Can stem cells save sight? 20 years since Nobel discovery

Discover how stem cells could boost our understanding of eye diseases and potentially treat vision loss. Hear about the latest research and ask your own questions at a free online event, Future Medicine: Can stem cells save sight? on 21 May. More below.

It’s 20 years since the announcement that Japanese scientists had found a way to take specialised adult cells, such as skin or blood cells that usually cannot change, back in time and return them to a stem-cell-like state. This led to a Nobel Prize in 2012. What has this discovery led to? Find out below.

In June, we will open the 2026 Metcalf Prizes for applications. We caught up with lung researcher Dr Rhiannon Werder from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne to see how her career has progressed since winning a 2024 Prize. Read on for details. Spoiler: she has won an Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship and other grant funding.

Plus:

• MCRI’s Katie Ayers has secured funding to uncover the genetic links between reproductive differences and the increased risk of cancer. We supported Katie’s earlier research into how sex development occurs in the womb and the role of genetics in variations.
• researchers in Mexico are calling for better regulation of its stem cell medical tourism industry
• the Australian-Danish reNEW collaboration has announced a spin-out company to deliver stem cell-derived heart tissue into clinical trials as a treatment for heart failure
• and more in our regular round-up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Eye diseases and damage: what do stem cells have to offer?
• 20 years of turning adult cells back into stem cells
• Helping people with lung disease breathe easier
• Stem cell news from around the world

Eye diseases and damage: what do stem cells have to offer?

Hear the latest science and bring your questions to a free online event at 7:00pm AEST Thursday 21 May 2026.

Find out how stem cells are helping us understand and potentially treat causes of blindness and low vision including inherited eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease, Usher syndrome, and acquired conditions, such as corneal damage.

Three of Australia’s top stem cell researchers and eye clinicians will discuss Future Medicine: Can stem cells save sight? Come along to this free webinar with your questions for the panel.

Register to attend via Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/future-medicine-can-stem-cells-save-sight.

More than 453,000 Australians are blind or vision impaired, which affects their ability to read, work, drive, take part in hobbies, and other activities. Prescription glasses and contact lenses help many, but some eye injuries and diseases are currently beyond repair or cure.

About 19,000 Australians have an inherited retinal disease, caused by genetics.  The lifetime cost of living with an inherited eye disease in Australia is about $5.2 million per person. Corneal blindness affects all ages and burdens over 2 million people worldwide.

The good news is that scientists and clinicians working with stem cells are:

• developing lab-grown or patient-derived healthy eye stem cells for transplantation to treat corneal blindness.
• running clinical trials for gene therapies targeting inherited eye diseases, which could potentially stop vision loss from progressing or even restore some sight.
• using a patient’s own cells to better understand their eye disease, test treatments, and potentially develop new cell sight-saving therapies.

Find out more from our panel of researchers and clinicians:

• Clinician-scientist and eye surgeon Dr Tom Edwards, Centre for Eye Research Australia
• Cell biologist Associate Professor Anai Gonzalez-Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute
• Eye surgeon Professor Stephanie Watson OAM, University of Sydney, Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney Children's Hospital, and Prince of Wales Hospital.

The webinar is presented by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and hosted by Tanya Ha, Director of Engagement at Science in Public.

Read more about the event and panellists online.

20 years of turning adult cells back into stem cells

Anniversary of Nobel Prize winning paper

Stem cell research 20 years ago was primarily focused on two sources: adult stem cells found in developed tissues such as bone marrow, fat, skin, and embryonic stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of three- to five-day-old embryos. Embryonic stem cells can self-renew for long periods of time and are ‘pluripotent’, meaning they can give rise to most cell types in the body.

The understanding that embryonic stem cells could become any cell type – termed ‘pluripotency’ – brought with it the exciting potential to develop new treatments or replacement tissue. However, their origin raised ethical concerns for many people.

Then, in 2006, Japanese physician and researcher Shinya Yamanaka and fellow scientist Kazutoshi Takahashi reported a breakthrough in a landmark paper published in Cell. They showed that mature adult mouse cells could be reprogrammed into so-called ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ (iPSCs), which like embryonic stem cells can give rise to most cell types in the body.

Yamanaka won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with British developmental biologist Sir John B. Gurdon, “…two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.”

Today, because of this work, cells from your body – usually skin or blood cells – can be reprogrammed and coaxed into becoming various cell types such as heart, kidney, muscle, eye, or even brain cells. It is a much easier way of obtaining cells with your genetic fingerprint than potentially more invasive and painful tissue biopsies.

That means that scientists can, for example, investigate an individual’s kidney disease, assembling 3D models made entirely from the patient’s cells that mimic structure and function of the kidney in the lab, and work out a personal treatment.

Scientists can also see how different diseases develop at a cellular level, identify the genes and processed involved, and identify new or better ways to treat the condition.

It also offers the possibility of generating patient-derived cells and tissues for transplantation, which can help reduce the risk of immune rejection.

Gene editing also raises the possibility of correcting disease-causing mutations in a patient’s cells, then generating healthy replacement cells genetically changed for therapy. In some cases, this approach has already reached the clinic. For example, gene-edited blood stem cells are now approved for sickle cell anaemia in some countries. This approach is also under development to treat other genetic conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, and some inherited eye diseases.

Adult cells from healthy donors are also being reprogrammed back into stem cells both to study normal tissue and organ development, and to provide cells for therapy. Two treatments, one for heart failure and one for Parkinson’s disease, received conditional approvals from Japan’s health ministry, coinciding with the 20^th anniversary of Yamanaka and Takahashi’s landmark 2006 paper.

The Foundation has invested in projects and scientists doing this kind of work. Examples include:

• Giving cystic fibrosis patients longer, better lives: Gerard Kaiko, Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle
• A brain bank of schizophrenia to fast-track diagnosis and better treatments: Maria Di Biase, The University of Melbourne
• Turning blood cells into muscle cells to test treatments for childhood muscular dystrophy: Dr Peter Houweling, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

We have been able to support these researchers thanks to the generosity of our donors. Please make a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation so that we can continue this work: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate.

Read Nobel Laureate Prof Shinya Yamanaka’s reflections on this historical milestone in Cell Stem Cell:  Two decades of induced pluripotent stem cell research: From discovery to diverse applications.

Helping people with lung disease breathe easier

Catching up with 2024 Metcalf Prize winner Rhiannon Werder

Dr Rhiannon Werder is growing ‘mini-lungs in a dish’, which mimic the complexity and function of lungs in living people.

The Group Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) has already used stem cell-derived lung cells to create models of human genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, and acquired lung diseases and infections, including the common cold.

Now she plans to grow three-dimensional models of human lung tissue, or ‘mini-lungs’, in a dish to better investigate respiratory infections and drive new treatment discoveries. She is also using stem cell-derived models to investigate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This progressive, incurable lung disease, often comprising chronic bronchitis and emphysema, makes breathing difficult.

In November 2024 she received one of our two annual $60,000 Metcalf Prizes. We caught up with Rhiannon to see how her career has progressed.

How has your work advanced since you won a Metcalf Prize?

My work has advanced in developing new protocols to generate a broader range of lung cell types for incorporation into our miniature lung tissue models. This has allowed us to build more physiologically relevant systems.  Our first publication in this space has just been accepted!

This progress has translated into several major milestones, including receiving the Rebecca Cooper Foundation Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship and an MRFF Chronic Respiratory Conditions grant focused on shared mechanisms of exacerbations in preschool wheeze and COPD.

The Metcalf funding was pivotal in helping us generate the preliminary data needed to secure these grants. In addition, the recognition from the prize provided a valuable boost to my profile at a key stage, helping to build collaborations and momentum for my research program.

What first drew you into stem cell research?

I was initially drawn to stem cell research by a curiosity about fundamental biology and a desire to better understand how complex cell types and tissues form. At the same time, I was motivated by the limitations of existing models for studying human disease. Stem cell systems provided a way to study disease processes directly in human cells, which felt both scientifically exciting and highly meaningful.

What’s the biggest difference you want your research to make and why?

The biggest difference I want my research to make is to enable the development of new treatments for respiratory diseases. Progress in this area has been relatively slow compared to other fields, and as a result, patients continue to live with significant symptoms and limited therapeutic options. Driving more effective, targeted interventions is what motivates my work and is the impact I am most committed to achieving.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

The Australian: How controversial cell therapy is making a comeback to fight incurable diseases [paywall]

reNEW: Spin-out company targets treatments for severe heart disease

MCRI: Denmark’s Queen Mary and King Frederick tour MCRI

Science: Stem cell therapies ‘come of age’ with two conditional approvals in Japan

Nature: Inside Mexico’s stem-cell industry

MCRI: Associate Professor Katie Ayers awarded Rebecca Cooper Fellowship for research exploring the genetic variations responsible for differences of sex development

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Sleeping cancer cells. And a schizophrenia brain bank. Meet the Metcalf Prize winners

I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research: Dr Maria Di Biase from The University of Melbourne and Dr Lachlan Harris from Brisbane’s QIMR Berghofer.

Both are conducting important fundamental research using stem cells to study function, development and disorders of the human brain in ways that were once never thought possible. Each will receive a $60,000 prize from the Foundation. More below.

Celebration of the Metcalf Prizes, established in 2014, marked one of the highlights from the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Also this month, building off the work of Maria and Lachlan, we’ve put together a backgrounder on stem cells and the human brain.

Our round-up of stem cell news includes how US researchers have produced human eggs from skin cells; potential use of menstrual blood samples in medical research; lab-grown teeth, and more.

Stem cells sound magical, but they’re not all created equal: we particularly enjoyed this overview in The Conversation by Associate Professor Jennifer Zenker and agree with her that stem cells, when truly mastered, remain ‘one of the most promising frontiers in modern medicine’.

And finally, congratulations to:

• Professor Kaylene Young, one of our inaugural Metcalf Prize winners (2014), for being appointed to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Mentorship Program;
• Metcalf Prizes alumni Professor Jose Maria Polo (2014) and Professor Enzo Porrello (2018) for being welcomed as Fellows to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences; and
• Foundation Board member Professor Caroline Gargett, who chairs our science and ethics committee and Metcalf jury, for being awarded the 2025 ASSCR President’s Award for outstanding career achievements and inspiring leadership.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• A brain bank of schizophrenia to fast-track diagnosis and better treatments
• The stem cells in your brain are sleeping until they’re needed 
• Unlocking the brain's mysteries
• ASSCR Annual Meeting highlights
• Stem cell news from around the world

A brain bank of schizophrenia to fast-track diagnosis and better treatments

Dr Maria Di Biase has created a ‘brain bank’ of schizophrenia: blobs of brain cells from 100 patients, growing in the lab.  She’s using these brain organoids to develop urgently needed new approaches to diagnosis and treatment.

Schizophrenia affects about one in 300 people worldwide. It usually manifests in adolescence. People with schizophrenia lose an average 15 years of lifespan.

Each case is different, so it can often take years to establish stable treatment. And the treatments can have life-changing side effects above and beyond the impact of the illness.

Maria and her team at The University of Melbourne have successfully taken blood from patients and persuaded blood cells to turn into stem cells, and then grow into brain cells. She can then study each person’s unique schizophrenia using these blobs of human brain tissue.

Her vision is to use a schizophrenia patient’s own cells to choose the right treatment the first time; a vision which will be supported by her $60,000 Metcalf Prize.

Read more about Maria and her research

The stem cells in your brain are sleeping until they’re needed 

Waking up brain stem cells at the right time could one day improve cognition and fight neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, according to Dr Lachlan Harris, a researcher at QIMR Berghofer in Brisbane.

