Prof Sarah Dunlop is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology at The University of Western Australia.
Sarah Dunlop’s dedication in the area of development and regeneration of the visual system in frogs, lizards, rats and other species has attracted continuous NH&MRC funding since 1979. This work provides a valuable perspective in the area of neuro-regeneration, as comparisons can be made between species that can successfully regenerate their central nervous tissue to regain function following injury, those that demonstrate regeneration without functional recovery, and those that show minimal regeneration, which includes humans. Her findings are helping to pin point where the human nervous system fails in its attempts to regenerate following neurotrauma.

Professor Dunlop is currently working with Professor Beazley on the regeneration of nerve fibres in a variety of species to determine the mechanisms whereby the fibres are guided to their target tissue and establish functional connections therein. One of the factors Dunlop and Beazley found to be vitally important for functional recovery is regular training during the regeneration period, underlying the principal of ‘use it or lose it’ following neural injury.

In 2000 Professor Dunlop also began a joint project with Dr Giles Plant to examine cell-cell signaling between olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) and various nerve cells to find out why OEG cells promote regeneration in the injured spinal cord.<maximum of 64Kb>