Stem Cell Medicine

We are driving the development of therapies for currently incurable diseases, including kidney, heart and skeletal muscle diseases, leukemia, brain cancer and respiratory diseases.

Our research

Using cutting-edge stem cell technologies, we seek to understand the causes of childhood diseases, screen for new treatments and advance regenerative medicine.

Our researchers are experts in stem cells, gene editing, transcriptomics, phosphoproteomics and bioengineering technologies that can be used to model complex disease mechanisms and develop new stem cell-based therapies.

The research area encompasses groups investigating diseases such as kidney, heart, blood, skeletal muscle and respiratory diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders and childhood cancers. Our Stem Cell Ethics and Policy group contributes to the ethical, legal and social frameworks of stem cell research and related technologies.

Underpinning this expertise and driving innovation are our state-of-the-art stem cell facilities: the iPSC Derivation and Gene Editing Facility and Stem Cell-Based Drug Discovery Facility.

Many researchers in the Stem Cell Medicine theme are part of the Melbourne node of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW), an international collaboration that will pave the way for future stem cell-based treatments.

reNEW is an international consortium of three leading research institutions: the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia. reNEW strives to advance a new generation of effective and safe stem cell-based therapies, built on a global collaborative network of excellence in targeted biomedical research.

Stem Cell Medicine groups