Perry X Foundation and Bond University Launch Scholarship program

As recently as November 2007 Perry X Foundation established a relationship with Bond University and their Research Unit with respect to spinal injury research. The interest is in relation to the cure, and therefore the basic research to support the progress in that direction. There was also a further interest in fund-raising, and the associated publicity, to increase public awareness and consciousness of central nervous system (CNS) damage and disorder.

The partnership between Bond University and Perry X Foundation has been finalised. The Foundation is looking to sponsor a number of PHD Students over the coming years. 

The first project is based on Factors influencing axonal regeneration in the injured Zebrafish central nervous system. The central nervous system (CNS) of some cold blooded animals such as fish and frogs is capable of major structural repair after lesions in adult life. These regenerated axons are capable of growing and synapsing with neurons in appropriate target sites, often restoring function. This project aims to determine some of the factors associated with the difference between the CNS of such cold blooded animals and that of mammals. 

The second project is Determination of factors to enhance and inhibit axonal regeneration using in vitro models the mammalian central nervous system. Professor K. Bedi has helped develop a novel tissue culture method to study axonal regeneration in a tissue culture system.  The present project aims to study the intracellular mechanisms which a nerve cell uses to begin regenerating its cellular processes and the conditions required for inducing this nerve cell repair using such a tissue culture system. The results of such research could have a profound influence on all those who have been unfortunate enough to suffer brain or spinal cord injury.

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