
Alan Mackay-Sim is a science superhero as far as we’re concerned. You’ve probably noticed by now that we are all about the science. There is plenty of fun to be had in this project, but at the end of the day we want to promote more science literacy to battle the fake new scare tactics. To fight the good fight you need some smart muscle on your side, which is where our Science Superheroes come in.
Science Superhero #1:
Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim
Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery
Griffith University
2017 Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim is a neuroscientist and stem cell scientist. His research career has focused on how the sensory neurons in the nose are replaced and regenerated from stem cells. He is a world leader in spinal cord injury research. He led the Brisbane team in a world-first clinical trial in which the patient’s own olfactory cells were transplanted into their injured spinal cord in the first stages of a therapy to treat human paraplegia. Alan established the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research in 2006. He developed an adult stem cell bank from over 300 people with different neurological conditions including schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial mutation disorders, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, ataxia telangiectasia and motor neuron disease. These stem cells are used to identify the biological bases of neurological diseases using genomics, proteomics and cell function assays and this work is leading to new drug therapies.
Thank you #Australian of the Year Prof. Alan Mackay-Sim for your extraordinary contribution to #medical #science & humanity #MarchForScience pic.twitter.com/n939vYqP1b
— ScienceMarchBrisbane (@ScienceMarchBNE) April 19, 2017
Meet Alan in Gympie
You can meet Alan at our Science in the Pub event on Sept 15 at the Australian Hotel in Gympie.
A scientist and international leader in stem cell research, the 2017 #AusoftheYear is Professor Alan Mackay-Sim https://t.co/TIRdgLjXZ9 pic.twitter.com/7wdgRFtKPa
— Spinal Cord Injury (@Spinalinjury) January 26, 2017
Pioneering stem cell scientist Alan Mackay-Sim a worthy and inspirational Australian of the year https://t.co/EB0egQuu2G pic.twitter.com/HUHKhENbKt
— Marc Dodd (@marcdodd) January 25, 2017