Neuroscience frontiers: Mini-brains and zapping pain away

When you can’t directly test new therapies on human brains, how do we investigate things like brain cancer? The answer: create mini-brains in the lab! These 3D brain models, known as organoids, allow us to mimic the human brain’s structure and function, offering a safe and ethical way to study brain diseases. This talk will walk you through the process of growing these mini-brains and discuss how our lab uses them to investigate brain tumours. We’ll also look at the exciting future possibilities of this technology and how it could revolutionise clinical treatment and artificial intelligence.

Chronic pain affects millions of people, yet many treatments aren’t effective. But what if we could use electrical signals, rather than drugs, to “switch off” pain? My research explores how tiny electrical pulses—delivered directly to nerves—can help us understand and control pain without anaesthesia. By combining cutting-edge neuroscience with real-world applications, my work could help create new treatments that ease pain without the side effects of traditional medications—bringing hope to people living with chronic pain.