Prize Lectureship

Prize Lecturer 2006 - Professor Ron McKay

Implementing the promise of stem cells in science and medicine

Professor Ronald McKay, of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke, National Institute of Health, USA delivered the Foundation's 2006 Prize Lectures in Dundee and Edinburgh in May. The following is a summary of his lecture.

The principal goals of our work are to define the cellular states and signals that control the differentiation and survival of cells in the central nervous system (CNS). Identification of somatic stem cells in the fetal and adult brain provides a substrate for fundamental studies on the mechanisms controlling cell number, fate and function in the CNS. In studies on domapine neurones we have identified genes regulating their development and mature function that are mutated in Parkinson's patients. These advances suggest that studies on stem cells will contribute to the development of new therapies for neurological disease and cancer.

An edited transcript of Professor McKay's lecture is available to download.

Previous Prize Lectures have been delivered by many distinguished individuals; to view the most recent lectures, please click on the links below:

Prize Lecture 2005 : Prize Lecture 2004 : Prize Lecture 2003 : Prize Lecture 2002 : There was no Prize Lecture in 2001 : Prize Lecture 2000 : Prize Lecture 1999