Public Lecture | World Brain Day

Join us for the second in The Florey’s 2025 Public Lecture Series, recognising World Brain Day. From stem cells to focused therapies: Innovative advances to treating brain diseases.

Come along to hear from Florey researchers, clinicians and people will lived experience to talk about our research into motor neurone disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease.

Dr Arthur Thevathasan

Arthur is a neurologist who specialises in movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Dividing his time between research and clinical care, he's completing a PhD at the Florey to improve deep brain stimulation therapies. At the Austin Hospital, he coordinates the Focused Ultrasound service, and at the  University of Melbourne he helps to shape the next generation of doctors through his work in medical education.

Professor Clare Parish

Clare leads a cutting-edge research team focused on healing the brain using stem cells. Her work explores how these cells can help us better understand and treat conditions like Parkinson’s, stroke, and Huntington’s disease. Combining science with engineering, Clare is developing smarter ways to safely repair brain damage and bring stem cell therapies closer to reality.

Dr Shwathy Ramesan

Shwathy is a biomedical engineer-turned-neuroscientist crating 3D “mini-brains” to study diseases like Multiple Sclerosis. Her research blends clever lab-based models with stem cell tech to understand complex conditions and how we might treat them. She's passionate about turning science into real solutions for brain health.

Dr Thanuja Dharmadasa

Thanuja is a neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with a passion for improving care for people living with motor neurone disease (MND). After completing her PhD in MND at the University of Sydney, she undertook advanced clinical research training at the University of Oxford as an NHMRC Early Career Fellow. Thanuja combines cutting-edge brain imaging and diagnostic tools to better understand how MND develops—and how we can treat it more effectively. She is currently launching a specialist multidisciplinary MND clinical research centre in Melbourne which integrates best clinical practice, innovative research and access to emerging therapies. 

The Florey, with clinical and industry partners, is committed to making a difference in this space. There are still many questions to answer in this field of health and more treatment options are desperately needed.

Seats for In Person attendees are limited, if you are planning to dial in virtually, please do not book an In Person ticket.

Everyone who has registered will be sent the Live Streaming link on Monday 21 July at 5:00pm.

Everyone who has registered will be sent the Recording of the event.

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