The Translational Neuroscience Facility (TNF) is a core neuroscience research platform in the School of Biomedical Sciences at UNSW Sydney. The TNF broadly supports neuroscience research and advanced translational research training in the School of Biomedical Sciences directed towards treatment of neurological disorders.
Our research
- The TNF is a research core facility in the School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, directed towards translation of scientific discovery to new treatments for neurological disorders, pain mechanisms, learning and addiction disorders, and precision DNA and mRNA therapeutics.听
- Technological innovation supported by a vibrant cross-fertilization of early 鈥 mid - senior career researchers, biomed. science, medicine & biomed engineering students, industry immersion & adjunct industry appointments.
- Themes focus on therapeutic applications linked to hearing loss, leukodystrophy, genetic disorders, neuroprotection in stroke and traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, neuro-immunological mechanisms of pain, neural regeneration, CNS neural plasticity underlying memory & addiction, DNA/mRNA-based treatment of age-related macular degeneration and peripheral nerve repair.
Themes & leaders
TNF Sensori-Motor Physiology and Therapeutics (Scientia Prof. Gary Housley, TNF Director)
Broadly, our aim is to translate discoveries about transmembrane receptor and ion channel signal transduction, into new platforms for treatment of neurological disorders. Our research program focuses on neuroprotection and repair in sensori-motor pathways.
Housley Group
TNF CNS Gene Therapy (Dr. Dominik Froehlich)
Our aim is to advance the understanding of, and to develop targeted gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system with a focus on the group of leukodystrophy white matters disorders.
Dominik Froehlich Group
TNF Neuroimmune Pain Research (Assoc. Prof. Gila Moalem-Taylor)
The principal aim of our research is to understand the relationship between the nervous system and the immune system, with particular emphasis on how immune cells and their mediators affect chronic pain conditions, such as neuropathic pain to assess immunotherapeutic approaches. This knowledge can then be used to identify target molecules or cells for therapeutic purposes in reducing chronic pain
Moalem-Taylor Group
Our group is interested in functional neuroimaging techniques. These techniques provide quantitative insights into ongoing brain activity and its relation to brain health. The main technique we are investigating is electroencephalography (EEG), but also magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and related imaging methods. We are interested in combining and developing new methodological approaches to quantify biological signals, including information theory and machine learning. Applications include wake-sleep transitions, epilepsy, and dementia.
TNF Neuroplasticity in Memory & Addiction (Dr. John Power)
Our group examines how changes in neurons and their connections mediate learning. We focus on motivated learning which underlies addiction and associated behaviours. This work complements Psychology collaborators who investigate the behavioural effects of manipulating these circuits.
Power Group
叠补顿骋贰听
UNSW Sydney BaDGE庐 platform is a novel proprietary technology that enables precision delivery of DNA / RNA therapeutics using an innovative pulsed electric lensing technology. BaDGE庐 was developed by the team in the Translational Neuroscience Facility in the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Biomedical Engineering (SBmE), supported by the Tyree Institute of Health Engineering, a new joint initiative of the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine & Health.
BaDGE
Electrical Neuromodulation (Dr. Felix Aplin)
Our research group is focused on developing new ways to electrically stimulate the nervous system to treat human injury and disease. Our work spans a full range, from fundamental studies of nerve modulation to translational projects examining the effect of electrical waveforms on motor rehabilitation.
Aplin Group
The TNF Team
A vibrant group of research scientists with expertise in Neuroscience, Cell and Molecular Biology, Gene therapy, Neuroimmunology, Neurophysiology and CNS disorders
Impact and applications
- Clinical trials:
- BaDGE庐 cochlear implant neurotrophin gene therapy [Phase I/II non-randomized, controlled trial, evaluating the safety and efficacy of neurotrophin gene therapy delivered during cochlear implant surgery; ; ()]
- Noise adaptation: a biomarker for hearing loss vulnerability (supporting establishment of a first-in-class prognostic hearing test)
- Translational stroke & traumatic brain injury (TBI) small molecule therapeutics
- Targeted DNA / RNA therapeutics: Focal neurological disorders, e.g. epilepsy & Parkinson鈥檚 Disease, white-matter disorders, eye disease, immunotherapies, hearing and bionics, peripheral nerve repair
- Pain neuro-immunology
- Learning and addiction neural circuits
TNF Patents
BaDGE庐 non-viral gene delivery:
- US Patent US9533138B2 听
- US Patent US11013917B2 听
- US Patent US20180169399A1
- US20220054827A1 pending
- PCT WO2021072507A1 pending
- AU Patent. Application No. 2022903976听
Neuroprotection:
- US 2017/0202932 A1
- AU2013286815
Hearing loss:
- WO2019169440
Industry Partners & Cross-Institutional Research Agreements
- Bionics Inst. U. Melbourne
- Boehringer-Ingelheim Germany
- CNRS & Descartes U. Paris, France
- Cochlear Ltd Australia
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tuebingen, Germany
- Interacoustics, Copenhagen
- Macquarie University Hearing Hub, Sydney
- Mission Massimo Foundation
- Murdochs Children鈥檚 Research Institute, Melb.
- National Institute of Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki, Japan
- NextSense Australia
- Nyrada Inc. Australia
- Passe & Williams Memorial Foundation
- Shanghai Inst. Neuroscience, China
- Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Japan
- Touchlight Genetics UK
- U. Auckland, N.Z.
- U. Calif. San Diego, USA
- U. Miami, Florida, USA
- University of Queensland
- University of Sydney
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Brain Trauma Neuroprotection Branch, MD, USA
News & media
- Latest news
- Media highlights
- Research grants (active)
- Publication highlights
- AEA Ignite Funding for Vision BaDGE electro-lens delivery of naked VEGFscav DNA is the future for wet-AMD eye disease therapy (06/03/2025)
- Elena Venuti 鈥楢 mouse model of HBSL disease enabling AAV gene therapy delivered in utero鈥 听won best student poster prize 2024 Australian Gene and Cell Therapy Society (AGCTS) Meeting 鈥 30听Oct to 1听Nov.
- Connor Karozis presented 鈥楢 precision gene delivery platform targeting peripheral nerve injury鈥 Australian Gene and Cell Therapy Society (AGCTS) Meeting 鈥 30听Oct to 1听Nov.
Hearing Headway
Regrown Nerve Fibres
- 2025 - 2027 - European Leukodystrophy Association (ELA) Project Grant; CIA Froehlich; Establishing efficacy and safety of HBSL gene therapy in preclinical disease models
- 2023 - 2026 - Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Stem Cell Therapies Mission (2023 - 2025); CIs Wolvetang, Fr枚ehlich, Klugmann, Coman, Leeson, Leventer, Gillam, Ross; Moon's Mission: creating a replicable therapeutic framework for hereditary spastic paraplegias
- 2023 - 2026 - National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant; CIs Forrest, Kovacs, Fr枚ehlich, van Hummel; Understanding neurodegeneration caused by oligodendroglial dysfunction
- 2025 鈥 2026 鈥 Australia鈥檚 Economic Accelerator Seed grant 鈥淰ision BaDGE electro-lens delivery of naked VEGFscav DNA is the future for wet-AMD eye disease therapy鈥. Georg von Jonquieres, Gary Housley, Nigel Lovell, Michael Kalloniatis, Jeremy Pinyon, Amr Al Abed, Mohit Shivdasani, Edward Crawford, Mayryl Duxbury, Jennie Cederholm, Dominik Froehlich, Ian Goon, Leo Stevens, and Lily Pearson.
- 2024-2025 鈥 Australia鈥檚 Economic Accelerator Seed grant听 鈥淓stablishing Vision-BaDGE anti-VEGF DNA therapy for age-related macular degeneration. Australian Government Department of Education AEA Seed Tranche 1. G. von Jonquieres, G. Housley, N. Lovell, M. Kalloniatis, E. Crawford, A. Al Abed, J. Cederholm, D. Froehlich, M. Duxbury, I. Goon, L. Pearson.听
- 2022 - 2025 - National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC - Australia) IDEAS Grant 鈥淏ionic-array Directed Gene Electrotransfer for Treating Focal Brain Disorders鈥. CIs: Gary Housley, Nigel Lovell, Matthias Klugmann, Holger Lerche, Thomas Wuttke, Frederic von Wegner, Amr Al Abed, Georg von Jonquieres, Jennie Cederholm; AIs: Jeremy Pinyon, Caroline Rae, Dominik Froehlich, Andre Bongers, Daniel Scherman, Junichi Nabekura.