Right now, most of the stem cells in your brain have been hibernating for months or years. Without periods of this sleep-like state, known as ‘quiescence’, they get exhausted and die.

Lachlan has discovered the molecular mechanisms that control how healthy brain stem cells fall asleep and how they decide when to wake up.

Now, with the help of his $60,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia, he’s turning his attention to recurrent – and often lethal – brain cancer.

“It turns out that this same process of sleep is adopted by brain cancer stem cells,” says Lachlan. “They’re able to use this dormancy to survive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. After treatment, these cancer sleeper cells can wake up, leading to cancer recurrence.”

Lachlan and his team’s work unravelling brain stem cell quiescence is fundamental research that could one day be applied to keeping the brain healthier as we age and also to future brain cancer treatments.

“If our ideas are right, it could lead to a whole new way of treating brain cancer, but that's at least 10 years away,” he says.

Read more about Lachlan and his research

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named after the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC.

Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform blood cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Unlocking the brain's mysteries

The brain remains one of the greatest biological mysteries. Often referred to as the body’s ‘control centre’, this complex organ of nervous tissue makes us uniquely who we are: living, breathing, thinking, feeling human beings.

Often referred to as the body’s ‘control centre’, this complex organ of nervous tissue makes us uniquely who we are: living, breathing, thinking, feeling human beings.  

That’s because the brain regulates both conscious and unconscious actions – our thoughts, memories, movement, emotions, behaviour, identity, hunger signals and vital functions like breathing, body temperature and heartbeat.

Despite advances in science, we have much to learn about the brain, how to keep it healthy and better understand what happens to it as we age.

Today, around two in five Australians will experience a brain disorder in their lifetime.

Unfortunately, effective therapies and treatments for a myriad of disorders (neurological and psychiatric) are yet to be discovered.

While stem cell therapy has been routinely used since the 1970s, proven treatments are largely confined to bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants for conditions affecting the blood and immune systems, such as leukaemia and thalassaemia, alongside corneal and skin grafting applications.

In Australia and globally, there are several experimental stem cells therapies being tested for many diseases including Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, macular degeneration, diabetes, heart conditions and more. But they are not yet ready for standard medical care.

Of all organs in the human body, the brain is one of the most challenging to study. It is complex and difficult to access.

In good news, as the winners of our 2025 Metcalf Prizes demonstrate, stem cell research is a game-changer for brain research on multiple fronts:

• Scientists can grow different types of healthy brain and nerve cells from stem cells in the lab to unlock the brain’s mysteries.
• They can engineer advanced models of diseases and disorders, using patient-derived stem cells (from blood and skin) to aid our understanding of these conditions and fast-track development of possible treatment options.
• And they can study stem cells that reside in the adult brain to see if these can be stimulated to produce therapeutic benefits

Australia's 'brains trust' studying the brain

Up until a few decades ago it was widely believed that the brain had neither stem cells nor the ability to regenerate itself.

Queensland Brain Institute founder and pioneering neuroscientist, Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett AO FA [pictured right], overturned this dogma with his discovery of how the brain can be regenerated through stimulating the production of new nerve cells.

Notably, Perry was inspired by Professor Don Metcalf’s work on blood-forming (haemopoietic) stem cells. In 1982, he predicted that there were stem cells in the brain. In 1992 he found them in mouse embryos then in adult mice. A decade later, he isolated them from the forebrain.

Perry’s work has led to a transformation in our understanding of the brain, earning him the 2015 CSL Florey Medal; Research Australia Lifetime Achievement Award; and an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Neuroscientist Professor Kaylene Young – one of two recipients of the Foundation’s inaugural Metcalf Prizes – assisted with the establishment of the Queensland Brain Institute in 2003.

In 2014, she was awarded a Metcalf Prize for her work unravelling the biology and function of brain stem cells in neurodegenerative diseases. The prize included mentoring from Professor Don Metcalf.

Since then, the Theme Leader for Brain Health and Disease Research at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research (University of Tasmania) has run patient trials of a non-invasive treatment for multiple sclerosis using magnetism to stimulate brain repair. Read more 

Kaylene also featured on our recent ‘Future Medicine: Stem Cells & Brain Health’ webinar. Watch a recording on the Foundation’s website

Monash University researcher Associate Professor Atul Malhotra is leading a clinical trial to explore feasibility and safety of using donated umbilical cord blood-derived cells to help repair brain injury associated with preterm births.

The phase-1 ALLO trial is backed by a $100,000 Matched Funding Program grant co-funded by the Foundation and Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Read more 

In other recent developments:

• Exercise, stem cells and Parkinsons: Professor Clare Parish (The Florey, Melbourne), who also joined our brain health webinar, is leading research with Professor Lachlan Thompson (University of Sydney) on the role of exercise to enhance stem cell transplant function in Parkinson’s disease: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2025.102480
• Stopping cells from dying: WEHI scientists, including researchers from the Parkinson’s Disease Research Centre, have discovered how to block cells dying, in a finding that could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative conditions: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr8146
• Lighting up human brain cells to find new dementia medicines: researchers from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences have secured a Commonwealth Government-backed $953,751 Medical Research Future Fund grant: https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/monash-scientists-secure-mrff-funding-to-find-new-medicines-for-dementia-by-lighting-up-human-brain-cells

ASSCR meeting showcases how donations make a difference

Each year, the Foundation presents a session at the ASSCR Annual Scientific Meeting to formally present the Metcalf Prize winners and to hear from researchers we’ve backed in the past. In our next newsletter we’ll profile some of these early career researchers supported with the help of our donors.

Separately, thanks to a bequest from the estate of the late Gordon Lapham, the Foundation supports registration and travels costs of a group of PhD students and early career researchers.

This year, 24 researchers [pictured with ASSCR 2025 organising committee members] received grants to attend the meeting on the Gold Coast in Queensland, and present their work.

And finally, the Foundation is proud to sponsor the ASSCR Rising Star Awards, which this year went to Dr Ana Núñez Nescolarde from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research at the University of Western Australia; and Dr Kevin Law from the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Our 2025 Metcalf Prize winners made headlines in The Courier-Mail; 7News Melbourne; ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings with Rafael Epstein; and ABC Radio Gold Coast Drive with Bern Young. Listen to their radio interviews on the Foundation’s website: https://www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/listen

ABC News: US researchers turn DNA from human skin cells into ‘functional’ eggs able to be fertilised by sperm in a lab. Paper.

The Conversation: ‘Stem cells sound magical, but they’re not all created equal. Here’s what you need to know’. Article by Associate Professor Jennifer Zenker (Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University).

The Guardian: ‘A medical miracle: is period blood the most overlooked opportunity in women’s health?’. Article quotes Professor Caroline Gargett, who discovered endometrial stem cells.

CNN: ‘Scientists are racing to grow human teeth in the lab’. Progress on creating lab-grown teeth, including a recent King’s College London study. Paper.

Fox News: ‘Gray hair could play surprising role in cancer defense, study suggests’. Japanese scientists reveal how pigment-producing stem cells in hair follicles can respond to stress in dramatically different ways. Paper.

Australian Financial Review: ‘How Mesoblast’s founder proved the shorters wrong’. Article on hard work of immunologist-turned-businessman Silviu Itescu and his company’s first commercial product Ryoncil.

Read more stories in our social channels: LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Bluesky and Facebook.

Could cord blood repair injured brains of babies born too soon?

Melbourne neonatologist and researcher Associate Professor Atul Malhotra is on a mission to develop cellular therapy aimed at repairing brain injury associated with preterm births. With the backing of the Foundation and Cerebral Palsy Alliance, he’s leading a clinical trial involving umbilical cord blood. Read on for more information.

Many expectant parents are curious about the potential to donate their child’s cord blood to one of Australia’s public cord blood banks or bank it privately. We have prepared an information page with the help of the Foundation’s Science and Ethics Board Committee to answer common questions. More below.

September saw Blood Cancer Awareness Month. Every year in Australia, about 1,200 patients with blood cancers and disorders search for a blood stem cell donor. If you’re aged 18 to 35, you can join the stem cell donor registry managed by Stem Cell Donors Australia. Signing up requires a simple cheek swab or blood test. Find out more: stemcelldonors.org.au/why-you-matter/why-donate/

See beautiful stem cell images and the favourites from the public vote in this year’s reNEW art exhibition. More below.

We’re reviewing a strong line-up of applicants for the 2025 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research. Winners will be announced in November, ahead of the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Read about Metcalf Prize alumni on our website.

Finally, in our regular round-up of stem cell news, you can read about an Australian clinical trial to treat spinal cord injury involving transplantation of olfactory cell nerve bridges; living skin grown in Queensland lab; how stressors of space can age blood stem cells; 3D-printed mini placentas to study pregnancy complications; multi-region brain organoids; and more.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Could cord blood cells repair injured brains of babies born too soon?
• Cord blood basics. What you should know
• See stem cell science turned into art
• Stem cell news from around the world

Could cord blood cells repair injured brains of babies born too soon?

Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death and disability world-wide in children aged under five – World Health Organisation.

Every year, more than 26,000 Australian babies are born preterm (before 37 weeks). While medical advances mean most preterm babies now survive, their risk of developing serious brain injury and long-term neurological disability – including cerebral palsy – remains high.

Unacceptably so, according to Monash University researcher, Associate Professor Atul Malhotra, Senior Consultant Neonatologist and Head of Monash Children’s Hospital’s Early Neurodevelopment Clinic.

Atul is leading a clinical trial – backed by a $100,000 Matched Funding Program grant co-funded by the Foundation and Cerebral Palsy Alliance – to explore feasibility and safety of using donated umbilical cord blood-derived cells to help repair brain injury associated with preterm births, starting with the most severe cases.

The Phase-1 ALLO trial will involve at least 20 preterm babies with severe brain injury. Read the protocol here: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-100389.

Cord blood, collected from the umbilical cord after a baby is born, not only contains all components of whole blood, but is a rich source of stem cells that could potentially dampen inflammation and repair damaged brain tissue.

“My main motive in life is to change outcomes for these preterm babies with significant problems,” says Atul. “Preterm birth survival is very good, but we need to do better when it comes to long-term outcomes because 20 to 30 per cent and sometimes even more have significant problems going forward.

“Currently, there are no effective therapies to prevent or treat preterm brain injury in this vulnerable group, placing immense stress on families and the healthcare system.”

Atul described the ALLO trial as a critical ‘stepping stone’ to remedy this, marking the second time he’s been awarded a Matched Funding Program grant by the Foundation.

Read full story online.

Cord blood basics

If you are an expectant parent considering banking your baby’s cord blood, these are the things you need to know.

Cord blood – collected from a baby’s umbilical cord following birth – is rich in blood-forming stem cells. Harvested cord blood and cord tissue can be frozen in cell banks for potential future use.

Expectant parents can:

• donate their child’s cord blood to a public cord blood bank, making it available to people from around the world looking for a stem cell transplant match
• pay for a private bank to collect and store the cord blood in case the child or a family member needs it in the future, or
• allow the hospital to dispose of the umbilical cord and its blood, along with other tissue from the birth.

Donated cord blood is already saving lives. The cells it contains can be used in place of bone marrow transplants for children and adults with conditions such as blood cancers (including leukaemia and lymphoma), and genetic disorders like aplastic anaemia and thalassaemia.

However, successful transplantation depends on matching the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue type of the donor and recipient. Because this compatibility is complex and varied, access to a broad and diverse bank of cord blood units increases the chances of finding a suitable match for patients in need.

