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Professor Frank Gunn-Moore
On Monday 30th March 2026, at 7pm
My group studies the development and survival of the mammalian nervous system. Our approach has been one of combining all three science disciplines. We have made discoveries in understanding the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, pioneering new models and identified potential therapeutic targets and drugs. In addition, we have developed novel optical technology that allows the controlled poration of cell impermeant biological material into any required cell type; the controlled growth and sorting of cells by use of light; and the development of novel imaging technologies. We publish in biological, chemical and physics-based journals.
I graduated with BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and went on to do my PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. Postdoctoral research at the University of Bristol, uncovering the signalling of the neurotrophic factors, and then the University of Edinburgh, working on uncovering how myelin attaches to nerve cells. I started my own independent group at the School of Biology, University of St Andrews in 2000. More recently I was the Deputy Director of the Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance, Chair of the ARUK Scottish network and I was the Head of Biology University of St Andrews. Currently I am the co-Director of the Mackenzie Institute and part of the SFC funded Brain Health-ARC.