Brent A. Reynolds, Ph.D. attended the University of Calgary, where he received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in 1989 and 1994, respectively. While working on his Ph.D. thesis, Reynolds discovered the existence of stem cells in the adult mammalian brain. This finding overcame a century-old dogma that the mature brain did not have the capacity to repair itself. After graduating, Reynolds co-founded the first neural stem cell company (NeuroSpheres, Ltd.), where he was a Director and VP-Research. Here he established a strong patent portfolio in the neural stem cell field, developing and protecting protocols related to the application of stem cell technology in brain repair. Today, these patents and technology have been licensed to numerous biotechnology companies that test the efficacy in over half a dozen clinical trials for diseases such as spinal cord injury, stroke, ALS and pediatric disorders. After a 10-year hiatus, where Reynolds studied and practiced Chinese Medicine and Hatha yoga, he returned to industry, where he assisted in the development and launching of several products in the stem cell field while working in Vancouver, Canada.

In 2004 Reynolds returned to academic science as a Professor at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland in Australia, where he continued to refine the application of neural stem cells for repairing the damaged brain.

In 2008, Reynolds was recruited to the Dept. of Neurosurgery at the University of Florida and has focused his efforts on studying aggressive pediatric and adult brain cancer and developing novel translational approaches to combat this lethal disease. Working with a multidisciplinary group of scientists, the team is taking the unique approach that cancer can be managed as a chronic disease by applying the principles that have been used in ecology to manage wildlife and pest populations. Based on the lessons learned over the past 80 years by ecologists, the team is focused on using multimodal low-toxicity therapeutics to enforce a stable tumour population that exists below a threshold that has any harmful effects.

Most recently, Reynolds’ lab has been focusing on the role that natural products play in regulating aging and their application in treating cancer and age-related diseases. Reynolds has more than 80 publications, including papers in Science, Nature and Cell, with 9 manuscripts receiving over 1000 citations. In addition, he is an inventor of 21 granted US patents and 14 US patent applications. Reynolds is currently a Professor in the Dept. of Neurosurgery at the University of Florida and an advisor to numerous technology companies, where he has taken on leadership roles. NIH, NHMRC, private companies and several foundations have and continue to fund his research efforts.