Fellow

William Harris, Professor of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, is a major figure in developmental neurobiology, with a consistent track record of important achievements. His work as a postdoctoral fellow, showing that the initial wiring of the nervous system is largely activity independent, was key, as was his work with Stryker on the development of connections in the mammalian visual cortex. Working with Christine Holt, he has made seminal discoveries concerning retinal axon migration and growth cone behaviour and performed classic studies showing that retinal precursors are multipotent. This was followed in Cambridge by demonstrating links between neural determination and the cell cycle and most recently by defining a network of transcription factors involved in eye development, which, when applied to stem cells, may lead to treatments for retinal degenerative diseases. Professor Harris also plays a very significant role in Cambridge University, as Head of the newly-created Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience and he is founder and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of DanioLabs, a company which uses the zebrafish to develop novel therapies in neurological and ophthalmological diseases.