Science Events in Sydney

Join CEO Professor Scientia Matthew Kiernan AM and Professor Michelle Farrar for a fascinating glimpse into the young brain. We are very excited to welcome Michelle's research team to NeuRA. The young brain is a new research focus for NeuRA. Michelle is Professor of Paediatric Neurology at UNSW Sydney and specialist child neurologist at the Sydney Children's Hospital. She developed the newborn screening program as well as successful gene therapies to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Without such treatment, the lifespan for infantile onset SMA was under two years. Over 100 neurodegenerative conditions affect children, and childhood dementia is more common than childhood cancers. Michelle and her team's work on better diagnostics, biomarkers for personalised treatment, clinical trials and gene therapies is essential for our children and grandchildren. You are very welcome to bring a friend, family member or associate who might be interested in becoming part of our NeuRA community. We look forward to seeing you!

Discover how everyday nature observations become powerful biodiversity data supporting research across Australia. Science at the Local is back for 2026! Join us for an engaging talk on how citizen science is helping transform our understanding of Australia’s biodiversity. Dr Thomas Mesaglio explores how platforms like iNaturalist enable everyday people to record plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms in their local environments. These shared observations form a powerful dataset that scientists use to map species distributions, track environmental change, and support conservation efforts. Discover how public participation is playing a vital role in scientific research and caring for the natural world.