Nick Spencer Email and Phone Number

Nick Spencer completed his BSc(Hons) in 1995 and then his PhD in Neurophysiology in 1998 at the Department of Physiology, Monash University, Australia. In 1998, Nick then moved to The University of Nevada School of Medicine, where he spent 10 years. In 2002, Nick obtained a 5 year grant with the NIH, where he studied the intrinsic neural reflex circuitry in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Nick was offered a tenure-track permanent academic position at the University of Nevada in 2007, but instead took up an academic position at Flinders University.Since arriving at Flinders University 14 years ago, Nick has been a balanced teaching/research academic. Over this time, he has been a Chief investigator on 15 NH&MRC project grants and 4 ARC discovery grants (> $8 million AUD). He was Chief Investigator-A on 11 of these 19 externally-funded grants. In 2022, he is Chief investigator on 2 NH&MRC project grants and 2 ARC discovery grants on gut-brain axis. In 2018, he published with Dr. Hongzhen Hu, the first wireless optogenetic control of the gut, in the leading journal Gastroenterology.Nick has been the course coordinator of the Bachelor of Medical Science degree for 5 years (2011-2015) and continues to coordinate medical Neuroanatomy. Research in his laboratory is primarily directed to understanding the neurophysiological basis of pain pathways in visceral organs, and the neural control mechanisms of the enteric nervous system. He has published more than 150 peer reviewed research articles (excluding reviews, chapters etc) on the autonomic nervous system, with a primary focus on the nervous system within the gut wall and the extrinsic neural pathways between the gut and brain.In 2014, Nick was the inaugural Treasurer of the Australasian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society (ANGMA) and in 2016, was elected President of ANGMA. In 2022, Nick became the Director of Optogenetics Australia with Professor Harald Janovjak. Nick has been a strong ambassador of Australian neuroscience and has organized many national and international meetings, to promote autonomic neuroscience. From 2016-2022, he was the Chair of the local organizing meeting of the Federation of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (FNM 2020) meeting in Adelaide from March 25-28th, 2020. This major international meeting, involved more than 800 international registrants, including Nobel Prize winner from Australia, Professor Robin Warren, see https://fnm2020.org.au/.