Dr Kaylene Young

After completing her PhD in neural stem cell biology at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (University of Melbourne), Dr Kaylene Young spent 18 months assisting in the successful establishment of the Queensland Brain Institute (University of Queensland). In 2004 she moved to the United Kingdom to work as a postdoctoral research fellow at University College London (UCL).  Her discovery that brain stem cells comprise a diverse population of cells, with varying capacity to make new nerve cells, led to her receipt of a career development award in stem cell research from the Alzheimer’s Society (UK) in 2008. Dr Young made other significant breakthroughs during her time at UCL, characterising a population of cells known as OPCs (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells), and showing that they continued to divide and make new oligodendrocytes for the adult nervous system. This discovery is highly significant for Multiple Sclerosis, as oligodendrocytes are the major cell type damaged by this disease. Since joining the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in 2011, Dr Young has been the recipient of an NHMRC career development fellowship, and in 2014 was named the inaugural recipient of the Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research. Dr Young and her research team now aim to therapeutically direct OPCs towards nervous system repair.