DR STEPHEN BACK
On 7 August 2006, Dr Stephen Back from the Oregon Health and Sciences University spoke at The Spastic Centre about his pioneering research in paediatric neurology. He was introduced by Iona Novak, Manager Research and Education, The Spastic Centre.
Dr Stephen Back received his MD and his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of California, Irvine. He completed a Pediatric Residency at UC Irvine and trained in pediatric neurology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. While in Boston, Dr Back developed his interest in neonatal neurology and brain injury in the premature infant through fellowship training in the laboratory of Dr Joseph Volpe and a clinical felllowship in cerebral palsy supported by the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
Whilst studying with Dr Volpe, Dr Back undertook a series of studies that have defined cellular and molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of cerebral white matter injury and PVL in premature infants. Dr Back's studies of the causes of brain injury in premature infants are ongoing at his laboratory in the Doernbecher Children's Hospital Pediatric Research Laboratories at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). These studies are currently supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association.
Dr Back is internationally recognised for the pioneering studies that have identified the oligodendrocyte progenitor as the major cell type that is killed in regions of cerebral white matter in survivors of premature birth. A central concept that has emerged from his studies is that cellular maturational factors account for the timing and distribution of injury to the developing white matter.
Currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at OHSU and on the staff of Shriner's Hospital in Portland, Dr Back's clinical practice focuses on care of children with cerebral palsy and other chronic neurological disabilities. he is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards including a Young Investigator Award from the Child Neurology Society and a Burgher Award from the American Heart Association.