Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
9:30-10:20am
MJIS 1001
https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95028921977
This seminar will be presented virtually
The Autonomic Nervous System:
A target for neuromodulation
John Furness, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
Digestive Physiology and Nutrition Laboratories
Florey Institute and the University of Melbourne
Abstract:
In this talk, I will provide an overview, with some emphasis on engineering principles, of the organisation and function of the ANS.
The autonomic nervous system innervates and controls those organs and tissues that are not under overt voluntary control. It adjusts the activities of these
organs and tissues so that they operate at levels most favorable to the states of the body and environment. It has parasympathetic, sympathetic and enteric divisions, plus associated afferent systems that detect body and environmental conditions relevant
to autonomic control. Autonomic pathways form synapses in cranial, cervical, thoracic, abdominal and pelvic ganglia where signals are integrated and relayed. Many tissues are innervated only by parasympathetic or sympathetic neurons. Some organs are under
dual, complementary, control. Ganglia of the enteric division are in the walls of the digestive tract, gallbladder and pancreas. In the intestine the enteric division includes full reflex pathways (afferent neurons, interneurons and motor neurons).
Because the ANS acts as a feed-back control system, it is suited to neuromodulatory control to enhance or restrict feedback circuits. I will show
some examples.
Bio:
John Furness is Professor and Head of the Digestive Physiology and Nutrition Laboratories at the Florey Institute and the University of Melbourne. He has appointments in the Medical
and Veterinary & Agricultural Sciences Faculties. He is best known for physiological, structural and neurochemical analyses that determined the intrinsic circuits of the enteric nervous system. The circuits that he and his colleagues unraveled have formed
a template for later investigations in disease models. His work led to the discovery and identification of sensory neurons intrinsic to the digestive tract. He is also known for the chemical coding hypothesis, the proposal that neurons at defined places
in nerve circuits have unique distinguishing chemical characteristics.
The current emphases of his research are on (i) use of stem cells for the treatment of neuropathies; (ii) the influence on gut function of neuromodulatory therapies and their applicability to
treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and gastroparesis; and (iii) the complexities of co-storage of gut endocrine hormones and their implications in health and disease. He has worked closely with the pharmaceutical, medical devices and animal production
industries. He is one of the most highly cited Australian scientists. Google Scholar (November 2021) gives his h-index as 114, including 46,500 citations overall.
Honors and Awards include:
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, 1989
Davenport Medal, American Physiological Society, 1997
Fellow, Academy of Science of Bologna (L'accademia delle scienze dell'istituto di Bologna), the second oldest scientific academy in existence, 2005
Centenary Medal, Govt of Australia, 2003
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, 2017
Honorary member of the British Physiological Society, 2019.
~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Matthew Ward ~
Sincerely,
Cindy Holderbaum
Senior Administrative Assistant & Schedule Deputy
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
Martin C. Jischke Hall of Biomedical Engineering, (MJIS) Rm. 1021
206 S. Martin Jischke Dr.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
o:
765-494-2995
cholderb@purdue.edu
www.purdue.edu/bme
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