Donating to a public bank is a meaningful way to support broader community health given the importance of increasing donor diversity to improve matching success. Private cord blood banking is also an option for families who wish to store cells for potential personal use, especially in the presence of known medical conditions or family history.

Read more online. And please share this information with friends who might be interested.

Public votes and jury select stem cell art

View the ‘tentacles of perception,’ a ‘colourful ecosystem of mini-kidneys’, ‘the brain’s gatekeeper’, ‘David and Goliath’ or one of the other finalists in an art competition and exhibition to celebrate Global Stem Cell Awareness Day 2025 (October 8).

Visit reNEW's #ARTxSCIENCE virtual gallery to see a beautiful, colourful exhibition of cell and scientific photographs taken by the people who study them. It’s a clever initiative that raises awareness of the life-saving potential of stem cell research and the researchers behind it.

12 finalists have been selected by a public vote, with the final winner (selected by an international jury) to be revealed on Global Stem Cell Awareness Day.

Visit: https://renew.science/artxscience/

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

The Conversation: University of Technology Sydney team creates 3D-printed placental organoids, offering a new way to study pregnancy complications like preeclampsia. Paper.

ABC News: University of Queensland researchers use stem cells to create human skin replica which contains blood vessels, capillaries, hair follicles, layers of tissue and immune cells.

ABC News: Griffith University commences clinical trial to transplant cells from the noses of paralysed patients into their spinal cords. Trial details: www.griffith.edu.au/research/institute-biomedicine-glycomics/clem-jones-centre/themes/spinal-cord-injury-nerve-bridge-transplantation-trial

NBC News: US researchers show stressors of space like microgravity and cosmic galactic radiation can speed up molecular ageing of blood stem cells. Paper.

Live Science: Mini brains reveal secrets of how key brain cells form in the womb. Paper.

Science Alert: ‘Next generation’ multi-region brain organoids created at Johns Hopkins University Paper.

The Washington Post: University of Colorado researchers show amniotic fluid stem cells can be safely collected from vaginal fluid after childbirth.

The Guardian: Lab-grown sperm and eggs just a few years away, scientists say.

Read more stories in our social channels: LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Bluesky and Facebook.

$60K Metcalf Prizes open. Brain disorders. The overlooked body

Find out how stem cell research is changing how we understand and treat brain disorders such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Watch a recording of our recent online public forum where experts shared the latest science. Read on for more information

Mammary biologist Dr Felicity Davis won a 2019 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research for her work investigating how breasts change through life. She is now continuing her research in Denmark and working with a local museum on an exhibition, The overlooked body: from placentas to crash test dummies.

Last year, she gave birth to twins. Now her own samples are part of the exhibition and helping her research. More below

We’re looking for the next Metcalf Prize winners – up-and-coming researchers with big ideas.

Two prizes worth $60,000 each will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career stem cell scientist. Applications close on Friday 1 August. Please consider if there’s someone you should nominate. Read on for more details. More below

Last year we awarded prizes to:

• Dr Rhiannon Werder from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is growing ‘mini lungs in a dish’ that mimic the complexity and function of lungs in living people. This will allow her to investigate respiratory infections more effectively and drive new treatment discoveries.
• Dr William Roman from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, based at Monash University, is growing human muscles on a chip. He’s using them to understand how the skeletal muscle cell, the largest cell in a human body, connects with neurons and tendons to create working muscles.

Our first Executive Officer David Zerman was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours. He was instrumental in establishing the Metcalf Prizes and our conference support grants for young researchers. Congratulations David.

Finally, in our regular round-up of stem cell news, you can read about 2019 Metcalf winner James Hudson’s lab-grown ‘tiny hearts’; an Australian-led breakthrough in stem cell transplant for blood cancers; ‘lighting up’ human brain cells; Parkinson’s, cell therapy and exercise; stem cells that mimic healthy female ovaries; stressed-out gut stem cells; and more.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• WATCH: Experts discuss Parkinson's disease, MS, healthy ageing and more
• How an Australian mammary scientist’s own placentas ended up in a Danish museum
• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• Stem cell news from around the world

WATCH: Experts discuss Parkinson's disease, MS, healthy ageing and more

Hear from researchers who are using stem cells to study and potentially treat brain disorders

Two in five Australians will experience a brain disorder in their lifetime. Unfortunately, we still have much to learn about the brain and what happens as we age.

The good news is that scientists working with stem cells are discovering what is needed to make transplanted stem cells survive better in patients’ brains, how to combine gene and cell therapies to treat brain disorders, how to treat MS so that it becomes a ‘disease without disability’, and what we can do to prevent neurodegeneration as we age.

Three of Australia’s top stem cell researchers explored these topics in the public forum Future Medicine: Stem Cells & Brain Health.

You can watch a recording of the event on the Foundation website.

Featuring panellists:

• Parkinson’s disease and mitochondrial disorders – Professor Carolyn Sue AM, a clinician-scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney

• Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological conditions including stroke, motor neuron disease (MND) and Huntington’s disease – Professor Clare Parish from The Florey in Melbourne

• Multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions – Professor Kaylene Young from the Menzies Institute in Hobart.

How an Australian mammary scientist’s own placentas ended up in a Danish museum

Metcalf Prize winner wins major funding grants for both research and a public exhibition

Dr Felicity Davis won a 2019 Metcalf Prize for her research into how stem cells and calcium affect breast function. The following year she won a DKK 25 million (A$5.9 million) grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation to move to Denmark to establish a research laboratory at Aarhus University. Photo provided courtesy Simon Fischel, AU Health.

Today, the Brisbane-born biologist is progressing research that earned her the Metcalf. She holds a joint appointment between UNSW and Aarhus University, where she leads a project entitled ‘Intracellular Calcium Signalling at the Nexus of Mammary Gland Function and Failure’. 

In 2023, Felicity received a further DKK 6 million (A$1.5 million) from Novo Nordisk Foundation to help lead the development of a Danish museum exhibition to improve public understanding of women’s health and female biology.

Phase 1 of the new exhibition, The overlooked body, opened in January at the Steno Museum in Aarhus and runs until the end of 2025. From placentas to crash test dummies, it explores how gender disparities in medical research affect us today. 

Highlights include a crash test dummy installation; the world’s largest knitted placenta created by Australian artist Rebecca Vandyk-Hamilton; a real placenta; and an endometriosis installation.

Last year, Felicity gave birth to twins of her own.

We caught up with her for a long-distance Q&A.

What first drew you into stem cell research?

I did my PhD in breast cancer research and felt increasingly frustrated about how little we understood about the normal breast. During my second postdoc at the University of Cambridge, I had the opportunity to work in a mammary stem cell lab with a really great team of scientists on a fascinating mammary stem cell project. This is where my interest in adult stem cells began.

What’s the biggest difference you want your research to make and why?

That’s a really hard question to answer. I hope that my research helps us to understand how the breast develops and functions, as this has important implications for the health of women, mothers and babies. But equally important to me, I hope to create an environment that fosters creativity, curiosity, enjoyment with equitable opportunities for the next generation. 

Can you share any “Eureka” moments after winning the Metcalf Prize? 

I do my best to create a research environment where there are no silly questions, where bold ideas can be explored and where serendipitous discoveries can be chased. There are lots of ‘Ah-ha!’ moments in science. For us, they are mainly behind the microscope.

How has becoming a mother provided new insights into your research topic?

Being a breast researcher definitely helped with breastfeeding twins, which isn’t easy. But being a mother is also informing my research. We have a freezer box full of milk cells isolated from my milk donations (which can be used to create human organoids) and last month I even gave a voluntary 6-core biopsy of my own lactating breast tissue for research. It is incredibly rare to get this tissue and almost impossible to get it fresh, which is needed for live imaging studies. So, after the approvals were in place, I went under the knife myself.

Read the full story online.

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $60,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will receive $60,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2025 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, if they have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past five to 10 years (from August 2015 to August 2020). Allowances will be made for research-career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability, and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia. Past Metcalf Prize winners include scientists conducting fundamental research in cell biology, cell reprogramming, and genetics; or working on leukaemia and other cancers, heart failure, osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, inherited eye diseases, and many other causes of human suffering.

You can read more about the Metcalf Prize alumni and the research they were awarded for on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy for many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes form part of the Foundation’s mission to support researchers whose work improves our understanding of the human body and the diseases that affect it and leads to proven stem cell therapies.

Applications close Monday 11 August 2025. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who administers the awards for the Foundation: [email protected]

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Xinhua: Scientists create tiny hearts to revolutionise heart disease treatment – research from Metcalf Prize winner James Hudson. Paper.

Cosmos Magazine: 3D-printed pancreas cells could be the future of diabetes. And a separate study based on a small, two-phase clinical trial shows new stem cell therapy may cure severe Type 1 Diabetes, as reported by multiple news outlets including The New York Times.

The New York Times: Are stem cell therapies safe to try? Article raises questions around regulatory oversight of stem cell therapy and potential public confusion about the difference between scientifically supported treatment and untested therapies. Plus, related article: Kennedy Says ‘Charlatans’ Are No Reason To Block Unproven Stem Cell Treatments.

7 News Australia: Results of Australian-led clinical trial in stem cell transplant for blood cancers ‘set to change 40 years of standard practice’. Paper.

The Independent: A naturally occurring molecule, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), may counteract stem cell ageing.

USA Today podcast The Excerpt: Stem-cell based therapy that creates nerve cells developed by researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The Stem Cell Report podcast: The Florey’s Professor Clare Parish talks about latest research on Parkinson’s disease, cell therapy and exercise.

Monash University: Scientists from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences secure a Commonwealth Government-backed $953,751 Medical Research Future Fund grant to find new medicines for dementia by ‘lighting up’ human brain cells.

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research: Researchers discover how to block cells dying in a finding that could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative conditions.

BBC Science Focus: Allen Institute research shows 2 distinct phases of Alzheimer's.

Nature: Stem cells coaxed into most advanced amniotic sacs ever grown in the lab.

National Geographic: The ability to reverse damage to your lungs and heart is tantalisingly close.

Geek Wire: Allen Institute’s 10-year ‘CellScapes’ project leverages stem cell models and integrates imaging, modelling and synthetic biology to devise mathematics to understand how cells come together to shape life.

BBC Wildlife Magazine: Conservation efforts in the lab to help northern white rhinos avoid extinction.

Herald Sun: Exclusive report on a study run by IVF Australia ‘using stem cells that mimic healthy female ovaries’.

Science Signalling: Gut stem cells get stressed out.

Yale University: Morphogens or ‘molecular traffic cops’ regulate development of stem cells into specialised brain cells.

Medical News: Retinal stem cells hiding in plain sight. Paper.

Neuroscience News: Aging shifts stem cells into overdrive to create more belly fat.

About the Foundation

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia is an ATO-registered tax-deductible Health Promotion Charity dedicated to promoting the study and responsible use of stem cells to reduce the burden of disease.

The Foundation’s activities include:

• supporting research that pursues cures for as-yet-untreatable diseases
• building a community of people with a shared interest in stem cell science
• providing the Australian public with objective, reliable information on both the potential and risks of stem cell medicine.

Ask the experts about brain diseases and repair; conference grants for students and ECRs

Discover how stem cells could boost our understanding of brain health and potentially treat diseases. Hear about the latest research and ask your own questions at a free online event, Future Medicine: Stem Cells and Brain Health on 5 June. More below

And listen here to the ABC Radio National broadcast of the recent Making Cancer Treatment Worth It public forum in Adelaide, supported by the Foundation as part of our mission to provide community education.

