Meet the research leaders in neuroscience
Dr Nick Smith MBBS(Hon) DCH, FRACP
Dr Smith is a paediatric neurologist in the Department of Neurology at the Women's and Children's Hospital and a senior lecturer in the Discipline of Paediatrics at the University of Adelaide. He joins the Children's Research Centre in 2012 following several years with the Lysosomal Diseases Research Group at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Smith's research is focused on the diagnosis and management of childhood neurodegenerative diseases and paediatric disorders of movement, many of which result from inherited abnormalities of metabolism.
He is currently working on new ways to treat lysosomal disease, which can affect both the brain and the nervous system. Lysosomal disease occurs when the recycling centres of human cells malfunction, and complex cellular material that would otherwise be broken down for re-use starts to collect in the cells, eventually leading to severe physical symptoms.
Dr Julia Pitcher BAppSc BSc PhD
Dr Pitcher co-leads the Neuromotor Development Stream at the Children's Research Centre alongside Dr Michael Ridding. She is also Head of the Neuromotor Plasticity and Development Research Group (NeuroPAD) at the Robinson Institute and an MS McLeod Research Fellow in Paediatric Medicine in the Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Adelaide.
Dr Pitcher's research is concerned with the influence of the prenatal environment on human motor cortex development, and in 2005 she won the Young Tall Poppy of Science Award for outstanding scholarship of national and international standing by a young Australian scientist. In 2009 the National Health and Medical Research Council recognised her research into the impact of preterm birth on motor skills as one of the "Ten Best Research Projects" in Australia for 2009.
Dr Pitcher is now investigating the effect of preterm birth on the brain's ability to adapt to new experiences, and the influence of general anaesthesia on the motor system of children. She is part of a multidisciplinary team including neurophysiologists, obstetricians, neonatologists and clinical epidemiologists who are committed to advancing current knowledge about motor skill learning and how we might minimise any negative neurocognitive outcomes of prenatal disturbances.
Dr Michael Ridding MSc PhD
Dr Ridding co-leads the Neuromotor Development Stream at the Children's Research Centre alongside Dr Julia Pitcher and is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow in the Neuromotor Plasticity and Development Research Group (NeuroPAD). He is also the Director of the Research Centre for the Early Origins of Health and Disease at the Robinson Institute.
Dr Ridding's research is concerned with neuroplasticity, or the capacity of the brain to reorganise its connections according to experience. His work has significant implications for people suffering from brain injuries or delayed brain development. In 2003 he won an Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellowship for his achievements in neuromotor research, and in the same year was awarded the Elizabeth Penfold Simpson Prize for Neuroscience by the Australian Brain Foundation.
Using a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Dr Ridding hopes to determine the ability of the motor cortex to repair and strengthen itself after injury or delayed development. He is also interested in the impact of preterm birth, early life experiences and genetics on neuroplasticity, and ways in which motor dysfunction can be overcome through new therapeutic interventions.