- 2021 - ongoing 鈥 Industry Contract 鈥 Boehringer Ingelheim 鈥 Brain-BaDGE庐 for DNA & RNA therapeutics targeting epilepsy enabling grant 鈥 Research Beyond Borders
- 2020 鈥 ongoing: Industry Contract - Nyrada Pty Ltd听 to support Traumatic Brain Injury collaborative research including the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research (WRAIR).
- 2020 鈥 2025: National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC - Australia) IDEAS Grant听 鈥淐ochlear purinergic adaptation as a biomarker for vulnerability to noise-induced hearing loss. CIs: Gary Housley, Xue Liu, Shin-ichi Usami, Zhiyong Liu, Allen Ryan, Catherine McMahon, David McAlpine, Jennie Cederholm, Peter Thorne, Srdjan Vlajkovic, AIs: David Ryugo, Frederic von Wegner.
- 2019 - 2024 鈥 The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation conjoint grant 鈥淧rogression of hearing performance following cochlear implant neurotrophin gene augmentation. CIs: G Housley, C Birman,听 W Lai, J Pinyon, D McAlpine.
- 2025-2026 鈥 ANZCA Project Grant 鈥 鈥淚nvestigating the Effects of Spinal Direct Current Stimulation on Glial Cells for Chronic Pain Neuromodulation.鈥 Mohabbati Vahid, Moalem-Taylor Gila, Aplin Felix, Papan Mohammadkazem.
- 2023-2025 鈥 MS Australia 鈥 鈥淣anoconjugates for treating neuropathic pain in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS.鈥 CIs: Moalem-Taylor Gila, Mao Guangzhao, Pascal Carrive; AIs: Housley, Potas, Krishnan.
- 2022-2025 鈥 NSW Schizophrenia Research Grants Program 鈥 鈥淯nlocking midbrain microglia as treatment targets for dopamine dysregulation in schizophrenia.鈥 Tertia Purves-Tyson, Jennifer Cornish, Gila Moalem-Taylor, Melissa Bauman.
- 2022-2023 (Extended to 2024) 鈥 UNSW Medicine Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addictions Theme and SPHERE Clinical Academic Group Seed Grant 鈥 鈥淣anoconjugates for treating neuropathic pain in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.鈥 CIs: Moalem-Taylor Gila, Mao Guangzhao, Pascal Carrive; AIs: Housley, Krishnan.