Do you know an outstanding mid-career stem cell researcher? Applications open soon for two $60,000 Metcalf Prizes. More below, including national accolades for a past Metcalf Prize winner and jury member.

Apply or encourage your junior colleagues to apply for one of our young researchers grants to attend Australia’s premier stem cell science conference in November on Queensland’s Gold Coast. More below.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research 2025 Annual Meeting takes place in Hong Kong from 11 to 14 June. Read on for program highlights and details of Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie’s new leadership role with the global body.

Plus:

• the federal government announces a $238 million industry-led regenerative therapies research centre
• US researchers reveal link between ageing, stem cells and belly fat
• 2024 Metcalf Prize winner William Roman talks muscle cell communication and repair with Bench Side Story
• and more in our regular round-up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• WEBINAR EVENT: Future Medicine – Stem Cells and Brain Health
• Nominate for 2 x $60,000 Metcalf Prizes… opening soon
• Apply for grants and submit abstracts for stem cell science conference in the Gold Coast
• Register for ISSCR 2025: 11-14 June in Hong Kong
• Stem cell news from around the world

WEBINAR EVENT: Future Medicine – Stem Cells and Brain Health

How can we better understand, protect and even repair the human brain?

Meet and question our panel of researchers who are using stem cells to study and potentially treat brain disorders: conditions such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

About two in five Australians will experience a brain disorder in their lifetime. Unfortunately, we still have much to learn about the brain and what happens as we age.

The good news is that scientists working with stem cells are discovering:

• How our brains deteriorate as we age, and what we can do about it
• How stem cells might repair the brain and reverse conditions like Parkinson’s disease
• How multiple sclerosis could become a “disease without disability”
• How else stem cells can be used in advancing new therapies for brain conditions.

Find out more from our panel of researchers and clinicians working on:

• Parkinson’s disease and mitochondrial disorders – Professor Carolyn Sue AM, a clinician-scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney

• Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological conditions including stroke, motor neuron disease (MND) and Huntington’s disease – Professor Clare Parish from The Florey in Melbourne

• Multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions – Professor Kaylene Young from the Menzies Institute in Hobart.

Register now: events.humanitix.com/stem-cells-and-brain-health

Nominate for 2 x $60,000 Metcalf Prizes… opening soon

Each year we award two $60,000 prizes to support the field’s rising stars and set them up for future success.

Do you fit the bill? Or do you know someone who deserves this opportunity and the recognition? Encourage them to apply when we open for applications late next month. We know from experience that some winners applied only after receiving encouragement from their peers.

Many past prize recipients have gone on to win significant government and philanthropic grants, and other accolades.

For example, QIMR Berghofer bioengineer James Hudson is mass-producing human heart tissue from stem cells. The year after he won a 2019 Metcalf Prize he was awarded an $8 million Snow Fellowship. In April, he was named among The Australian Academy of Science 2025 honorific awardees, receiving the Jacques Miller Medal (mid-career honorific award) in recognition of his contributions to heart health and treatments.

The Metcalf Prizes are open to post-doctoral researchers who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past 5-10 years. They are awarded for intellectual merit, professional esteem, leadership, and their potential to have continuing impact on stem cell research in Australia.

Find out more about the prizes.

See the full list of past winners.

Australian stem cell science conference heads to Queensland’s Gold Coast in November

Now is the time to apply for grants and submit abstracts

The Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) 2025 Annual Meeting will take place on 10 – 12 November at QT Gold Coast on Queensland’s iconic coastline.

The Foundation is again supporting a grants and awards program, sponsoring ASSCR member postgraduate students and early career researchers to attend and present their research, and awarding prizes for the best oral and poster presentations.

Apply or encourage your junior colleagues to apply for the grants: www.asscrmeeting.com.au/awards.

The program was created to support the next generation of stem cell researchers early in their careers, kickstart their network building, and give them opportunities to present their work. Hundreds of grants have been awarded since it started in 2013.

For example, Lincon Stamp, who researches enteric (intestine-related) nervous system stem cells, was one of our travel grant recipients in 2014, winning the conference’s award for top oral presentation from an early career researcher. Today, he’s ASSCR President!

The organising committee is also calling for abstracts for the conference. The deadline for both grant applications and abstract submissions is 1 August 2025.

More information: www.asscrmeeting.com.au

Register for ISSCR 2025:
11 – 14 June in Hong Kong

Join close to 4000 scientists from around the globe for stem cell science’s premier international conference. See the full program and register online at www.isscr2025.org.

Highlights include:

• A plenary session exploring stem cells as the engines of daily regeneration in adult tissues, with speakers including Metcalf Prize winner James Hudson.
• The perspectives of patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and their families in a plenary session focused on advocacy and access.
• An exploration of ‘Immunoengineering’ – from the development of the immune system to its engineering next-generation therapy, with 2015 Metcalf Prize winner Christine Wells speaking.

In related news, stem cell ethics, education and policy researcher and Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie steps up as Clerk  of the ISSCR.

“I'm honoured to be selected for this role by my peers, and to continue to support the ISSCR in their mission of excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health,” she says of the society's 2025 Executive Committee and Board of Directors election result.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Bench Side Story: 2024 Metcalf Prize winner Dr William Roman, from Monash University’s Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, talks about growing human muscles on a chip as a model to understand intercellular communication.

Radio 2RPH: The Foundation’s 2021 Matched Funding Program recipient, Associate Professor Raymond Wong, appeared on Ablequest podcast taking about progress of his ground-breaking research harnessing the regenerative power of the retina’s own stem cells to help people with impaired vision.

9 News Australia: Federal government announces 238 million industry-led research centre SMART CRC, hosted by The University of Queensland, to accelerate industrial-scale manufacturing of regenerative therapies.

ISS National Laboratory: Upcoming microgravity studies on the International Space Station will trace inflammation pathways involved in neurodegenerative diseases.

Yahoo News Australia: International research team led by Germany’s Max Planck Institute discovers peripheral neural stem cells in lung tissue holding hope for development of new therapies for Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative disorders.

The Florey Institute: Researchers engineer a way to fool the immune system into accepting neural grafts as part of the body, rather than attacking them as foreign objects.

The Australian: Weekend Magazine article ‘The end of cancer: cell therapy breakthroughs take us to the edge of a cure’.

Live Science: Lab-grown teeth could offer alternative to fillings and implants as Kings College London team moves closer to growing natural tooth replacements using stem cells and bioengineered environments.

SciTechDaily: University of Michigan researchers find planarian worms don’t lose adult stem cells with age and regenerate youthful versions of themselves, even growing new heads.

Nature: Microbial molecule of ageing gut nudges blood stem cells towards cancer.

Science Daily: US researchers reveal aging ‘shifts stem cells into overdrive to create more belly fat’.

Inside Precision Medicine: Parkinson’s cell therapies are ‘safe’ in two clinical trials, according to results of patients receiving transplants of lab-grown dopaminergic neuron progenitor cells.

The Conversation: A new Cochrane review finds evidence of benefits and harms of stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis remains elusive.

The Art Newspaper: Art Gallery of Western Australia’s Revivification exhibition uses a ‘mini-brain’, grown from stem cells originating from donated blood of late composer to create sound installation in real time.

About the Foundation

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia is an ATO-registered tax-deductible Health Promotion Charity dedicated to promoting the study and responsible use of stem cells to reduce the burden of disease.

The Foundation’s activities include:

• supporting research that pursues cures for as-yet-untreatable diseases
• building a community of people with a shared interest in stem cell science
• providing the Australian public with objective, reliable information on both the potential and risks of stem cell medicine.

Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy

Sydney cardiologist and researcher Professor Eddy Kizana is on a mission to fix ‘unlucky genes’ in people born with impaired hearts. With the backing of the Foundation and ABAL Banking, he’s moving gene therapy for genetic heart disease toward human application.

Eddy and his Cardiac Gene Therapy Group at Westmead Institute for Medical Research have already developed genetically modified viruses to carry the repair kit. Now, they’re growing personalised models of genetic heart disease in a dish, to trial it. More below

Take a deep dive into the work of 2024 Metcalf Prize winner, Dr Rhiannon Werder from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She talks about growing ‘mini-lungs’ to find treatments to help kids breathe easier in a Bench Side Story film released on United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February). View here.

Watch a recording of the recent ‘Making cancer treatment worth it’ public forum in Adelaide, hosted by ABC Radio National broadcaster Natasha Mitchell. More below

‘Why some cell treatments are banned in Australia’ is a topic expertly tackled by Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie on The Briefing podcast. Listen here.

And in stem cell news from around the world: how human mini-brains launched into space thrived in an unexpected way; scientists develop a patch that can repair damaged hearts; why blocking nerve signals could be key to treating pancreatic cancer; and more in our regular news highlights round-up.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy
• Watch: Making cancer treatment worth it event
• Stem cell news from around the world

Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy

About 400,000 Australians have inherited and incurable cardiovascular disease. While some experience no symptoms, for others it can lead to sudden cardiac death or heart failure requiring a heart transplant.

Treatments include implanting devices to keep the heart in tune. But the surgery is invasive and is repeated every decade or so to change the batteries.

A potential cure would be to replace the faulty genes in your heart. One approach is to use modified viruses to infect the damaged heart cells and replace or repair the damaged DNA.

The technology has huge potential. But, to test its safety and efficacy you need to work with real human heart from patients with the genetic condition. That’s impossible to do safely and ethically, until now.

Professor Eddy Kizana and his Cardiac Gene Therapy Group at Westmead Institute for Medical Research, have already developed genetically modified adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) that can carry the genetic repair kit.

Now, with the backing of the Foundation and ABAL Banking, through a $100,000 Matched Funding Program grant, they’re using patient-derived stem cells to create personalised models of genetic heart disease in a dish. This involves using slices of pig heart, which have all the living cells removed, leaving behind a scaffold on which human heart muscle cells can grow.

Eddy and his team are about six months away from being able to start testing efficacy of the virus vectors on models of genetic heart disease in a dish.

Read more about Eddy and his research.

Watch: Making cancer treatment worth it event

Cancer treatment can save or extend lives, but treatment can be very difficult for patients and come at a high financial cost for the healthcare system.

How is treatment changing? How do we minimise serious side effects? And how do we help people who are suffering (and their loved ones) have reasonable expectations and make informed choices?

Three of Australia’s top stem cell researchers answered these questions and more in a recent public forum, Making cancer treatment worth it, hosted by ABC Radio National broadcaster Natasha Mitchell.

Watch the video to hear from:

• Professor Mark Dawson on understanding and treating blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
• Associate Professor David Elliott on reducing the damaging side effects of anti-cancer drugs on the hearts of children undergoing life-saving chemotherapy.
• Professor Megan Munsie on patient experiences and reducing the risks of unproven stem cell treatments and medical tourism.

This event was hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) and the University of Adelaide/South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as part of its mission to provide community education. The public event was held in conjunction with the ASSCR 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

The Briefing: Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie talks to Chris Spyrou on one of Australia’s leading daily news podcasts on ‘Why some stem cell treatments are banned in Australia’.

Inside Precision Medicine: Blocking nerve signals could be key to treating pancreatic cancer.

New Scientist: Mini-brains have been fused to resemble that of a 40-day-old fetus.

The Guardian: Scientists develop patch that can repair damaged hearts.

Psychology Today: Could language models be the stem cells of thought?

The Guardian: Technology for lab-grown eggs or sperm on brink of viability, UK fertility watchdog finds.

