Julian Jack

Last updated

Julian Jack
FMedSci FRS
P25922-Julian-Jack.jpg
Born
James Julian Bennett Jack

(1936-03-25) 25 March 1936 (age 88) [1]
Invercargill, New Zealand
Education University of Otago (MMedSci, PhD)
University of Oxford (BM, MA)
Awards Rhodes Scholarship [2]
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions University of Oxford
Thesis Inhibition and excitation in the mammalian spinal cord  (1960)
Doctoral students

James Julian Bennett Jack FMedSci FRS [5] (born 25 March 1936) is a New Zealand physiologist. [6]

Contents

Education

Jack graduated from the University of Otago with a PhD in 1960. [1] [7] [8] After his PhD, Jack was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1960 from Magdalen College, Oxford [9] where he was awarded Master of Arts and Bachelor of Medicine degrees in 1963. [1]

Career and research

Jack's research specializes in cellular neuroscience. [5]

His research concerns how nerve cells, or neurons, communicate with one another in the nervous system. Furthermore, how chemical and electrical signals move through neural networks, such as the spinal cord or cerebral cortex. [5] Although neurons form large networks, these cells do not actually touch each other. Instead, when the end of a nerve is activated it releases ions or chemicals known as neurotransmitters. [5] Subsequently, these move across the gap, or synapse, between the neuron and the adjacent cell in the network, activating its receptors and perpetuating the signal. [5] Jack applies theoretical and experimental approaches to research this process of synaptic transmission. [5] This includes the use of neurophysiology methods to record bioelectrical activity and mathematical models to analyse the central and peripheral nervous systems. His work on neurotransmission is offering insight into disorders of the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, and has the potential to improve their diagnosis. [5]

Jack was a Lecturer and Reader at University Laboratory of Physiology at the University of Oxford. [10] [7] His former doctoral students include David Attwell, Michael Hausser [3] and Dimitri Kullmann. [4]

Awards and honours

Jack was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1997 [5] and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 1998. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anon (2015). "Jack, Prof. (James) Julian (Bennett)" . Who's Who (online Oxford University Press  ed.). A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.21612.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ "NZ Rhodes Scholars 1903-1993". reocities.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Häusser, Michael (1992). Intrinsic properties and sympatic inhibition of substantia nigra neurones (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC   62252234. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.306691. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 Kullman, Dimitri Michael (1984). Central actions of muscle receptors. bodleian.ox.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC   59330270. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.353099. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anon (1997). "Professor Julian Jack FMedSci FRS". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
    “All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-11-11)
  6. ↑ The International Who's Who 2004, Europa Publication [ ISBN missing ]
  7. 1 2 Jack, Julian (1960). Inhibition and excitation in the mammalian spinal cord (PhD thesis). University of Otago. OCLC   429667593.
  8. ↑ "Your Otago-Member Login - University of Otago". www.alumni.otago.ac.nz.
  9. ↑ "NZ Rhodes Scholars 1903-1993". reocities.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Electric current flow in excitable cells, James Julian Bennett Jack, Denis Noble, Richard W. Tsien, Clarendon Press, 1975, ISBN   978-0-19-857365-4
  11. ↑ The Academy of Medical Sciences (2025). "Fellow". Academy of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 21 February 2025.

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