Haematopoietic Stem Cells From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: The Future Of Bone Marrow Transplantation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$763,845.00
Summary
Blood stem cell transplantation is a vital therapy for patients with leukaemia following chemotherapy or for patients with bone marrow failure. Because many patients lack a donor, there is a need for an alternate source of stem cells. My laboratory will make blood stem cells from human pluripotent stem cells that will treat patients needing a transplant and will be a useful research tool to help us to understand what goes wrong in the blood system in a range of illnesses.
Derivation Of Pancreatic Beta Cells From Embryonic Stem Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,968,050.00
Summary
People with type 1 diabetes require regular insulin injections because the organ that normally makes insulin, the pancreas, no longer functions. The goal of this program is to derive human fetal pancreas tissues from embryonic stem cells. Such tissue could be used to replace the missing insulin producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes. The program brings together expertise in ES cell biology at Monash University and the leading diabetes research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
NHMRC Research Fellowship. Genetic Modification And Differentiation Of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: Creating Tools For Regenerative Medicine And Models For Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$757,297.00
Summary
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can form all the cell types in the body. Cells made from hESCs could be used to test new drugs prior to trials in patients and eventually to replace tissues damaged through accident or disease. My laboratory is turning hESCs into blood, heart and insulin producing cells. We can genetically modify such that the cells fluoresce whenever they develop into these cell types. These 'glowing' hESC lines help us to make different cell types more efficiently.
Generation Of Renal Cells From Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$281,805.00
Summary
This proposal will gather evidence to show that human embryonic stem cells are capable of forming specific cell types of the embryonic human kidney. Once this is established, methods for the maintenance and directed differentiation of these cells to cell types of the mature kidney will be identified and improved. The results obtained will provide a base for future exploration of the possibility that human embryonic stem cell derived cells can be used to treat damaged kidneys.
My research involves the generation of human cell types from of human embryonic stem cells. These normal human cells could potentially be used for transplantation, drug screening and vaccine development.
Functional Characterisation Of Long Spliced NcRNAs
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$649,230.00
Summary
Genome sequencing projects suggest we only have approximately thirty thousand coding genes which was previously considered to be far too few to provide the blueprint for generation of human complexity. More surprising was the discovery that 3-5% of the genome is transcribed but not translated into protein. The function of these non-coding RNAs is unknown but hotly debated. Is it junk? Or does it play a new key role in programming development? This grant will address this question directly.
Investigating The Formation And Utility Of The Prenatal Platelet Forming System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$793,442.00
Summary
A major challenge to regenerative medicine is discovering how to produce useful cell types in the laboratory. Particularly urgent is the need to generate large numbers of platelets, the building blocks of the clotting system, for clinical use. Current laboratory methods are woefully inefficient, thus cannot meet demand. This project aims to discover how platelets are made in nature. With this information we will be able to devise better platelet production strategies in the laboratory.
The Role Of The Transcriptional Co-activator, Qkf, In Adult Neural Stem Cell Self-renewal And Multi-potency.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,709.00
Summary
In recent years there has been considerable interest in stem cells because they have the potential to provide new therapeutic approaches to disease. Indeed, haematopoietic stem cells are already used in treatments for leukaemia. Many organs in adult humans contain stem cells, including the brain. In order to develop safe, and effective, stem cell-based treatments for human diseases it is necessary to determine how proliferation and differentiation are regulated in adult stem cells.
Understanding The Ancestry Of De Novo Blood Formation In The Early Embryo
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$484,666.00
Summary
Current laboratory methods rely on a hit-or-miss approach for the production of such cells, making the prospect of producing patient-specific cells an inefficient/financially prohibitive process. This project aims to generate new knowledge into when and how fate of early blood cells in selected in nature. With this information we will be able to devise effective blood progenitor cell production strategies in the laboratory.