Science Daily: Discovery of new skeletal tissue advances regenerative medicine potential.

Science: Fish implanted with tumour cells could help oncologists quickly personalize cancer treatments.

Science Alert: Human mini-brains launched into space thrived in an unexpected way.

The Scientist: Scientists get to the heart of blood formation, tweaking heart-forming organoids to produce blood cells.

Nature: What’s the secret to living to 100? Centenarian stem cells could offer clues.

ABC Radio Melbourne and Cosmos magazine: Interviews with one of the Foundation’s two 2024 Metcalf Prize winners, Dr Rhiannon Werder, from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Growing mini-lungs; and what happens when cells stop talking? Metcalf Prize winners announced

I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research: Dr Rhiannon Werder from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Dr William Roman from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, based at Monash University.

Rhiannon plans to grow 3 dimensional models of human lung tissue, or ‘mini-lungs’, in a dish to better investigate respiratory infections and drive new treatment discoveries.

William is growing human muscles on a chip. He’s using them to understand how the skeletal muscle cell, the largest cell in a human body, connects with neurons and tendons to create working muscles.

Both will receive a $60,000 prize from the Foundation. More below.

The success of past Metcalf Prize winners shows our investment strategy is working. Please consider donating to help us continue our work: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate.

Join us this Sunday for a free public forum and Q&A on Making cancer treatment worth it at the University of Adelaide: 10 November 3:00pm-4:30pm ACDT and livestreamed.

Science broadcaster Natasha Mitchell and a panel of cancer and stem cell experts will explore the costs and benefits of cancer treatment and how this in changing – from personalised medicine to managing side effects to supporting patients. Further details below.

Also in the news this month: 2018 Metcalf Prize winner Enzo Porrello featured on Fox 5 New York, talking about using human stem cells, genomics and AI to solve childhood heart disease; new findings on stem cells grown in microgravity aboard the International Space Station; and more in our regular our regular news roundup.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Growing ‘mini-lungs’ to find treatments to help kids breathe easier
• How do cells work together to create organs? And what happens when they stop talking?
• EVENT: Join us in Adelaide to find out about making cancer treatment worth it
• Stem cell news from around the world

Growing 'mini-lungs' to find treatments to help kids breathe easier

Dr Rhiannon Werder is growing ‘mini-lungs in a dish’ that mimic the complexity and function of lungs in living people.

The Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) has already used stem cell-derived lung cells to create models of human genetic diseases, like cystic fibrosis, and acquired lung diseases and infections, such as the common cold.

Now she plans to grow 3 dimensional models of human lung tissue, or ‘mini-lungs’, in a dish to better investigate respiratory infections and drive new treatment discoveries.

Lung diseases and respiratory infections rank among the top causes of morbidity and mortality in children globally.

“Every time we breathe in, we breathe in potentially horrible things, meaning our lungs are under constant attack – so, it’s no wonder things go wrong,” says Rhiannon matter-of-factly.

“Epithelial cells that line the lungs are our first line of defence, and the first cells that anything we breath in interacts with,” Rhiannon says. “It’s incredible that these cells that line our lungs are so well equipped – attacks are happening almost with every breath, and most of the time you don’t even know about it, because the epithelial cells just deal with it.

“But, of course, underneath those cells are many other cell types, and to better understand respiratory diseases, we need to persuade these other cells to grow in our models of human lung tissues, or ‘mini-lungs’.

“We’ve already had really nice success incorporating immune cells, and what we’re working towards is making mini-lungs in a dish that have full complexity of the lung so that we can study respiratory infections, including how they impact children with chronic lung diseases.

Rhiannon wants her work to lead to treatments that help children breathe easier. Her focus is on how we can teach the lung cells and the immune system to deal with invaders more effectively. This ‘host directed therapy’ contrasts with traditional disease directed therapies that target specific bacteria or viruses, which can then become resistant to treatment.

Read more about Rhiannon and her research.

How do cells work together to create organs? And what happens when they stop talking?

Dr William Roman is growing human muscles on a chip. He’s using them to understand how the skeletal muscle cell, the largest cell in a human body, connects with neurons and tendons to create working muscles.

William is using his ‘mini-muscles’ as a model to understand the fundamental principles of intercellular communication, and hopes this work will enable researchers to better mimic organs outside the body.

He is also studying what happens when communication between neurons and muscle cells breaks down as we age, and in degenerative diseases such as motor neuron disease (MND).

His team’s research at Monash University’s Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), will lead to stem cell technologies for disease modelling, drug screening, cellular agriculture, and biorobotics.

William says, “Researchers around the world are mimicking organs, growing mini- kidneys, mini-hearts, even mini-brains. However, a key challenge with these organ-on-chip models is that different cell types do not naturally interact to form the mature connections seen in real organs. We first need a deep understanding of how stem cells communicate in space and time during development.”

Read more about William and his research. 

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

EVENT: Join us in Adelaide to find out about making cancer treatment worth it

Bring your questions to a free public event at 3.00pm ACDT THIS SUNDAY 10 November at the University of Adelaide.

 Cancer treatment can save or extend lives, BUT sometimes it doesn’t.

• How do we make sure we’re not giving people aggressive therapy that is ultimately futile?
• Is saving a life enough – what about the treatments that result in serious side effects?
• How is personalised medicine improving outcomes and patient treatment experiences?
• How do we help people who are suffering (and their loved ones) have reasonable expectations and make informed choices?
• What is the cost (personal, health, financial) of a treatment versus the benefit and how is this changing?

Join us at Making cancer treatment worth it – a panel event that brings top cancer and stem cell scientists to the public so they can hear the latest science and ask their own questions. The event will also be livestreamed.

When: Sunday, 10 November, 3pm - 4:30pm ACDT.

Where: Ground floor lecture theatre (G030), Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building - The University of Adelaide, 4 North Terrace, Adelaide.

Register: events.humanitix.com/making-cancer-treatment-worth-it

On the panel:

• Professor Mark Dawson: a haematologist and clinician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre who has revolutionised the understanding and treatment of blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
• Associate Professor David Elliott: a cardiac stem cell researcher at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. He is working to reduce the damaging side effects of anti-cancer drugs on the hearts of children undergoing life-saving chemotherapy.
• Professor Megan Munsie: a stem cell ethics and education expert at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, with deep knowledge of the extent and risks of unproven stem cell treatments and medical tourism.

ABC Radio National Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell will host the conversation, recorded for national broadcast.

This event is hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) and the University of Adelaide/South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as part of its mission to provide community education. The public event is held in conjunction with the ASSCR 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Fox5 New York: Researchers targeting childhood heart disease with stem cells, AI.

Interview with 2018 Metcalf Prize winner Prof Enzo Porrello from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The Niche: Joe Rogan shows more love for unproven stem cells despite risks.

Science Daily: Space: A new frontier for exploring stem cell therapy.

Nature: Disease background influences fate of transplanted stem cells.

Science Daily: Researchers propose one, rare stem cell is unique in its ability to be reprogrammed.

Nature: New findings on stem cells and development of cancer.

Science Magazine: Reprogramming tumour cells to fight cancer.

New Scientist: Stem cell transplant gives hope for treating age-related sight loss.

Nature: Breakthrough discovery links immune system to Parkinson’s progression.

Making cancer treatment worth it; stem cells as art; scientist success stories

Cancer treatments, like blood stem cell transplants, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy are saving more lives than ever. But they are expensive for government and sometimes for patients, and may have cost, such as harsh side effects during treatment, ongoing health challenges.

Join us to explore these challenges at a free forum – Making cancer treatment worth it – in Adelaide on 10 November, hosted by ABC’s Natasha Mitchell. Hear about the latest research from clinicians and experts and ask your own questions. The event will be livestreamed online. More details below.

Scientists from reNEW are showcasing their cell images in an art exhibition to give people insights into their work and the diseases they are working to understand, treat and cure. More below.

Scientists we’ve backed have been in the news, winning accolades and major funding:

• Sydney cardiologist James Chong and Brisbane bioengineer James Hudson are the two Jian Zhou Medallists for their work using stem cells to treat and repair hearts
• For working to repair joints with stem cells, Sydney biomedical engineer Jiao Jiao Li has won a Eureka Prize.
• Melbourne researchers Lincon Stamp and Marlene Hao are restoring gut nerve cells. They have won $6.5 million from the Australian government.

Further details below.

The continued success of researchers we’ve supported shows our investment strategy is working. We’ve been able to identify emerging talent with the help of our Board, its Science and Ethics Committee, and the high-calibre scientists serving on our Metcalf Prizes jury. And we’ve been able to fund their research, thanks to generous donations by our supporters.

Please consider donating to help us continue our work: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate.

Also in the news this month: Melbourne researchers have created blood stem cells in the lab, scientists have turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells, and one of our directors – endometrial stem cell pioneer Caroline Gargett – has been profiled in The Scientist magazine. These stories and more feature in our regular news roundup.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• EVENT: Join us in Adelaide to find out about making cancer treatment worth it
• See stem cell science turned into art
• Foundation supported scientists studying heart, joint and swallowing disorders score major wins
• Stem cell news from around the world

EVENT: Join us in Adelaide to find out about making cancer treatment worth it

Bring your questions to a free public event at 3.00pm Sunday 10 November at the University of Adelaide.

 Cancer treatment can save or extend lives, BUT sometimes it doesn’t.

• How do we make sure we’re not giving people aggressive therapy that is ultimately futile?
• Is saving a life enough – what about the treatments that result in serious side effects?
• How is personalised medicine improving outcomes and patient treatment experiences?
• How do we help people who are suffering (and their loved ones) have reasonable expectations and make informed choices?
• What is the cost (personal, health, financial) of a treatment versus the benefit and how is this changing?

Join us at Making cancer treatment worth it – a panel event that brings top cancer and stem cell scientists to the public so they can hear the latest science and ask their own questions. The event will also be livestreamed.

When: Sunday, 10 November, 3pm - 4:30pm ACDT.

Where: Ground floor lecture theatre (G030), Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building - The University of Adelaide, 4 North Terrace, Adelaide.

Register: events.humanitix.com/making-cancer-treatment-worth-it

On the panel:

• Professor Mark Dawson: a haematologist and clinician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre who has revolutionised the understanding and treatment of blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
• Associate Professor David Elliott: a cardiac stem cell researcher at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. He is working to reduce the damaging side effects of anti-cancer drugs on the hearts of children undergoing life-saving chemotherapy.
• Professor Megan Munsie: a stem cell ethics and education expert at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, with deep knowledge of the extent and risks of unproven stem cell treatments and medical tourism.

ABC Radio National Big Ideas presenter Natasha Mitchell will host the conversation, recorded for national broadcast.

This event is hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) and the University of Adelaide/South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as part of its mission to provide community education. The public event is held in conjunction with the ASSCR 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.

See stem cell science made into art

Stem cell scientists have turned their research into works of art in a competition and exhibition to celebrate Global Stem Cell Awareness Day 2024 (October 9).

Visit reNEW's #ARTxSCIENCE virtual gallery to see a beautiful, colourful exhibition of cell and scientific photographs taken by the people who study them. It’s a clever initiative that raises awareness of the life-saving potential of stem cell research and the researchers behind it.

The public has voted, and 12 finalists have been chosen. An international jury will select the winner to be revealed on Global Stem Cell Awareness Day.

