John Mitrofanis gained his PhD at the University of Sydney. He is Professor of Anatomy at Sydney Medical School. Throughout his career he has been an active teacher of topographical anatomy and neuroanatomy to medical and science students and has run a research programme on brain organisation. His research has examined the structure and patterns of connectivity in the adult and developing thalamus, cortex and brainstem and he has explored different methods that improve the function and survival of neurones in Parkinson's disease.