Stem Cells and Disease Modelling

By creating a replica of the affected tissue in the lab from stem cells, researchers in this theme are able to gain a greater understanding of how various diseases manifest and where there maybe opportunities to intervene to prevent progression of disease or instigate tissue repair.

	Neuroregeneration - Professor Alice Pébay Research focus: using stem cells for modelling and correcting retinal degeneration.
	Visual neuroscience - Professor Erica Fletcher Research focus: understanding photoreceptor death during retinal degradation and ways to replace these photoreceptors. The lab is also interested in the role of glia in retinal disease.
	Regulation of the immune system in the brain and eye - Dr Matt Rutar Research focus: exploring the immunological vistas of the central nervous system, in particular using the eye as a system for driving insights into the innate immune system and macrophage biology in health and disease.
	Mechanopharmacology - Professor Alastair Stewart Research focus: investigating inflammation and fibrosis mechanisms using novel bio-assays for drug discovery and characterisation.
	Tumour Heterogeneity in Metastatic Cancer - Professor Fred Hollande Research focus: understanding the mechanisms that underlie the genetic and non-genetic heterogeneity within individual tumours.
	Gastrointestinal Cancer - Professor Elizabeth Vincan Research focus: investigating novel ways to block cancer growth with a focus on the gastrointestinal tract, including the interaction of a cell-cell communication pathway called Wnt. The lab is also establishing an organoid platform for studying infectious disease.
	Multiple Sclerosis - Professor Trevor Kilpatrick Research focus: examining oligodendrocyte biology and neuroinflammation as well as regenerative medicine and its application to MS.
	Stem Cells and Neural Development - Professor Clare Parish Research focus: repairing the injured brain and understanding neural development.
	Neurogenesis and Neural Transplantation - A/ Professor Lachlan Thompson Research focus: exploring how stem cells can repair the damaged brain.
	Ion Channels and Human Diseases - Professor Steve Petrou Research focus: understanding the pathology of ion channel disorders, in particular epilepsy, using in vitro and in vivo models to reveal opportunities for developing novel therapies.
	Motor Neuron Disease - A/ Professor Bradley Turner Research focus: employing a combination of cell and molecular biology to unravel MND pathogenesis in patient-derived samples, cell culture and animal models.
	Motor Neurone Disease Drug Screening - Dr Christopher Bye Research focus: rapidly exploring potential treatments for Motor Neurone Disease.
	Cardiac Regeneration - A/ Professor Enzo Porrello Research focus: understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern heart development and regeneration.
	Cardiac Regeneration - Dr David Elliott Research focus: using pluripotent stem cells to study human heart development and disease.
	Kidney Development, Disease and Regeneration - Professor Melissa Little Research focus: exploring the genes required for normal kidney development and what happens as a result of genetic or environmental damage during development.
	Cellular Reprogramming - Dr Raymond Wong Research focus: better understanding and developing treatment for eye diseases using cell reprogramming and stem cell technologies.
	ACRF Cancer Biology and Stem Cells: Professor Jane Visvader Research focus: molecular regulators of normal breast development and cancer, with a particular interest in breast stem cells and the breast epithelial cell hierarchy.
	Vascular Biology - A/ Professor Geraldine Mitchell Research focus: improving methods of vascularization (blood vessel growth) for tissue engineering and wound healing.
	Clinical haematology - Dr Ashley Ng Research focus: exploring how blood cells are produced from stem cells, and how this process is corrupted in blood diseases.
	Translational Haematology - Professor Mark Dawson Research focus: understanding the role of epigenetic regulators in normal and malignant haemopoiesis.
	Brain Cancer Molecular Biology - Dr Theo Mantamadiotis Research focus: investigations into transcriptional and signalling networks involved in neuronal development, neural stem cells and brain tumour cells.