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Australian Stem Cell Research
Are you curious about stem cells and how they are used in research?
Follow the links below to find out more about how Australian stem cell scientists and clinicians are harnessing the potential of these unique cells.
Researchers from universities and medical research institutes across the country are working with industry and international colleagues to change the future of healthcare. Want to know more? Click on the links below:
Mini-kidneys tell two sides of a genetic story
Professor Melissa Little, Dr Tom Forbes and Dr Sara Howden
Gene-editing technology combined with stem cells provides a powerful new way to study genetic kidney diseases and their treatments.
“Who will help me?"
Professor Megan Munsie and Saed Fahd
People suffering from serious illnesses are turning to unproven and risky stem cell therapies ingrowing numbers. Researchers are trying to understand how to provide better information and support.
Clearing corneas and restoring vision
Professors Nick Di Girolamo and Stephanie Watson
If disease or trauma depletes stem cell reservoirs in the eye's cornea, a rapid and painful loss of vision soon follows.
Building tools for brain repair
Professor James Bourne and Dr Jihane Homman-Ludiye
Professor James Bourne and his team are laying the groundwork for using stem cell transplants to treat brain trauma with the discovery of an anti-scarring agent and new biomaterials to support transplanted cells.
Miniaturised stem cell laboratories
Professor Ernst Wolvetang and Cecilia Inclan Gomez
By pairing biology with engineering, two research groups are developing innovative ways to understand what happens in diseases associated with brain function.
Towards stem cell therapies for Parkinson's diseas
Professor Clare Parish and A/ Professor Lachlan Thompson
A bioengineering approach that supports survival of cells trans-planted into the brain offers new hope of a treatment for Parkinson’s and other brain diseases.
Pathways to heart repair
Professor Richard Harvey and Dr Aude Dorison
New insights delivered by two Australian research teams puts heart research on the fast track to the clinic.
How to mend a broken heart
Dr Mirana Ramialison and Dr Ekaterina Salimova
Dr Mirana Ramialison and her colleagues are trying to determine what makes a stem cell a stem cell. It is a quest that might unlock solutions to congenital heart disease.
The plentiful promise of the pluripotent
Associate Professor Andrew Laslett and Dr Jacob Goodwin
The potential of using stem cells to treat injury and disease is often loudly proclaimed, with justification. But culturing stem cell lines carries risks—a fact less often mentioned.
Using stem cells in the brain to combat MS
Dr Toby Merson
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young adults, and globally the number of cases is increasing, according to a recent report in The Lancet.
Expanding horizons for stem cell transplants
Professor Susie Nilsson and Dr Ben Cao
A new blood stimulation procedure may provide a faster, pain-free way for stem cell donors to help save lives of cancer patients.
Understanding and controlling cell reprogramming
Professor Jose Polo and Dr Anja Knaupp
Professor Jose Polo has made the technicalities of converting one cell type into another vastly more accessible, launching a start-up company in the process.
Having the guts to make a difference
Associate Professor Helen Abud and Dr Thierry Jarde
A functional intestinal system is essential for life but is also vulnerable to disease. Professor Helen Abud and her collaborators have devised an ingenious method of studying the specialised cells in the gut and what goes wrong when damage occurs or cancer is initiated.
Enlisting the brain’s immune cells to fight MS
Professor Colin Pouton and Dr John Haynes
Specialist cleaning cells in the brain play a key role in neuro degenerative diseases, and they may also hold the secret to new treatments for the likes of MS and Alzheimer’s.
A heart-felt desire to advance stem cell science
A/Professor James Chong and Dr Sujitha Thavapalachandran
“It would be great to see what we have learned from stem cell research and stem cell science being applied in mainstream cardiology practice,” says Associate Professor James Chong.
Big data points the way to custom stem cells
Professor Christine Wells and Nadia Rajab
Analysing big data helps discover what makes stem cells tick enabling ways to predict cell behaviour and even create custom immune cells.
Making the right cells from stem cells
Professors Andrew Elefanty and Ed Stanley and Elizabeth Ng
A powerhouse trio of laboratories is refining the way of making blood and heart cells, bringing future therapies closer to reality.
Fixing hearts by finding out what makes them tick
A/Professor Enzo Porello
You can learn a lot about hearts by trying to build one from scratch. A pair of scientists have grown ‘beating’ human heart muscle tissue from stem cells and are exploring cardiac regeneration.
Seeing eye disease clearly with robotics
Professor Alice Pebay and Dr Grace Lidgerwood
Induced pluripotent stem cells combined with state-of-the-art robotics offers new insights into eye disease.
Studying heart development one cell at a time
Dr Nathan Palpant and Enakshi Sinniah
Examining how individual heart cells develop is revealing how they make decisions to form a working heart.
Discoveries hidden in big data
A/Professor Jess Mar and Dr Ati Fard
One way of looking at the complexities of the human genome is to turn it into a computer print-out, an approach that produces what is known as a ‘transcriptome’.
Studying heart development one cell at a time
A/Professor Joseph Powell and Drew Neavin
Examining how individual heart cells develop is revealing how they make decisions to form a working heart.
Micro-lenses bring new cataract treatments in sigh
Drs Michael O'Connor and Rachel Sharpberg
Stem cells are being used to rapidly test and improve treatments for cataracts, thanks to an innovative solution
How has the Australian Government supported stem cell research?
Stem cell science has been a strength within Australian biomedical research for many decades and remains a leading contributor to global efforts to harness the potential of stem cells for new ways to diagnose and treat diseases, injury and illnesses. The Australian Government has long recognised this potential and provided support through special initiatives.
Read more
In addition to providing funding through competitive project grants and fellowships administered by Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Government has also supported a series of stem cell initiatives.
The Australian Stem Cell Centre (2003–2010)
This initial major collaborative initiative linked leading academic researchers from across the country with the biotechnology industry. It was founded as part of the National Biotechnology Centre of Excellence and received about $100 million from the Australian Government through the Backing Australia’s Ability scheme I and II in addition to $10 million from the State Government of Victoria’s Science Technology & Innovation program.
Stem Cells Australia (2011–2019)
The Australian Government provided $24 million through the Australian Research Council’s Special Research Initiative scheme to supported over 300 researchers across 14 Australian universities and medical research institutes to the fundamentals of stem cell biology and how to harness the potential of these cells for new diagnostic, therapeutic and biotechnological applications. Find out more about ‘Our history’.
MRFF Future Fund Accelerating Research Program (2018–2021)
In 2018 the Australian Government announced $3 million to support national teams of experts to take stem cell research from the laboratory into the clinic to develop new treatments and cures for debilitating conditions, in areas of identified unmet need as part of the Emerging Priorities and Consumer-Driven Research initiative under the Medical Research Futures Fund 10-year plan. Click here to find out more.
MRFF Stem Cells Therapies Mission (2019–2028)
The Stem Cell Therapies Mission research funding program that will invest $150 million over 9 years to develop innovative, safe and effective treatments accessible to all Australians who need them. The first round of grants were awarded in 2020. More information can be found on the Department of Health website.
Where can I find out more about stem cell research in Australia?
Stem cell research in Australian universities, medical research institutes and the biotechnology industry is also supported through initiatives led by the following organisations. Click on the logos below to learn more.
