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Headlines 15 Professor Wickliffe (Cliff) Abraham has played a leading role in promoting neuroscience research. He teaches at the University of Otago and has promoted neuroscience at a national level by serving as chair of the Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research for 12 years. Professor Cliff Abraham Professor of Psychology Co-director of Brain Research New Zealand – Rangahau Roro Aotearoa University of Otago “I have no doubt that without this extension we would not be able to complete the project as planned.” – Professor Cliff Abraham He is also a supervisor of two Neurological Foundation funded postdoctoral fellows, Dr Shane Ohline and Dr Owen Jones. When the news broke about the COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand, both projects were gathering speed but suddenly everything came to a standstill. For Dr Jones, this meant having to throw out tissue samples and put experiments on hold. “In the blink of an eye we found ourselves months behind schedule.” But that wasn’t the only thing that put the project in jeopardy either, “worse still, this project is in collaboration with a Chinese group based in Wuhan, the very centre of the outbreak. Our collaborators have naturally had to put their side of the project on hold also.” Dr Jones and Professor Abraham’s research investigates the mechanisms of “Tau” protein-induced synapse weakening. Synapse weakening can lead to disastrous consequences on learning and memory, and become toxic if over- done. The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is their focus, with a concentration on the neurons of this region called “granule cells”. They exhibit low levels of activity, often not firing for tens of minutes at a time, although curiously enough, exhibit hyperactivity in certain disease states such as temporal lobe epilepsy and early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The Tau protein is a well-known major driver of pathology in Alzheimer’s disease, but it also comes into play in normal situations. Dr Jones and Professor Abraham’s work therefore has relevance for understanding a fundamental mechanism that may shift from a normal functioning cell to one contributing to cognitive decline and cell death in many diseases. “The news that the Neurological Foundation would offer a three-month contract extension has definitely saved the project” says Professor Abraham. “This extra time allows the New Zealand team, and Research Fellow Dr Owen Jones in particular, to get things back on track. I have no doubt that without this extension we would not be able to complete the project as planned. This is a very welcome show of support and leadership by the Foundation.”