Jennifer Rodger

Jenny Rodger is a Professor at the University of Western Australia and Head of Brain Plasticity at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. She completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biochemistry at the University of Bath, UK, followed by a PhD at the University Pierre et Marie Curie (now Sorbonne University), France.
Her research investigates mechanisms of brain plasticity and repair, with a focus on preclinical studies of non-invasive brain stimulation in injured and abnormal brain circuits. Her lab has pioneered repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) studies in adult rodent models and engineered miniaturised rTMS devices to fill critical technical gaps in our ability to stimulate small rodent brains. Her team is recognised internationally with their devices successfully replicating in rodents many of the behavioural, brain connectivity and neurotransmitter changes observed in humans. The significance and impact of the lab’s devices and preclinical findings have been reviewed in "The Handbook of Behavioural Neuroscience" and in "Expert Guidelines" report on rTMS (Clinical Neurophysiology 2021). Furthermore, research using these devices has triggered a re-evaluation of the way rTMS is used in the clinic, leading to clinical trials in spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and depression. She is a member of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, the Australasian Brain Stimulation Society and the Society for Neuroscience.