Julian Jack
{{Short description|New Zealand physiologist (born 1936)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Julian Jack
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FMedSci|FRS|size=100%}}
| birth_name = James Julian Bennett Jack
| image = P25922-Julian-Jack.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|03|25|df=y}}{{Who's Who | title=Jack, Prof. (James) Julian (Bennett) | id = U21612 | year = 2015|author=Anon|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.21612 | edition = online Oxford University Press}}
| birth_place = Invercargill, New Zealand
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| workplaces = University of Oxford
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| education = University of Otago (MMedSci, PhD)
University of Oxford (BM, MA)
| thesis_title = Inhibition and excitation in the mammalian spinal cord
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/429667593
| thesis_year = 1960
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| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
- David Attwell
- Michael Hausser{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=Michael |last=Häusser |title=Intrinsic properties and sympatic inhibition of substantia nigra neurones |publisher=University of Oxford |date=1992 |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph015970677 |oclc=62252234 |id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.306691}} |access-date=6 June 2018 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216233159/http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=SOLO&docid=oxfaleph015970677&context=L&search_scope=LSCOP_OX |url-status=dead }}
- Dimitri Kullmann{{cite thesis|degree=DPhil|publisher=University of Oxford|url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013219144|title=Central actions of muscle receptors|first=Dimitri Michael|last=Kullman|date=1984|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.353099}}|website=bodleian.ox.ac.uk|oclc=59330270|access-date=6 June 2018|archive-date=16 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216233156/http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013219144|url-status=dead}}}}
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|awards = Rhodes Scholarship{{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzrhodes.txt|title=NZ Rhodes Scholars 1903-1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175337/http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzrhodes.txt|archive-date=2016-03-03|website=reocities.com}}
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James Julian Bennett Jack (born 25 March 1936) is a New Zealand physiologist.[https://books.google.com/books?id=9drlYR0YUgAC&dq=James+Julian+Bennett+Jack&pg=PA798 The International Who's Who 2004], Europa Publication {{ISBN missing}}
Education
Jack graduated from the University of Otago with a PhD in 1960.{{cite web|url=http://www.alumni.otago.ac.nz/Page.aspx?pid=313|title=Your Otago-Member Login - University of Otago|website=www.alumni.otago.ac.nz}} After his PhD, Jack was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1960 from Magdalen College, Oxford{{cite web|url=http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzrhodes.txt|title=NZ Rhodes Scholars 1903-1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175337/http://www.reocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzrhodes.txt|archive-date=2016-03-03|website=reocities.com}} where he was awarded Master of Arts and Bachelor of Medicine degrees in 1963.
Career and research
Jack's research specializes in cellular neuroscience.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117003049/https://royalsociety.org/people/julian-jack-11691/|archive-date=2015-11-17|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/julian-jack-11691/|website=royalsociety.org|publisher=Royal Society|location=London|author=Anon|year=1997|title=Professor Julian Jack FMedSci FRS}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111170346/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/|title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies|date=2016-11-11}}}}
His research concerns how nerve cells, or neurons, communicate with one another in the nervous system. Furthermore, how chemical and electrical signals move through neural networks, such as the spinal cord or cerebral cortex. Although neurons form large networks, these cells do not actually touch each other. Instead, when the end of a nerve is activated it releases ions or chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Subsequently, these move across the gap, or synapse, between the neuron and the adjacent cell in the network, activating its receptors and perpetuating the signal. Jack applies theoretical and experimental approaches to research this process of synaptic transmission. This includes the use of neurophysiology methods to record bioelectrical activity and mathematical models to analyse the central and peripheral nervous systems. His work on neurotransmission is offering insight into disorders of the nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, and has the potential to improve their diagnosis.
Jack was a Lecturer and Reader at University Laboratory of Physiology at the University of Oxford.Electric current flow in excitable cells, James Julian Bennett Jack, Denis Noble, Richard W. Tsien, Clarendon Press, 1975, {{ISBN|978-0-19-857365-4}}{{cite thesis|title=Inhibition and excitation in the mammalian spinal cord|publisher=University of Otago |year=1960|first=Julian|last=Jack|degree=PhD|oclc=429667593}} His former doctoral students include David Attwell, Michael Hausser and Dimitri Kullmann.
Awards and honours
Jack was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1997 and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 1998.{{cite web |author=The Academy of Medical Sciences |date=2025 |title=Fellow |url=https://acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/fellow/(James)%20Julian-Jack-0033z00002qIISBAA4 |website=Academy of Medical Sciences |location= |publisher= |access-date=21 February 2025}}
References
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Category:New Zealand physiologists
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:New Zealand fellows of the Royal Society
Category:University of Otago alumni
Category:People from Invercargill
Category:New Zealand Rhodes Scholars