Ben obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne where he studied intracellular signaling pathways in oligodendrocytes and demyelinating disease. In 2005 he joined Ben Barres’ laboratory at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow. During his time at Stanford he was involved in a project developing methods to purify some of the major cell types of the brain (neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), subsequently using the purified cells to generate a microarray “transcriptome database” of cell type gene expression. Published in Journal of Neuroscience in 2008, this paper and the accompanying online database have been extensively used and cited by the neuroscience community. In 2010 he returned to the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health as a senior research fellow to establish a laboratory focusing on the molecular mechanisms of CNS myelination and remyelination. In 2015 he shifted his group to OHSU, joining the Jungers Center as an Assistant Professor of Neurology. Ben is a faculty member of the Jungers Center for Neurosciences Research, the OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program and the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences “D3” hub.

The Emery lab is interested in the genetic pathways that regulate the generation of oligodendrocytes and their subsequent myelination of axons. We also seek to understand how neurons and oligodendrocytes interact to ultimately determine which axons are myelinated. This is highly relevant to not only development, but also adult neuroplasticity. Finally, we aim to understand how loss of myelin impacts neuronal health and how to promote myelin repair (remyelination) – both areas of critical unmet need in human diseases such as multiple sclerosis.