Visit: https://renew.science/artxscience/

Foundation supported scientists studying heart, joint and swallowing disorders score major wins

Health academy medallists get to the heart of it: accolades for past Metcalf Prize winners

Two past Metcalf Prize winners – cardiologist and researcher Professor James Chong and bioengineer Professor James Hudson – have been announced as the two winners of the 2024 Jian Zhou Medal from the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).

The Foundation created the Metcalf Prizes to support promising researchers at the pivotal mid-career research stage. James Chong and James Hudson have gone on to achieve great success. For example, James Chong was awarded $4.9 million by the Medical Research Future Fund 2020 Stem Cell Mission to continue his work and James Hudson was awarded an $8 million fellowship from the Snow Medical Research Foundation.

Read the full story and find out more about their research online.

Targeting osteoarthritis and more: 2023 Metcalf Prize alumna wins 2024 Eureka Prize

University of Technology Sydney biomedical engineer Dr Jiao Jiao Li plans to use stem cells as biofactories to make drugs to reduce inflammation and encourage repair in painful osteoarthritic joints.

Jiao Jiao works across disciplines, using artificial intelligence, bioengineering, nanotechnology and stem cell science to develop new stem cell-derived treatments – initially for osteoarthritis, then potentially a wide range of other diseases.

Last year, she won one of two $60,000 Metcalf Prizes in recognition of her research achievements and leadership.

Last month, she won the 2024 Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science for her work in regenerative medicine. Dubbed the ‘Oscars of Science’, the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes is an award program recognising excellence in innovation, research, leadership, science engagement and sustainability.

We’re delighted to see Jiao Jiao’s continued success.

Read her Metcalf Prizes profile.

Read Eureka Prizes story on the UTS website.

Government funding offers a lifeline to children suffering from gut disorders

Rare but extremely debilitating gut disorders, like paediatric achalasia and Hirschsprung’s disease, can affect the fundamental ability to swallow and digest food and pass stools. Children with these conditions endure a lifetime of potentially life-threatening symptoms that severely impact their daily lives, require repeat hospitalisation, surgery and ongoing care.

The Foundation has previously backed research into a potential stem cell therapy for achalasia. We supported the researchers Dr Lincon Stamp and Dr Marlene Hao at the University of Melbourne through our Matched Funding Program, which targets projects bringing potential treatments closer to clinical trials.

Lincon and Marlene have been awarded $6.5 million in funding from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund to combat paediatric gastrointestinal motility disorders, including achalasia.

“We believe that our novel approach of restoring the gut nerves using stem cell therapy will transform the treatment of these diseases,” said Lincon and Marlene in the University’s announcement of the funding.

A glimmer of hope for patients who can’t swallow: read about Lincon and Marlene’s Foundation-supported research.

Read about their MRFF funding at the University of Melbourne website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Nature: Children with Down’s syndrome are more likely to get leukaemia: stem-cells hint at why.

ScienceNews: Scientists have just turned giant panda skin cells into stem cells. Paper.

The Scientist: An endometrial stem cell pioneer.

Two decades ago, Caroline Gargett identified adult stem cells in the endometrium. Now, she explores their functions to improve women’s health.

Cornell Chronicle: Study reveals how COVID-19 infection can cause or worsen diabetes. Paper.

SMH: Birth injury ‘no one talks about’: Why marathon runner Sally couldn’t jog across a car park.

Herald Sun: MCRI team create blood stem cells in lab in world-first. Paper.

SBS (listen): Engineered stem cells breakthrough could save lives.

New Atlas: Fasting's effects on stem cells linked to increased cancer risk.

Washington Post: Diabetes took over her life, until a stem cell therapy freed her.

The Age: How silkworms and zebrafish are being used to heal wounds, and even regrow a human heart.

Stem cells and endometriosis, pelvic floor injury; plus two $60K prizes for rising stars

Stem cells are changing our understanding of women’s health, potentially making endometriosis easier to diagnose, treating vaginal birth injury, and improving breast cancer treatment.

Find out more: watch a recording of a women’s health forum we recently held online. More below.

We’re looking for up-and-coming researchers with big ideas who we can support through the 2024 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Two prizes worth $60,000 each will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career stem cell scientist. Applications close on Friday 9 August. Please consider if there’s someone you should nominate. Read on for more details.

Last year we awarded prizes to:

• Dr Jiao Jiao Li from the University of Technology Sydney who plans to use stem cells as biofactories to make drugs to reduce inflammation and encourage repair in painful osteoarthritic joints
• Dr Dustin Flanagan from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute who is working to understand why some stomach stem cells turn cancerous and whether we can develop drugs to bring these misbehaving cells back to normal, healthy function.

Finally, in our regular round-up of stem cell news, American authorities are cracking down on more stem cell scams, fingerprint patterns have been shown to predict a regenerative therapy’s effectiveness, and “village in a dish” 3D chimeric model brains have been made, each containing stem cells from up to 5 human donors.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Watch: What’s next for stem cells and women’s health
• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Watch: What’s next for stem cells and women’s health

Endometriosis, a painful condition caused by the growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, affects one in nine reproductive age women, half of all infertile women, and more than half of women and teenaged girls with pelvic pain.

“It’s outrageous that it takes seven to 10 years to get diagnosed. This is what we want to change,” said endometrial stem cell researcher Caroline Gargett at the Foundation’s recent online panel event Future Medicine: Stem Cells and Women’s Health.

Caroline explained that menstrual fluid is a non-invasive source of endometrial tissue and stem cell populations and some endometrial proteins. It’s a biofluid that contains (a) biomarkers that can identify and help diagnose endometriosis, and (b) stem cells that can be cultured 3D functional clusters of tissue or ‘organoids’ that can be used to test drugs and other treatments.

Caroline was joined by Shayanti Mukherjee (both pictured) and Geoff Lindeman, who spoke about pelvic organ prolapse and breast cancer respectively.

You can watch a recording of the event on the Foundation website.

Read more about the speakers:

• Endometriosis: Professor Caroline Gargett, Hudson Institute of Medical Research - Foundation Director profile and story The untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood
• Birth trauma injuries and pelvic floor disorders: Dr Shayanti Mukherjee, Hudson Institute of Medical Research - Story Research transforming pelvic organ prolapse treatment
• Breast cancer: Professor Geoff Lindeman, WEHI, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital Prof - Foundation Director profile and WEHI profile.

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $60,000 prizes for stem cell research are now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will receive $60,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2024 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or life sciences, government or academia, as long as they have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past five to 10 years (from August 2014 to August 2019). Allowances will be made for research-career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability, and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Many past prize recipients have gone on to win significant grants and other success, such as:

• Closer to repairing the brain: since winning an inaugural Metcalf Prize in 2014, Kaylene Young has made a mark on glial stem cell and multiple sclerosis (MS) research. She is developing a family study and a world-first MS stem cell biobank to study the genetics and mechanisms of the disease, and a clinical trial of magnetic brain stimulation for brain repair. She is the Brain Health theme leader of MS Research Flagship at the University of Tasmania, which has been supported with a Medical Research Futures Fund (MRFF) grant, and has received other funding from MS Australia, ARC, NHMRC, and others. She is pictured (right) at the award ceremony with Don Metcalf, Gustav Nossal and fellow winner Jose Polo.
• Building a blood cancer treatment from the ground up: Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre clinician-scientist and 2017 Metcalf Prize winner Mark Dawson won the Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year at the 2020 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science. He has since been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
• Newborn babies offer clues for healing hearts: heart regeneration researcher and 2018 Metcalf Prize winner Enzo Porrello from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is now director of the Melbourne Node of the recently established Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW) and he is the founding co-director of the Melbourne Centre for Cardiovascular Genomics and Regenerative Medicine (CardioRegen). He and his colleagues have received funding boosts from the MRFF Stem Cells Therapies Mission for a project that aims to repair and reconstruct tissues for kids with heart defects and a special MRFF grant to use stem cell models to screen potential treatments for COVID-19-realted heart damage.

You can read more about the Metcalf Prize alumni and the research they were awarded for on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. In the course of his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy for many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes form part of the Foundation’s mission to support researchers whose work improves our understanding of the human body and the diseases that affect it and leads to proven stem cell therapies.

Applications close Friday 9 August 2024. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who administers the awards for the Foundation: [email protected]

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Herald Sun: Scientists find clues to endo diagnosis, and it is all in the blood.

University of Tasmania: “Profound impact,” legacy of a $10m multiple sclerosis funding boost.

Associated Press: Some hawking stem cells say they can treat almost anything. They can’t.

ScienceDaily: Lab-grown muscles reveal mysteries of rare muscle diseases.

RegMedNet: Fingerprint patterns predict the effectiveness of MSCs for cartilage regeneration.

Nature: These 3D model brains with cells from several people are first of their kind.

Medical Xpress: Fertility treatments could get a boost from stem cells.

Event puts women’s health in the spotlight; understanding sex determination

Find out how stem cells are changing women’s health, potentially making endometriosis easier to diagnose, treating vaginal birth injury, and improving breast cancer treatment.

Hear about the latest research and ask your own questions at a free online event Stem Cells and Women’s Health on 27 June. See below for details.

Do you know an exceptional mid-career stem cell researcher? Applications will open for two $60,000 Metcalf Prizes in a few weeks. Read on for more about three past Metcalf Prize winners and their work on cancer, understanding breast changes, and mending broken hearts with stem cells.

We’re working with the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) to provide grants for young researchers to attend this year’s scientific meeting in November in Adelaide. Apply or encourage your junior colleagues to apply. Read on for details.

Find out how we’re supporting Melbourne researcher Katie Ayers’ work to identify the genes involved in variations of sex development, some of which are linked to health problems such as increased cancer risk, intellectual disability, or infertility. More below.

Finally, a newborn baby has received cell therapy using his own umbilical cord blood to treat a stroke he had in the womb. He’s the first participant in a clinical trial led by Melbourne clinician-scientist Atul Malhotra, whose research we’ve supported.

Catch up this and other news stories, including how ‘mini-organs’ have been grown in the lab from cells shed by foetuses in womb, why police in the UK are investigating a dubious stem cell autism cure claim, and local news that epigenetics leader and past Metcalf Prize winner Jose Polo has been elected to the Australian Academy of Science. These and other stories from around the world are included in our regular round-up of stem cell news.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• WEBINAR EVENT: Stem Cells and Women’s Health
• Nominate for 2 x $60,000 Metcalf Prizes… opening soon
• ASSCR Meeting 2024: from roots to remedies in Adelaide in November
• Register for ISSCR 2024: 10 – 13 July in Hamburg, Germany
• Making 3D models of how sex development occurs in the womb
• Stem cell news from around the world

WEBINAR EVENT: Stem Cells and Women’s Health

Hear the latest science and bring your questions to a free online event at 7:00pm AEST Thursday 27 June 2024.

• How is stem cell science changing our understanding of endometriosis? Why does it take so long for women to be diagnosed?
• What causes breast cancer? How is it treated?
• Can the damage to the pelvic floor from childbirth be repaired?
• What can we reasonably hope for in the future?

Three of Australia’s top stem cell researchers will join a live online audience to answer these questions and more in the webinar event Future Medicine: Stem Cells and Women’s Health.

Featuring speakers:

• Endometriosis: Professor Caroline Gargett, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
• Breast cancer: Professor Geoff Lindeman, WEHI, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital
• Birth trauma injuries and pelvic floor disorders: Dr Shayanti Mukherjee, Hudson Institute of Medical Research.

Register to attend via Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/future-medicine-stem-cells-and-women-s-health.

This event provides an opportunity to meet the scientists working at the forefront of women’s health and medical research. Please spread the word to friends and colleagues who might be interested.

