ProfessorGregg Suaning

Communication within our bodies - messages telling our muscles to move, our eyes to see and our lungs to breathe - is largely carried out by the nervous system. If disease or injury interrupts this communication, we lose important body functions. Professor Gregg Suaning's research focuses on developing implantable devices that use electrical stimulation of nerves to restore lost body functions, including vision, hearing and movement.

"Electrical stimulation of nerves has been remarkably successful in the treatment of a number of diseases - perhaps the best known example is the cochlear implant for the treatment of deafness - but there remains a long way to go before there is true and perfect replacement of body functions.

"My research seeks to achieve this by developing implantable bionics and electroceuticals that are indistinguishable from perfectly functioning, natural systems.

"Not long after I arrived in Australia in the early 1990s, I heard an almost unbelievable story about deaf people receiving a device that enabled them to hear again, and I knew that I had to be a part of this. I went to work for the company - Cochlear - that was producing these incredible, life-changing gadgets, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Following on from this, I sought to do for blind people what the cochlear implant has done for the deaf.

"Not long ago there was nothing on the horizon that clinicians could offer to people with certain diseases that cause blindness. Now there is increasing evidence that research such as mine will ultimately be able to provide useful vision to people with degenerative conditions of the retina.

"My research also aims to contribute to the next generation of cochlear implants for the deaf, and to restoring movement to people with facial paralysis.

"I've been working in this field for more than a quarter of a century, in both industry and academia. I brought my research to the University of Sydney with the aim of engaging with its remarkably talented student community, which I have admired for many years. The University has a dynamic culture that inspires collaboration. It is collaborative rather than competitive, complementary rather than isolationist, and it is indeed a privilege to be a part of it."