Edison Professor of Neurobiology and Head, Department of Neuroscience; Director, McDonnell Center for Cellular & Molecular Neurobiology
Research Interests
Research in my laboratory focuses on the development, plasticity, and function of long-range connections of the cerebral cortex. The corpus callosum is the largest fibre tract in the brain of placental mammals and connects neurons in each cortical hemisphere. We investigate how cellular and molecular/genetic mechanisms regulate brain wiring during development and how brain wiring is altered in congenital corpus callosum dysgenesis (CCD).
CCD occurs in 1:4000 people and can result in profound changes in the structural architecture of brain connectivity due to long-range axonal plasticity that occurs during development. The lab investigates the underlying causes of CCD, how long-range axonal plasticity occurs and how these structural changes in brain wiring impact cognition and behavior.
Professional Education
- BSc: 1990 (Honours), Monash University and The University of Melbourne, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
- PhD: 1995, The University of Melbourne, laboratory of Perry Bartlett
- Postdoctoral Fellow: 1995-1997, the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, San Diego, CA, laboratory of Dennis O’Leary
Affiliations
- Neuroscience
- Cellular & Molecular Neurobiology
Richards Lab
Our laboratory investigates astroglia differentiation in the developing and adult brain and their involvement in cortical development and function.