Orange residents are invited to a special evening to hear first-hand the latest ground-breaking neuroscience research on dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury.

Dr Steve Peterson was riding his bike to work at the emergency department of the Orange Hospital when he was hit by a car and his life changed forever.

Steve was lucky to survive and spent the next 269 days recovering in hospital, but the accident left him a quadriplegic.

It was during his recovery he met leading neuroscientist Professor Bryce Vissel, whose cutting-edge research could make a world of difference to the lives of thousands of Australians, including those with spinal cord injuries.

“He’s a professor from the University of Technology Sydney and he's going to start some research next year on epidural stimulation, being that if you can stimulate the spinal cord below the level of injury you might be able to make connections again,” said Steve, who has returned to work full-time, despite his injury.

This approach has had some stunning results, said Steve, with a handful of patients recovering feeling and even movement.

“They are trying to recreate those pathways and they have certainly done that overseas with people who are paralysed or quadriplegic. Some have even been able to walk, admittedly with a four-wheel walker and not for long, but it is early days,” said Steve.

And improving the lives of those with spinal cord injuries are just part of the promise of this research, he said.

“Things like Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer’s these are all degenerative neurological diseases just like spinal cord injuries, so the hope is that if we can figure out more about how the spine and brain work, there will be applications for other neurological diseases as well,” he said.

“And that's important… the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia or Parkinson's and the like are way greater than spinal cord injuries, just because of the numbers of people affected are so high.”

Professor Vissel, who heads the UTS Centre for Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine, will be coming to Orange next month to present the Centre’s vision of a future without these diseases and injuries, and what it will take to get there.

He is also coming to thank local fundraising efforts to support his research.

Steve is inviting anyone interesting in learning more about this work to come and join Professor Vissel at a dinner and presentation on 4 December at the Greenhouse.

“It will be a presentation of the work he is doing and neurological disease research in general,” said Steve. “We will also have a bit of a panel with him and myself and a few other people who can contribute so people can ask questions.

Steve said he imagined there would be many families in Orange that are impacted by neurological diseases like dementia or Parkinson's who would like to know more about this potential treatment.

The dinner will be held on Wednesday 4 December, 6:30pm – 9:30pm at the Orange Ex-Services Club. To confirm your attendance please deposit $50 per person to BSB: 062 692 Account number: 3866 6293 (using your name as the reference) by 27 November. Ticket includes a two-course meal and presentation. To RSVP or for more information contact Steve at stevedebpeterson@gmail.com