Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) was honoured to host Denmark’s Queen Mary and King Frederik X for a tour of our world-leading stem cell medicine labs that produce breakthrough discoveries into childhood heart disease.

The royal visit this week shone a light on Australian and Danish innovation and research collaboration that has resulted in engineered heart tissue designed to treat heart failure.

The pioneering research stems from a partnership between MCRI and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW), which is headquartered in Copenhagen, and has research nodes at the University of Copenhagen, Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and MCRI.

The Danish royals were greeted by MCRI Director Professor Kathryn North AC, MCRI Chief Scientist and reNEW CEO Professor Melissa Little and MCRI Chairman Patrick Houlihan.

Image: King Frederik X, Queen Mary and MCRI Director Professor Kathryn North AC during the MCRI tour

Danish royal visit coincides with MCRI’s 40^th anniversary

Professor North spoke to the breadth of the Institute, founded 40 years ago, which is Australia's largest child health research institute, ranked among the top three globally for research quality and impact. Located in the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct, MCRI has over 1,800 researchers working across more than 150 diseases affecting children from allergies and asthma to cancer and genetic disorders.

The delegation, also including Danish Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen and Australian Ambassador to Denmark Dave Vosen, were given a tour of the Stafford Fox Stem Cell Laboratories.

Image: Danish Ambassador to Australia Ingrid Dahl-Madsen, MCRI Director Professor Kathryn North AC, King Frederik X, Queen Mary, MCRI Professor Enzo Porrello and MCRI Chief Scientist and reNEW CEO Professor Melissa Little

Denmark’s Queen Mary and King Frederik learn about MCRI’s stem cell medicine research

MCRI Professor Enzo Porrello, Theme Director of Stem Cell Medicine, detailed how his team were making stem cell derived heart models in the lab to screen for drugs that could treat congenital heart defects. They have also created a heart patch, engineered human cardiac tissue grown from stem cells, which in pre-clinical trials has successfully restored function to the failing heart.

Professor Porrello also spoke to how new biotech company Ibnova Therapeutics, supported by reNEW, will accelerate this cellular therapy. Based in Denmark, Ibnova Therapeutics is backed by the BioInnovation Institute (BII) Venture Lab program and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, initiatives designed to allow researchers to transform their scientific breakthroughs into viable therapies.

Professor Little said, “MCRI was proud to welcome the Danish royal family and to showcase the strong ties between the two counties. Almost 100 reNEW researchers have engaged in exchanges between Melbourne and Copenhagen, enabling the sharing of expertise, training emerging leaders and accelerating joint discoveries. This partnership aims to enable treatments for currently incurable disease to be fast-tracked from the lab into clinical practice.”

Image: MCRI Director Professor Kathryn North AC, King Frederik X and Queen Mary at MCRI