute in Melbourne. In this episode, we discuss his work on abuse models of psilocybin, the importance of the Default Mode Network in psychedelic research and the potential for psychedelics to enhance neuroscience outside of their therapeutic benefits.

Socials:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-gattuso-2a8b79210/

Research mentioned in order of appearance:

Dr Kagan is chief scientific officer at Cortical Labs, leading their development of synthetic biocomputing technology. Dr Habibollahi is a data scientist at Cortical Labs. She completed her PhD at UniMelb and has also studied in Iran and Switzerland.

To email Cortical Labs: [email protected]

To reach out to Dr Kagan for discussion: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-kagan-6ba996146/

For Dr Habibollahi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forough-habibollahi-a18581b5/

Cortical Labs socials

YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq4mqLeGRdq47sHumYMIDJw

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/corticallabs/

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For a good visualisation of the potential of synthetic biocomputing, see this video featuring Cortical Labs' research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEXefdbQDjw

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Research mentioned in the episode in order of appearance:

Professor Colin Masters is a professor at the Florey Institute of the Neuroscience and Mental Health and the University of Melbourne. In this episode, he recounts his pivotal role in the establishment of the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease and the stages of research that led to his current work on treatments and biomarkers. Here is an excerpt from his bio on the Florey page:

"Over the last 40 years, his work is widely acknowledged as having had a major influence on Alzheimer’s disease research worldwide, particularly the collaborative studies conducted with Konrad Beyreuther in which they discovered the proteolytic neuronal origin of the Aβ amyloid protein, which causes Alzheimer’s disease. This work has led to the continued development of diagnostics and therapeutic strategies and has been recognised by the receipt of many international awards."

To reach out to Prof Masters for discussion: https://florey.edu.au/researcher/colin-masters/

Research mentioned in the episode in order of appearance:

In this first episode, we meet Han Geluk, teacher trainer and writer of the book 'The little brain for dummies. We talk about how and why research about our most important organ; the brain, should be communicated with the layman. Moreover, we talk about his book in which we dive into some interesting facts about our brain as well as reading out loud a passage from this book.

Did you get curious about reading this book? Make sure to follow our Instagram page; brainmatters_nl and leave a comment in which you tag one of your friends and explain why you would like to read this book. *The book is only available in Dutch, unfortunately. 

This episode is in collaboration with the study association Anguilla.