DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY TO REPLACE NEURONS LOST TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE WITH NEURAL PRECURSOR CELLS DERIVED FROM SKIN CELLS
With
Professor Michael Valenzuela,
Founder and Chief Scientific Officer,
Skin2Neuron
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Sydney | June 2026
Professor Michael Valenzuela is a science opinion leader, innovator and creative thinker with a career-long commitment to the prevention and treatment of dementia.
He studied psychology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) before completing a PhD on Cognitive Reserve. This work was recognised by one of the nation’s top awards, the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Medical Research.
Following that he completed graduate medicine and medical training at the Prince of Wales Hospital. In 2012, he established the Regenerative Neuroscience Group at the University of Sydney, and in 2017 became the university’s first Professor of Regenerative Medicine.
Professor Valenzuela’s group discovered a new cell type with potential for regenerative medicine, a rare neural precursor cell found deep within the human hair follicle. He is the main inventor on several related patents and is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Skin2Neuron – a biotech company developing the first neurorestorative cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease based on this work.
Between 2019-2021 he was employed as a senior advisor to the WHO in one of its flagship Decade of Healthy Ageing initiatives. He also joined the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at UNSW as Visiting Professor and played a leading role in the design and successful completion of the Maintain Your Brain – the world’s largest dementia prevention trial that found it is possible to delay cognitive decline in older at-risk people by about 1-year.
Professor Valenzuela is a frequent media commentator and author of the popular science book Maintain Your Brain.
Source: Supplied
-
Inaugural report into Australasian Paramedicine Workforce Survey report to aid workforce planning
In a milestone for paramedicine, the Australasian College of Paramedicine earlier this year released the first report of a landmark three-year study identifying and exploring trends that affect the Australasian paramedicine workforce.
The inaugural Australasian Paramedicine Workforce Survey report 2023-24 explores the demographic, career trajectory, work motivations and conditions for those working in clinical, management and educational capacities within the paramedicine workforce of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. -
Allied Health Building Leadership Experience in Tasmania
A notable program run by Hospitals South is the ABLE program, or Allied Health Building Leadership Experience. This program was created to address the challenge of allied health professionals being seen as a single entity, rather than as individual disciplines, when it comes to leadership and management opportunities. The program is delivered entirely internally, with seminars presented by senior staff and mentorship opportunities for participants to become more effective representatives of allied health in meetings and working groups.
-
Strategic research investments for health and prosperity
The CEO of Research Australia, Nadia Levin spoke with Australian Health Journal about the following:
– Current medical research and development landscape in Australia
– Investment required to support the Health and Medical Research and Innovation pipeline
– The National Medical Products Industry Plan and its impact on the Australian economy
– The Health and Medical Research WorkforceIn the lead up to the Australian Federal Budget in May 2023, Australian Health Journal reached out to peak health industry bodies to hear about their priorities, either noted in pre-budget submissions lodged with Federal Government in January 2023 or in recent forums such as the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