Nominate for 2 x $60,000 Metcalf Prizes… opening soon

Each year we award two $60,000 prizes to support the field’s rising stars and set them up for future success. And it’s working!

Many past prize recipients have gone on to win significant government and philanthropic grants such as:

• How embryos and cancer cells grow: the year after winning a 2020 Metcalf Prize, molecular biologist Melanie Eckersley-Maslin was awarded an $8 million Snow Fellowship to study how cancer progresses.
• Researching stem cell treatment for healing broken hearts: cardiologist and 2016 Metcalf Prize winner James Chong was awarded $4.9 million by the Medical Research Future Fund 2020 Stem Cell Mission for his work, which will allow clinical trials to go ahead.
• How stem cells and calcium affect breast function: in 2020, mammary biologist and 2019 Metcalf winner Felicity Davis received a grant of DKK 25 million (AUD $5.5 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to continue her work investigating how breasts change through life.

The Prizes are awarded to post-doctoral researchers who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past 5-10 years. They are awarded for intellectual merit, professional esteem, leadership, and their potential to have continuing impact on stem cell research in Australia.

Do you fit the bill? Or do you know someone who deserves this opportunity and the recognition? Encourage them to apply. We know from experience that some winners applied only after receiving encouragement from their peers.

Find out more about the prizes.

See the full list of past winners.

ASSCR Meeting 2024: from roots to remedies in Adelaide in November

Now is the time to apply for grants and submit abstracts.

The ASSCR 2024 Annual Meeting will take place on 11 – 13 November at the National Wine Centre of Australia in the heart of Adelaide.

The Foundation is again supporting a grants and awards program, sponsoring ASSCR member PhD students and early career researchers to attend and present their research, and awarding prizes for the best oral and poster presentations.

Apply or encourage your junior colleagues to apply for the grants: www.asscrmeeting.com.au/awards.

The program was created to support the next generation of stem cell researchers early in their careers, kickstart their network building, and give them opportunities to present their work. Hundreds of grants have been awarded since it started in 2013.

For example, Lincon Stamp, who researches enteric (intestine-related) nervous system stem cells, was one of our travel grant recipients in 2014, winning the conference’s award for top oral presentation from an early career researcher. Ten years on, he’s set to become the next ASSCR President!

The organising committee is also calling for abstracts for the conference. The deadline for both grant applications and abstract submissions is 2 August 2024.

More information: www.asscrmeeting.com.au.

Register for ISSCR 2024: 10 – 13 July in Hamburg, Germany

Join more than 4000 scientists from around the globe for stem cell science’s premier international conference.

Plenary speakers including the neuroscientist who discovered that glial cells are neural stem cells in the developing mammalian brain, an expert in the metabolic and systemic control of stem cell development, and the co-founder and principal leader of the Human Cell Atlas initiative.

See the full program and register online at: www.isscr2024.org.

Making 3D models of how sex development occurs in the womb

Human sex characteristics develop in the womb. About one in 100 babies are born with variations, some of which are linked to health problems such as increased cancer risk, heart disease, osteoporosis, intellectual disability, or infertility.

Reproductive biologist Associate Professor Katie Ayers is working to identify the genes involved in these variations. She and her team are growing 3D models of developing gonads engineered from stem cells in the lab to study variations in sex development and the role of genetics.

The Foundation is backing her research through its Matched Funding Program in collaboration with the Cybec Foundation.

About one in 4,500 children are born with genitals that are of neither typical female nor typical male appearance. Uncertainty about gender can carry profound physical and mental health consequences for the child and family. Failure of testes development is another issue, with a prevalence of one in 20,000.

In many cases, having a correct genetic diagnosis can help the young person and their family to understand differences in their gonadal and genital development and inform decisions during their clinical care. Currently, however, a genetic cause can only confidently be found in around 40 per cent of cases, leaving many affected individuals and families facing uncertainty and possibly invasive testing.

Katie’s research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) aims to improve this by working with families and clinicians at the Royal Children’s Hospital and other international centres to find underlying genetic causes.

“Our goal is to provide doctors, affected individuals and families with the clearest possible picture, so they can make informed decisions,” says Katie.

Read full story on our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Nine News: Treatment helps babies who suffer strokes in the womb recover.

Live Science: In a 1st, scientist grow mini brains with functional blood-brain barriers | Live Science. Paper.

University of Adelaide: Epigenetics leader Professor Jose Polo feted with fellowship.

ISCT Global: Patient Safety in Cell & Gene Therapies: Guidelines and Resources launched.

Neuroscience News: Mini-brains from stem cells provide hope for Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Denver Post: Colorado hospitals detect 3 cases of infections linked to stem-cell treatments received in Mexico.

BBC: Met investigates 'stem-cell autism cure' claim.

The Scientist: Low intracellular iron levels may keep blood stem cells young.

Science Daily: Scientists grow 'mini kidneys,' revealing new insights into metabolic defects and potential therapy for polycystic kidney disease. Paper.

The Rockefeller University: Stem cell model offers first glimpse of early human development. Paper.

ABC News (USA): Paralyzed man who can walk again shows potential benefit of stem cell therapy. Paper.

Science: Organoids: Today’s research tool, tomorrow’s organ transplant solution.

The Guardian:  Scientists grow ‘mini-organs’ from cells shed by foetuses in womb. Paper.

Cosmos Magazine: Stem cells from amniocentesis used to grow organoids. More expert reaction.

Could stem cells make it easier to swallow? + $100K grants

Eight-year-old Lilly Lloyd-Morgan lives with a debilitating condition that stops her swallowing food. Melbourne researchers Dr Lincon Stamp and Dr Marlene Hao are developing a stem cell therapy to treat the disease.

Lilly’s parents Rhys and Marianne are leading the charge to further fund Lincon and Marlene’s work in partnership with the Foundation.

Read on to find out more about the research and how you can help.

The project was one of four selected for our 2023 Matched Funding Program.

We’re now looking for the next Matched Funding projects, so if you know a stem cell scientist whose research projects are nearing clinical trials, encourage them to apply for the 2024 round of four $100,000 grants. Details below.

Find out how clusters of light-sensing eye cells grown in a petri dish are crucial in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness. Known as organoids, clusters of cells like these are also being used to test new or improved treatments for heart and muscle conditions, brain disorders, and some types of cancer.

A panel of experts shared the latest science at a public forum. You can watch a recording of it online. Read on for more information.

I’d like to extend warm congratulations to Foundation board member and cord blood expert Associate Professor Ngaire Elwood AO who was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours.  

Ngaire is Director of the Bone Marrow Institute Cord Blood Bank and Head of the Cord Blood Stem Cell Research Laboratory at Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI). She’s also active in public education – her support for our Cord blood donation 101 website page and our Stem Cells and Cancer webinar are just two examples of her contributions. It’s wonderful to see her work recognised.

Finally, our latest Metcalf Prize winners bioengineer Jiao Jiao Li and intestinal stem cells researcher Dustin Flanagan have been in the media talking about their osteoarthritis and stomach cancer research respectively. And the research of Foundation board member Caroline Gargett is in the spotlight in a fascinating feature on the long-overlooked field of menstrual stem cells and their significance in endometriosis. Catch up on these and other stories in our regular round-up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• A glimmer of hope for patients who can’t swallow
• $100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists
• Watch: How organoids are paving the way for new therapies
• Stem cell news from around the world

A glimmer of hope for patients who can’t swallow

Little Lilly Lloyd-Morgan, aged 8, lives with a debilitating condition which stops her swallowing food. But there is hope on the horizon thanks to a potential stem cell therapy being developed by Dr Lincon Stamp and Dr Marlene Hao at the University of Melbourne.

Lilly’s parents Rhys and Marianne are leading the charge to further fund Lincon and Marlene’s work in partnership with the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

The disease, known as achalasia, causes the oesophagus to stop functioning. Food builds up in the oesophagus, unable to enter the stomach. There is no cure. The most common treatment is surgery, which is only partially effective – 70% of patients still experience chest pain and difficulty swallowing, and they remain at a higher risk of developing oesophageal cancer.

Oesophageal achalasia kills nerve cells at the base of the oesophagus. Its causes are not known. Lilly’s identical twin Bella does not have the disease. These nerve cells control the pulsating motion that squeezes food through our digestive system and cause the oesophagus to open to allow food to enter the stomach.

Lincon and Marlene are developing a therapy that involves making healthy nerve cells from stem cells. These cells would be transplanted into patients like Lilly to replace the damaged or lost nerve cells and restore function.

Rhys and Marianne are taking advantage of the Foundation’s Matched Funding Program whereby, once $50,000 is raised, the Foundation will match it dollar-for-dollar to provide a total of $100,000.

They have raised $30,000 so far and so are looking for donations to reach their target of a further $20,000.

“A stem cell-based cure would be a godsend to Lilly and other people affected by this disease,” says Rhys, a Brisbane-based lawyer.

Read the full story and make a donation at the Foundation’s website.

$100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists

Open for expressions of interest, closing Monday 4 March

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia invites applications for up to four $100,000 research grants as part of its 2024 Matched Funding Program.

Under the program, the Foundation will match any donation it receives from an approved donor (or donors) up to a maximum of $50,000 with up to $50,000 of its own funds, to potentially provide a total of $100,000 for a successful research project.

Ideally, the lead researcher (or their host institution) would find and introduce the donor to the Foundation, however, if they don’t, the Foundation will try to source an appropriate donor through its newsletters, website and social media.

To be eligible the research project must be:

• Using stem cell technology
• Performed predominantly in Australia
• In preclinical studies that would inform a clinical trial OR are ready to conduct a clinical trial.

Past successful applicants are invited to submit further application(s) and these will be judged alongside other applications received in that year.

Researchers interested in applying for a grant under the program should complete an Expression of Interest (found on our website) and forward it to us as directed.

Applications close on Monday 4 March 2024. Find out more at the Foundation’s website.

The Foundation hopes to support a diversity of projects in stem cell research. Applications from gender and culturally diverse backgrounds are encouraged.

Scientists and projects we’ve supported through the Program in the past include:

• Geraldine Mitchell from the O’Brien Institute at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne is developing 3D blood vessel networks covered by skin, grown from stem cells, for tissue engineering and wound healing. This is the equivalent of a human tissue skin flap.
• Atul Malhotra from Monash University is developing a treatment for brain injury in extremely pre-term babies (those born before 28 weeks gestation) that uses a baby’s own umbilical cord blood cells therapeutically.
• Sarah Withey from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland is using mini liver 'organoids' made from stem cells to test a treatment for children with a rare, genetic, progressive, life-limiting disease Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T).
• Peter Houweling from Murdoch Children's Research Institute is developing a treatment for a type of muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.
• Raymond Wong from the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the University of Melbourne is developing a gene therapy for late-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited retinal disease that causes progressive loss of vision.
• Mark Shackleton is from the Cancer Development and Treatment Group Laboratory at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University. Mark seeks to develop new treatments for the skin pigment disorder vitiligo and for melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer.

Watch: How organoids are paving the way for new therapies

Grow heart cells together in a petri dish and they know what to do ­– they start beating. Now they’re being used to find drugs to heal the heart. Eye cells are being grown to test gene therapies for blindness. Human brain cells growing together make connections and can even learn to play Pong! They are also providing a valuable tool to reveal how the brain ages.

Scientists call these clusters of cells ‘organoids’. In a recent public event, a panel of these scientists explained how these lab-grown models of organs made from stem cells are being used to pave the way for new treatments for many diseases.

