Fellowship supports ongoing study into chronic pain

Thursday, 26 April 2018

The Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics (CNBP), an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence led by the University of Adelaide, has announced the 2018 successful recipient of the CNBP-American Australian Association (AAA) Fellowship.

Logan Jenkins, a researcher at Vanderbilt University, USA, will take up the fellowship from November 2018, for six months.

The fellowship, coordinated by the AAA and funded by the CNBP, provides US$30,000 to support an American graduate student, PhD or early career postdoctoral fellow who wishes to conduct collaborative research at a CNBP research node in Australia.

Logan Jenkins, who specialises in biophotonics, will explore how light can be used to control neuronal activity, as well as to examine how such techniques potentially impact the body’s neuroimmune system.

Mark Hutchinson, CNBP Director and Professor at the University of Adelaide, says this area of study will directly align with CNBP’s research in chronic pain.

“Within the CNBP we examine the working neuroimmune interface at a cellular level and in particular, how the brain’s immune-like cells are linked to chronic pain, a condition that affects millions of people world-wide,” Professor Hutchinson says.

“We will work closely with Logan to see how his light-based neuronal control mechanisms, and neuroimmune-related study, links to our own advanced research in this area.”

Logan Jenkins is looking forward to meeting the CNBP research team in Australia.

“This fellowship will give me the opportunity to work closely with a prestigious Centre of Excellence and I look forward to conducting some excellent and impactful research. I also hope to build scientific friendships that will lead to ongoing collaborations and discovery,” he says.
Professor Hutchinson welcomed the fellowship appointment.

“The CNBP seeks to conduct international cutting-edge research in biophotonics. In order to do this we need to have the best people in the world collaborating with us. This includes rising stars like Logan who comes to us from the Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center, an outstanding organisation which leads the world in ‘neuronal control by light’ investigation,” he says.

“Logan will be based primarily at the University of Adelaide during this fellowship and will also spend time at CNBP’s other research nodes as he explores his research program in the Centre.”

Further information on the United States to Australia Scholarships can be found online at the American Australian Association website. The AAA seeks to build closer US to Australia ties.

The research is also being supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and enabled through access to the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF).

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