University of Tasmania, Australia

Lecturer in Biosciences

BSc(Hons), PhD(Bath)

General Responsibilities

Dr Bennett completed his PhD from the University of Bath, UK in 2000. His current roles involve lecturing to undergraduates and conducting research in neuroscience.

Teaching Responsibilities

Dr Bennett predominantly teaches into the Bachelors of Nursing and Paramedic Studies, as well as into as well as the Bachelor of Biotechnology and Medical Research (neuroscience major).

Units Taught

• CXA107 - Foundations of Bioscience
• CXA204 - Bioscience 1
• CHP311 - Neuroscience A
• CHP312 - Neuroscience B

Publications

• Howells, C., Saar, K., Eaton, E., Ray, S., Palumaa, P., Shabala, L., Adlard, P., Bennett, W., West, A., Guillemin, G. et al. (2012). Redox-active Cu(II)-Aβ causes substantial changes in axonal integrity in cultured cortical neurons in an oxidative-stress dependent manner. Experimental Neurology, 237, 499-506.
• Leung, J. Y. K., Bennett, W. R., Herbert, R. P., West, A. K., Lee, P. R., Wake, H., Fields, R. D., Chuah, M. I. & Chung, R. S. (2012). Metallothionein promotes regenerative axonal sprouting of dorsal root ganglion neurons after physical axotomy. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 69, 809-817.
• Ray, S., Howells, C., Eaton, E. D., Butler, C. W., Shabala, L., Adlard, P. A., West, A. K., Bennett, W. R., Guillemin, G. J. and Chung, R. S. (2011). Tg2576 Cortical Neurons That Express Human Ab Are Susceptible to Extracellular A beta-Induced, K(+) Efflux Dependent Neurodegeneration. PLoS One, 6.
• Pankhurst, M. W., Bennett, W., Kirkcaldie, M. T. K., West, A. K. and Chung, R. S. (2011). Increased circulating leukocyte numbers and altered macrophage phenotype correlate with the altered immune response to brain injury in metallothionein (MT) -I/II null mutant mice. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 8.
• Chung, R. S., Howells, C., Eaton, E. D., Shabala, L., Zovo, K., Palumaa, P., Sillard, R., Woodhouse, A., Bennett, W. R., Ray, S. et al. (2010). The Native Copper- and Zinc- Binding Protein Metallothionein Blocks Copper-Mediated Abeta Aggregation and Toxicity in Rat Cortical Neurons. PLoS One, 5.

Additional Information

Dr Bennett's research background is diverse and encompasses a range of medical research areas. He gained his PhD from the University of Bath in 2000, and has worked in the fields of mouse transgenics, developmental biology, wound healing, stem cell transplantation and cancer cell biology. He joined the University of Tasmania in 2008 and has worked in the area of neuroscience since then.

Research Interests

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Motor Neuron Disease
• Neuroplasticity
• Neuroregeneration