In 1989, The University of Lethbridge Alumni Association established their Alumnus of the Year Award to recognize those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and earned international reputations in their chosen field. This year’s recipient is Brent Reynolds, a neuropsychology researcher who, barely a decade after graduating from The University of Lethbridge, has made great advances in understanding the brain and how it works.
Brent Reynolds originally wanted to be a medical doctor, and came to the U of L to study pre-medicine. An introductory course with neuropsychology professor Bryan Kolb, and the experience of working as one of Kolb’s research assistants for two years, influenced him to switch to neuroscience. He graduated with a BASC in 1986 and continued his studies at The University of Calgary, graduating with master’s and doctoral degrees in 1989 and 1994.
It was while he was working on his doctorate at Calgary that Brent Reynolds made the startling discovery that the brain has a supply of neural stem cells that can be stimulated to become new nerve cells after damage. Prior to this discovery, neuroscientists believed that brain cell regeneration was impossible and that stem cells should not exist in the brains of adult mammals.
The implications of the Brent Reynolds’s findings are enormous: if brain cells can be regenerated, then cells damaged in brain injury or lost in the processes of aging can be replaced.
Since his initial discovery, Brent Reynolds has parleyed his work into a number of patents and has co-founded NeuroSpheres Ltd., a Calgary-based company established to research , develop and commercialized neural stem cell technology and to acquire and develop complementary technologies. He is presently Vice-President and Director of Research for the company.
While applications for his work are still in the experimental stage, he hopes to develop therapy programs that will help restore people with damaged brains. He also continues to work with former teachers like Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw.
Brent Reynolds’s work holds great promise for the future, and represents a medical breakthrough that may eventually benefit more people than he might ever have hoped to help as a lone physician. It is the great honour of The University of Lethbridge Alumni Association to celebrate this achievement by recognizing him as Alumnus of the Year.