Neurobiology, University of Sydney
b. 1942
Degrees, appointments
JS graduated with a BMedSci degree from the Faculty of Medicine in 1962, a PhD in 1966 and a DSc in 1977. After 4 years as a postdoc in Israel, Germany and the United States, he returned to a Research Fellowship at the Australian National University in 1970, in a vision research group headed by P.O. Bishop. He joined the School of Anatomy at the University of New South Wales in 1976, then served as Challis Professor of Anatomy at the University of Sydney from 1987 – 2003, then as director of a research school at the Australian National University until 2007, then as Professor Retinal and Cerebral Neurobiology at Sydney, in the Discipline of Physiology, until 2020.
In addition, JS served as Head of the School of Anatomy at the University of NSW, as Director of the Bosch Institute and of its predecessor Institute for Biomedical Research at the University of Sydney for 14 of its 21 years, and as Head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Sydney.
Since closing his laboratory after 50 years of empirical research, JS has remained active in scientific publishing of ideas-based reviews, and in presentations at scientific conferences.
Research contribution:
JS’ PhD supervisor, P.O. Bishop, introduced him to research in the visual pathways, and he has worked on many aspects of visual pathway structure and function, particularly on the retina. His early work contributed to the concept or parallel processing as an important organising feature of the visual pathways. He pioneered whole-mount studies of retinal organization, extending them to show patterns of retinal development and then to investigate the vascularisation of the retina. Later studies showed the link between retinal metabolism and vasculogenesis, identified (with Eli Keshet in Jerusalem) the angiogenic factor which drives retinal vascularisation, showed the role of astrocytes as a template for vessel formation and the link between retinal metabolism and photoreceptor instability. His recent work has concerned the cell biology of neurons in the central nervous system with a focus on their instability in age, including the ageing brain, publishing (with a team) the concept that age-related dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) is a primarily vascular disease, caused by the damage done to small vessels of the brain by the ageing pulse. A key part of this concept is that the pulse becomes damaging as the great arteries of the body harden with age. Most recently, he brought together another team of accomplished researchers to develop and publish the understanding of a previously unrecognized system of pathways that comprise a resilience response of the body to low-level, everyday stresses. Terming the system ‘acquired resilience’, he and the team proposed that acquired resilience can be seen to play a major role in healthy ageing, and – once understood -may be recruited to slow the degenerative features of ageing.
JS has contributed to several fields within neuroscience:
- In the science of vision, to the analysis of retinal topography, and to the concept of parallel processing in the visual system.
- In the science of vision, to the understanding of retinal development and the developmental basis of retinal structure.
- In the science of vision, to the understanding of retinopathy of prematurity, of the retinopathy of detachment and to retinal degeneration
- In angiogenesis, to the interplay of neuronal activity, the sensing of hypoxia and the growth factor control of vessel formation.
- In the science of ageing, he and co-workers formulated the concept of acquired resilience.
- In the science of dementia, to the understanding of its causes in the hypertension of ageing, in the cytotoxicity of haemorrhage and in evolution.
Publications
JS has published several monographs and over 240journal articles. His work has been referenced almost 30,000 times in the literature, giving him an H-factor of >85. Most of his work has been in neuroscience but he has also written substantially on global biological stability and on the ownership of culture.
His most recent publications include:
Stone, J., et al. (2024). “A Triple Mystery of Insidious Organ Failure: Are the Lung, Kidney and Brain All Damaged by the Ageing Pulse?” Biomedicines12(9).
Stone, J., et al. (2024). “The Catastrophe of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Drives the Capillary-Hemorrhage Dementias, Including Alzheimer’s Disease.” J Alzheimers Dis97(3): 1069-1081.
Stone, J., et al. (2024). “Trace Toxins: The Key Component of a Healthful Diet.” Dose Response22(3): 15593258241271692.
Stone, J., et al. (2023). “Twelve protections evolved for the brain, and their roles in extending its functional life.” Front Neuroanat17: 1280275.
Johnstone, D. M., et al. (2023). “The brain’s weakness in the face of trauma: How head trauma causes the destruction of the brain.” Front Neurosci17: 1141568.
Andersson, M. J. and J. Stone (2023). “Best Medicine for Dementia: The Life-Long Defense of the Brain.” J Alzheimers Dis94(1): 51-66.
Philanthropy
JS has served as Managing Director of the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund, a private trust, and of its successor Zelman Cowan Academic Initiatives. since 1995. Under his management, these groups have contributed $5- 7m for research at the Australian universities and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Both personally and through a start-up company, JS and his wife Margaret (latterly Australia’s Inspector General of Intelligence and Security) have contributed philanthropically to the Julius Stone Institute in the Faculty of Law, to the Bosch Institute and to heritage work in the Anderson Stuart Building.
Heritage
JS’ contribution to the heritage of the University of Sydne began with an appeal to medical graduates in 1994 for the restoration of the University’s Anderson Stuart Building – which is iconic in medical education and research in Australia. His contribution continued with many smaller projects within the Building, until he was required to leave his office , in 2020.
Distinctions
Elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 1984, JS served as its Secretary (Biological Sciences) from 1986 – 1990. This is, arguably, the most senior position in biological sciences in Australia.
In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal of the Federal Government
In 2004 he was awarded the Ullman Medal of the International Society for Eye Research (for lifetime achievement).
