Linda Jane Richards is an Australian developmental neurobiologist, and is currently head of the Department of Neuroscience and the Edison Professor of Neurobiology at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

(St. Louis, MO, USA). She was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2019, Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is an academy to promote health and medical sciences in Australia. It was established in June 2014. It cites "The Academy will serve the three purposes identified as of high priority in the 2 ...

(FAHMS) in 2016, and Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

(FAAS) in 2015. Richards is known for her work on the

corpus callosum The corpus callosum (Latin for "tough body"), also callosal commissure, is a wide, thick nerve tract, consisting of a flat bundle of commissural fibers, beneath the cerebral cortex in the brain. The corpus callosum is only found in placental ...

, the bundle of nerves that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain. She is a founding member of International Consortium for the Corpus Callosum and Cerebral Connectivity (IRC5), a past president of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, and the founder of the Australian Brain Bee Championship.

Early life and education

Richards undertook undergraduate studies at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, and at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where she was awarded a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1990. Her PhD ("Regulation of differentiation and lineage determination in the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain, spinal cord and retina. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity o ...

," under the supervision of

Perry Bartlett Perry Francis Bartlett is an Australian neuroscientist. He was awarded the Florey Medal in 2015. Bartlett first completed studies in dentistry. He later discovered he was more interested in research into the way the brain and immune system wor ...

), which researched the determination of neuronal lineage of in the developing spinal cord, was conferred in 1995 by the University of Melbourne.

Research and career

Richards began her postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies, in the laboratory of Professor Dennis O'Leary. In 1997 she established her own laboratory at the University of Maryland medical school. In 2005 she returned to Australia, taking up a position at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, where she was appointed Associate Professor in the

Queensland Brain Institute The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) is an Australian neuroscience research institute, located in Brisbane at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland (UQ). Founding director Professor Perry Bartlett established the QBI in 2003 wit ...

, and the School of Biomedical Sciences. She was subsequently promoted to Professor in 2010. Richards has been the Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Washington University in St. Louis since 2021. Richards is also the head of the Cortical Development and Axon Guidance Laboratory at the QBI. The laboratory researches the cellular and molecular mechanisms which regulate the formation and development of the corpus callosum. The research focus of her laboratory to study the development of the cortical midline in animal models and in human tissue. In particular, she is involved in researching a phenomenon where the corpus callosum is absent (agenesis) or disformed (dysgenesis) in the developing brain. This condition affects 1 in 4000 people, and is associated with 50 different human congenital disorders.

Professional appointments

* Chief Scientific Advisor and Patron for the Australian Disorders of the Corpus Callosum * Founding member of the International Brain Initiative * Scientific Advisory Board of the International Brain Lab * Previous Chair of the Australian Brain Alliance * Previous Advisory Panel for Million Minds Research Mission

Awards and honours

* 1990 Colman Speed Award awarded by the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research research institute, institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobe ...

for the top Honours student * 2004 C.J. Herrick Award awarded by the American Association of Anatomy, to "recognize young investigators who make important contributions to the field of comparative

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

" * 2010 Nina Kondelos Prize for "outstanding contribution to basic or

clinical neuroscience Clinical neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that focuses on the scientific study of fundamental mechanisms that underlie diseases and disorders of the brain and central nervous system. It seeks to develop new ways of conceptualizing and dia ...

research" awarded by the Australian Neuroscience Society. * 2013 Equity and Diversity Award awarded by the University of Queensland. *2015 elected Fellow of the

. * 2016 elected Fellow of the

. *

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

—

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) for "distinguished service to medical research and education in the field of developmental neurobiology, and to community engagement in science". * 2020 Krieg Cortical Discoverer Award awarded by the Cajal Club

Selected publications

Richards has published over 220 articles. Her most cited articles include ''Agenesis of the corpus callosum: genetic, developmental and functional aspects of connectivity'' (2007), ''Neuropilin-1 conveys semaphorin and VEGF signaling during neural and cardiovascular development'' (2003), and ''De novo generation of neuronal cells from the adult mouse brain'' (1992).

Brain Bee Challenge

In 2006, Richards founded the Australian-New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge. This a competition for secondary students interested in neuroscience. The goal is to educate students and teachers about neuroscience and to encourage students from rural Australia and New Zealand to become involved in neuroscience.

References

Other sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Linda Australian neuroscientists Australian women neuroscientists Living people Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Australian Women of Neuroscience 2014 Monash University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Queensland Year of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences