Congratulations to Associate Professor Mark Hackett from the School of Molecular and Life Sciences on being awarded an Incubator Grant of $25,000 by MS Australia for the project “Does a compound that causes myelin damage cause brain copper deficiency?”.

Associate Professor Hackett has been developing new imaging tools that enable neuroscientists to view metal ions in brain tissue. Together with co-investigators Professor Melinda Fitzgerald, Dr Brittney Lins and Dr Gaewyn Ellison, Associate Professor Hackett plans to use these microscopy tools to reveal where and which cell types in the brain exhibit copper deficiency. These discoveries will enable the team to focus on particular pathways in the brain that may be influenced by copper in the context of MS.

MS Australia is Australia’s national multiple sclerosis (MS) not-for-profit organisation that empowers researchers to identify ways to treat, prevent and cure MS, seeks sustained and systemic policy change via advocacy, and acts as the champion for Australia’s community of people affected by MS.