James Spyrou

James Spyrou
Research scientist in neurodevelopment, neuropharmacology and epilepsy
Melbourne, Australia

Bio

I am a researcher currently in the final stages of my PhD at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and The University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, in Professor Christopher Reid's Neurophysiology of Excitable Networks Laboratory.

My current work focuses on using the technique of in utero electroporation to model epilepsy-causing brain malformations underpinned by somatic mosaicism, and has involved investigating and developing novel precision medicines for these conditions. This work has involved collaboration with clinicians and researchers at the Royal Children's Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and has also included teaching the theory and practice of this technique at the Australasian Course of Advanced Neuroscience (ACAN). Previously, I completed a Master of Science (awarded with Distinction) at the University of Melbourne School of BioSciences which focused on induced pluripotent stem cell metabolism, epigenetics and transcriptomics. I also previously worked as a research assistant as part of a drug discovery project at The Florey in collaboration with BioCurate.

Across these projects I have developed expertise in various techniques, including mouse surgeries, mouse behavioural and pharmacological assays, molecular biology, confocal microscopy and image processing, cell culture, bioinformatics, and data processing, analysis and visualisation using R, Python and MATLAB. I have presented at and received awards for a number of conferences, including the International Congress of Genetics (ICG), Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS), the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), and am also a frequent presenter at local and national epilepsy and neurogenetics meetings.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests, for example if you want a copy of my CV or any of my papers you don't have access to, or if you just want to get in touch.