2003 Public Lecture Series
Brain Matters: A Revolution in Neuroscience
Part 2
Degenerative diseases of the brain are traditionally treated by drugs and/or surgery. These approaches have several limitations: It is difficult to direct drugs to the brain, to control the amount of drug throughout the day, and to target specific brain cells. Surgical removal of tissue is always the last resort because the brain does not regenerate the removed tissue. An alternative treatment strategy is being developed that uses microfabricated neural prosthetic devices to restore or replace the function of diseased cells. These ultrasmall implants would allow precise targeting of appropriate signals, drugs or electric stimuli, for long-term treatment of Parkinson's disease, for example. While these techniques are not yet ready for clinical medicine, biomedical research is bringing that day ever closer. To achieve a stable brain implant, researchers are interfacing fabrication techniques developed for the electronics industry with biologically "friendly" materials and targeted drug delivery to the design and manufacture of new devices. The presentation will discuss existing limitations and what strategies scientists are taking to improve the long-term success of nanofabricated neural implants.
James Turner, Ph.D.
Dr. Turner, director of Wadsworth's nanobiotechnology program and its three-dimensional light microscopy facility, has conducted research at Wadsworth since 1977. His most recent investigations involve the use of nanotechnology, the fabrication methods of the integrated circuit industry, to better understand biological systems. Dr. Turner received a bachelor's degree in engineering and a doctorate in biophysics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He pursued postdoctoral studies at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and later provided microscopy support to a hospital's pathology department. This diverse background has placed him at the interface of physical and biological sciences, and positioned him as a team member of multidisciplinary investigations. Dr. Turner is a professor of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the School of Public Health, University at Albany, and adjunct professor of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also conducts research with Rensselaer faculty in image analysis as applied to the biomedical sciences.