Scientific Background

Fred "Rusty" Gage (born August 10, 1950) is a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute, and has concentrated on the adult central nervous system and the unexpected plasticity and adaptability that remains throughout the life of all mammals. His work may lead to methods of replacing brain tissue lost to stroke or Alzheimer’s disease and repairing spinal cord

Spinal cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...

s damaged by trauma. He is the President-elect of the ISSCR.

In 1998, Fred H. Gage (Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a premier independent, non-profit, scientific research institute located in La Jolla, California. It was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among the founding consultants were Jacob Bronowski and Francis Crick. Building...

, La Jolla, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

) and Peter Eriksson

Peter Eriksson (neuroscientist)

For other people named Peter Eriksson, see Peter Eriksson.Peter Eriksson was a Swedish stem cell neuroscientist....

 (Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

) discovered and announced that the human brain produces new nerve cells in adulthood. Until then, it had been assumed that humans are born with all the brain cells they will ever have.

Gage’s lab showed that, contrary to years of dogma, human beings are capable of growing new nerve cells throughout life. Small populations of immature nerve cells are found in the adult mammalian brain, and Gage is working to understand how these cells can be induced to become mature nerve cells. His team is investigating how such cells can be transplanted back to the brain and spinal cord. They have showed that physical exercise can enhance the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in...

, a brain structure that is important for the formation of new memories. Furthermore, his team is examining the underlying molecular mechanisms that are critical to the birth of new brain cells, work that may lead to new therapeutics for neurodegenerative conditions.

Education

Dr. Gage received his Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree from the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

. He did his post-doctoral work at Lund University

Lund University

Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

 in Sweden, under the direction of cell transplantation pioneer Anders Bjorklund. He serves as a member of the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute

Genetics Policy Institute

The Genetics Policy Institute is a 501 nonprofit organization that educates the public and promotes supportive public policy for stem cell research and other forms of cutting-edge medicine....

.

Relationship with Phineas Gage

Fred Gage has been said to be a descendent of (or more specifically, the great-grandson of) Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage

Phineas P. Gage was an American railroad construction foreman now remembered for his improbablesurvival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and...

, through whose brain an iron bar 1-1/4-inches in diameter was accidentally driven in 1848, transforming him into perhaps the most famous of all brain-injury survivors. However, this proposition faces considerable difficulties, chief of which being that Phineas Gage had no known children.

Awards and honors

• Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievements in Health and Education, 1993
• Christopher Reeve Research Medal, 1997
• Max Planck Research Prize, 1999
• President, Society for Neuroscience, 2001
• National Academy of Sciences 2003
• IPSEN Prize for Neuroplasticity
• Metropolitan Life Research Award
• Keio Medical Science Prize
  Keio Medical Science Prize
  The Keio Medical Science Prize , is a distinguished Japanese prize in medical sciences.-Introduction:The prize is awarded to scientists who made significant contributions to the field of medical sciences or life sciences...
  
  , 2008