New appointment boosts reputation for neuroscience research in Plymouth
A significant appointment made by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry is set to boost still further the institution’s growing international reputation for neuroscience.
New arrival Professor Robert Fern’s work investigates how the brain is damaged by any loss of blood supply, such as that which happens during stroke in adults and cerebral palsy in babies.
Cerebral palsy is the most common of all human birth disorders, affecting three in 1,000 babies, yet it receives very little research time. It is untreatable and incurable, does not improve with age and affects patients for the rest of their lives. Incidences of the disease are increasing as more very premature babies are surviving.
Professor Fern’s research group is one of the few worldwide that is looking for ways to prevent the brain damage that is responsible for cerebral palsy, with good progress in recent years.
His research investigates the white matter of the brain, which makes up about 50 per cent of its total and contains no so-called ‘little grey cells’. It also investigates glial cells, which are the most abundant cells in the brain. The most common glial cells are called astrocytes, many functions of which are still not understood and which are a target for Professor Fern’s research.
Professor Fern joins Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry from the University of Leicester. He gained his PhD at University College London before working in the US for 11 years, both at Yale and the University of Washington.
His work has been widely published in prestigious journals such as Nature, the Journal of Physiology, The Neuroscientist, Clinical Neuroscience and the Annals of Neurology.
Professor Fern’s appointment is the latest made by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry as it increases the breadth and depth of its neuroscience research in relation to neurodegenerative disorders, ischemia and brain tumours.