- Pearson, L. J., Pinyon, J. L., Cederholm, J. M. E., von Jonquieres, G., Bartlett, F., V谩zquez-Campos, X., Delerue, F., Ittner, L. M., & Housley, G. D.听Developmental differentiation of mouse inner ear neuron subpopulations resolved with a peripherin-promoter reporter within the听Grm8听locus.听Sci Rep听15, 10281 (2025).听
- Jeremy L. Pinyon, Georg von Jonquieres, Stephen L. Mow, Amr Al Abed, Keng-Yin Lai, Mathumathi Manoharan, Edward N. Crawford, Stanley H. Xue, Sarah Smith-Moore, Lisa J. Caproni, Sarah Milsom, Matthias Klugmann, Nigel H. Lovell, Gary D. Housley. 鈥榁ector-Free Deep Tissue Targeting of DNA/RNA Therapeutics via Single Capacitive Discharge Conductivity-Clamped Gene Electrotransfer鈥, Advanced Science 3/2025 ()
- Gene Electrotransfer via Conductivity-Clamped Electric Field Focusing Pivots Sensori-Motor DNA Therapeutics: 鈥淎 Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down鈥 Advanced Science 30/2024. Jeremy L. Pinyon, Georg von Jonquieres, Edward N. Crawford, Amr Al Abed, John M. Power, Matthias Klugmann, Cherylea J. Browne, David M. Housley, Andrew K. Wise, James B. Fallon, Robert K. Shepherd, John Y. Lin, Catherine McMahon, David McAlpine, Catherine S. Birman, Waikong Lai, Ya Lang Enke, Paul M. Carter, James F. Patrick, Robert D. Gay, Corinne Marie, Daniel Scherman, Nigel H. Lovell, Gary D. Housley听
- Parmar J; von Jonquieres G; Gorlamandala N; Chung B; Craig AJ; Pinyon JL; Birnbaumer L; Klugmann M; Moorhouse AJ; Power JM; Housley GD,听2024,听'TRPC Channels Activated by G Protein-Coupled Receptors Drive Ca2+听Dysregulation Leading to Secondary Brain Injury in the Mouse Model',听Translational Stroke Research,听15,听pp. 844 - 858,听
- Cederholm JME; Parley KE; Perera CJ; von Jonquieres G; Pinyon JL; Julien JP; Ryugo DK; Ryan AF; Housley GD,听2022,听'Noise-induced hearing loss vulnerability in type III intermediate filament peripherin gene knockout mice',听Frontiers in Neurology,听13,听
- Close-field electroporation gene delivery using the cochlear implant electrode array enhances the bionic ear.听 Jeremy L. Pinyon, Sherif F. Tadros, Kristina E. Froud, Ann C. Y. Wong, Isabella T. Tompson, Edward听N. Crawford, Myungseo Ko, Ren茅e Morris, Matthias Klugmann, Gary D. Housley. Science Translational Medicine听听23 Apr 2014听 (Cover). Vol. 6, Issue 233, pp. 233ra54
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.300817 - Fr枚hlich D; Kalotay E; von Jonquieres G; Bongers A; Lee B; Suchowerska AK; Housley GD; Klugmann M,听2022,听'Dual-function AAV gene therapy reverses late-stage Canavan disease pathology in mice',听Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience,听15,听
- Housley GD, Morton-Jones R., Vlajkovic SM, Telang RS, Paramananthasivam V, Tadros SF,听 Wong ACY, Froud KE, Cederholm JME, Sivakumaran Y, Snguanwongchai P, Khakh BS, Cockayne DA, Thorne PR., Ryan AF (2013).听 鈥楢TP-gated ion channels mediate adaptation to elevated sound levels鈥櫶 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.110, 18:7494-7499. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1222295110
- Yan D, Zhu Y, Walsh T, Xie D, Yuan H, Sirmaci A, Fukikawa T, Wong ACY, Loh TL, Du L, Grati M, Vlajkovic SM, Blanton S, Ryan AF, Chen Z-Y, Thorne PR, Kachar B, Tekin M, Zhao H-B, Housley GD, King M-C, Liu X-Z (2013) 鈥楳utation of the ATP-gated P2X2 receptor leads to progressive hearing loss and increased susceptibility to noise鈥, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 110,6:2228-2233. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1222285110. Epub 2013 Jan 23
- Scientific Blog 鈥 Naked Scientist interview 鈥淗ow can we improve cochlear implants鈥 29/04/2014.
- Froud KE, Wong ACY, Cederholm JME, Klugmann M, Sandow SL, Julien J-P, Ryan AF, Housley GD (2015) Type II spiral ganglion afferent neurons drive medial olivocochlear reflex suppression of the cochlear amplifier. Nature Communications 10.1038/ncomms8115 (May 12th, 2015).
- This publication received a commentary in Nature and Gary Housley was interviewed by Naked Scientists
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School of Biomedical Sciences
Faculty of Medicine & Health
UNSW Sydney
Level 3 SW Wallace Wurth Building
High Street, Randwick, NSW 2052
Contact
Prof. Gary Housley (Director)
T: +61-(0)404235180
E: g.housley@unsw.edu.au
Web: Translational Neuroscience Facility | School of Biomedical Sciences - UNSW Sydney