“An example of how we’ve used this in the past is to find a new drug for heart disfunction caused by inflammation. This could be cause by severe viral infection like COVID-19 or severe bacterial infection, like sepsis,” said Dr Richard Mills, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and reNEW Melbourne.

You can watch a recording of the event on the Foundation website. 

You’ll also hear:

• about research into understanding and treating inherited eye and ear diseases, which can affect vision, hearing and balance – Dr Anai Gonzalez Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute.
• how lab-grown tumours derived from patient biopsies are helping doctors tailor treatments for an aggressive form of bowel cancer – Professor Helen Abud, Monash University
• about brain condition research, the ethical implications of organoid research, and a Q&A session with the live audience.

This event was held at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, hosted by the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. It was also proudly supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW, and the NSW Stem Cell Network.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter/X
• NEW: connect on LinkedIn

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

ABC News Breakfast: Can stem cell make drugs for osteoarthritis? Featuring Jiao Jiao Li.

ABC Radio Melbourne: Why stomach stem cells behaving badly can lead to cancer: newly minted Metcalf Prize winner Dr Dustin Flanagan chats with David Astle and Bel Smith.

Wangaratta Chronicle: ‘Dusty’ joins elite stem cell research company.

Knowable Magazine: The untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood. Featuring Caroline Gargett.

CBS News: London laboratory uses artificial intelligence to help detect and treat heart disease.

New Atlas: Replacement cartilage can grow in any shape with 3D-printed “spheroids”. Paper.

Medical Xpress: Treating and preventing abnormal heart beats with stem cell muscle grafts. Paper.

Live Science: 1st-of-its-kind therapy blocks immune attack after stem-cell transplant. Paper.

Drug Target Review: Decoding stem cells for personalised regenerative medicine.

The Guardian: The 10 biggest science stories of 2023 – chosen by scientists.

The Guardian: US regulators approve two gene therapies for sickle cell disease.

Nature: How CRISPR gene editing could help treat Alzheimer’s.

Tackling osteoarthritis and stomach cancer: Metcalf Prize winners announced

I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research: Dr Jiao Jiao Li from the University of Technology Sydney and Dr Dustin Flanagan from the Monash Biomedical Discovery Institute.

Jiao Jiao is a bioengineer who plans to use stem cells as biofactories to make drugs to reduce inflammation and encourage repair in painful osteoarthritic joints.

Dustin is working to understand why some stomach stem cells turn cancerous and whether we can develop drugs to bring these misbehaving cells back to normal, healthy function.

Both will receive a $60,000 prize from the Foundation. Read more below.

Join us next week for a free public lecture and Q&A on Stem Cells and Organoids at the Maritime Museum in Sydney on Tuesday 14 November 5.30pm-7pm and livestreamed.

Find out how clusters of light-sensing eye cells grown in a petri dish are crucial in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness. Known as organoids, clusters of cells like these are also being used to test new or improved treatments for heart and muscle conditions, brain disorders, and some types of cancer.

Come early to see a stem cell photography exhibition or speak with roving scientists. Register here.

I’d like to extend warm congratulations to one of our directors Professor Megan Munsie, who received ‘Highly Commended’ recognition for her advocacy work at last week’s 2023 Research Australia Awards.

And in stem cells news from around the world: a lab has 3D printed a neural network of living brain cells, scientist have discovered a way cell communication can lead to cancer, legal and ethics experts are looking at the role of AI in advancing stem cell therapy, and more in our regular round-up of news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Can stem cells make drugs to stop osteoarthritis? - Metcalf Prize winner Jiao Jiao Li
• Stomach stem cells behaving badly - Metcalf Prize winner Dustin Flanagan
• Free public event 14 Nov: How organoids are paving the way for new therapies
• Stem cell news from around the world

Can stem cells make drugs to stop osteoarthritis?

Dr Jiao Jiao Li plans to use stem cells as biofactories to make drugs to reduce inflammation and encourage repair in painful osteoarthritic joints.

Osteoarthritis is a hugely debilitating joint disease with few treatment options.  Injecting stem cells to repair damaged joints has shown inconsistent and poor long-term results and the potential for adverse side effects.

“I believe it would be safer and more effective to use stem cells to create healing biomolecules and inject those instead,” says Jiao Jiao, a bioengineer at University of Technology Sydney.

Jiao Jiao works across disciplines, using artificial intelligence, bioengineering, nanotechnology and stem cell science to develop new stem cell-derived treatments – initially for osteoarthritis but potentially for a wide range of other diseases.

She has a track record in bone repair, having developed a ceramic-based scaffold that becomes populated by the patient’s own stem cells to regrow sections of bone.

“One of the great things about stem cells is that they secrete nanosized membrane-bound packets of bioactive molecules that can be used as therapeutics,” says Jiao Jiao.

Injections of these beneficial biomolecules would avoid the potential pitfalls of injecting living stem cells directly into diseased joints.

Read more about Jiao Jiao and her research.

Stomach stem cells behaving badly

People diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer have a less than 10 per cent chance of surviving more than 5 years.

Dr Dustin Flanagan wants to boost that survival rate by understanding why some deviant stomach stem cells turn cancerous. This knowledge will help in the development of drugs to bring these misbehaving cells back to normal, healthy function.

Dustin’s past research has led to the development of treatments for Crohn’s disease, bowel cancer, and other gastrointestinal conditions.

He’s now at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute turning his attention to stomach cancer, which is less common than bowel cancer but just as lethal.

“Our goal is to make discoveries that have the potential to generate new therapies for therapy-resistant metastatic gastric cancer,” he says.

Read more about Dustin and his research.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Can lab-grown eye tissue test gene therapies for blindness?

Could models of muscle help us understanding heart problems?

Free public lecture with Q&A in Sydney and livestreamed

5.30pm-7pm Tuesday 14 November, Australian National Maritime Museum.

• Australian researchers are growing thousands of beating heart tissue clusters in the lab. They’re used to find drug treatment for heart attack patients.
• In Sydney, eye tissue grown from patient stem cells is helping in the development of treatments for inherited eye diseases.
• Melbourne scientists developed a neural system combining 800,000 living brain cells, which was able to demonstrate intelligence-like behaviour by learning to play Pong!

Researchers call these models of organs made from stem cells ‘organoids’. They are paving the way for new or more targeted treatments for inherited eye diseases, brain disorders, certain types of cancer, and more.

Organoids, such as heart or kidney organoids, can be made from healthy stem cells and are used to study normal organ development or to test drugs in living, functional tissues.

‘Disease in a dish’ organoids recreate a condition in the lab. They are either grown from stem cells derived from patient biopsies or from stem cells engineered to have a specific gene defect. They’re shedding light on poorly understood diseases and helping to find and test new treatments.

Join us at Stem Cells and Organoids - a free public event in Sydney, which will be livestreamed.

You’ll hear from a panel of researchers and clinicians sharing their expertise on:

• lab-grown tumours for testing cancer treatments: Professor Helen Abud, Monash University
• blindness and deafness: Dr Anai Gonzalez Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute, Sydney.
• heart and muscle conditions: Dr Richard Mills, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, reNEW Melbourne.
• brain conditions: Associate Professor Silvia Velasco, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, reNEW Melbourne.
• ethical and legal implications of emerging technologies: Professor Di Nicol, University of Tasmania.

This forum will be hosted by Foundation director and a leader in the societal implications of stem cell science and its clinical translation Professor Megan Munsie, from University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and reNEW Melbourne.

When: Tuesday 14 November 2023, 5:30 - 7pm AEDT

Where: Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray Street Sydney, NSW 2000.

Pre-event exhibition and science education opportunity

Doors open at 4:30pm with a stem cell photography exhibition and roving early career scientists in the foyer. Meet and mingle with junior investigators and find out about university courses and careers in science and biomedical research.

This event is hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research and supported by the Foundation as part of our mission to provide community education. It is also proudly supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW.

Register here: stemcellorganoids.eventbrite.com.au

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on X (Twitter)

Here are some stories we’ve shared recently:

Herald Sun: Hudson Institute researchers look to brain stem cells for cerebral palsy answer (subscriber only).

The Canberra Times: Australian-first stem cell trial tackles rare genetic condition.

Australian Manufacturing: Victorian research institute takes lead in nation-first stem cell therapy trial.

Science Alert: Scientists discover new ‘unique mode’ of communication that can turn cells cancerous.

UNSW Newsroom: Mimics human tissue, fights bacteria: new biomaterial hits the sweet spot.

The National Law Review: Safeguarding AI innovation in stem cell therapy.

BBC News: Scientists: Allow forbidden 28-day embryo experiments.

Nature (opinion): Why researchers should use human embryo models with caution.

Wired: A lab just 3D-printed a neural network of living brain cells.

NPR: Brain cells, interrupted: How some genes may cause autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia.

SciTechDaily: Stem cells from discarded heart tissue could treat Crohn’s disease.

Heart cells, eye cells and brain cells growing in dishes. Find out why.

Grow heart cells together in a petri dish and they can start beating. They know what to do. Now they’re being used find drugs to heal the heart.

Eye cells are being grown to test gene therapies for blindness. Human brain cells growing together make connections. They are revealing how the brain ages, and learning to play Pong!

Scientists call these clusters of cells ‘organoids’. You can find out how these lab-grown models of organs, made from stem cells, are being used to pave the way for new treatments for many diseases.

Join us at a free public, livestreamed event Stem Cells and Organoids in Sydney on 14 November. Hear about the latest research from experts and ask your own questions. See below for details.

It’s the latest in our series of public events. Our August forum is available online: Future Medicine: Stem Cells and Cancer. We heard from three scientists working on leukaemia, skin cancers, and the use of stem cell-rich cord blood in treatment. Watch at our website.

Serious skin wounds often need skin flaps to be removed from another part of your body – creating another wound! Melbourne researcher Associate Professor Geraldine Mitchell and her team are growing skin flaps from your own stem cells. It could revolutionise skin wound repair. Read on to find out more about this research, which we’re helping to fund, thanks to the generosity of our donors.

Also in this newsletter: treating a damaged eye with stem cells from its healthy pair, how placental cells could treat heart attacks, two-pronged immunotherapy for cancer, and other stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• EVENT: Join us in Sydney to find out how organoids are paving the way for new therapies
• VIDEO: How stem cells are being used to study and treat cancer
• Building human skin and blood vessels for wound repair
• Stem cell news from around the world

Can lab-grown eye tissue test gene therapies for blindness?

Could models of muscle help us understanding heart problems?

Sydney event to explore the science

Bring your questions to a free public event at 5.30pm Tuesday 14 November at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

• Australian researchers are growing thousands of beating heart tissue clusters in the lab. They’re used to find drug treatment for heart attack patients.
• In Sydney, eye tissue grown from patient stem cells is helping in the development of treatments for inherited eye diseases.
• Melbourne scientists developed a neural system combining 800,000 living brain cells, which was able to demonstrate intelligence-like behaviour by learning to play Pong!

Researchers call these models of organs made from stem cells ‘organoids’. They are paving the way for new or more targeted treatments for inherited eye diseases, brain disorders, certain types of cancer, and more.

Organoids, such as heart or kidney organoids, can be made from healthy stem cells and are used to study normal organ development or to test drugs in living, functional tissues.

‘Disease in a dish’ organoids recreate a condition in the lab. They are either grown from stem cells derived from patient biopsies or from stem cells engineered to have a specific gene defect. They’re shedding light on poorly understood diseases and helping to find and test new treatments.

Join us at Stem Cells and Organoids - a free public event in Sydney, which will be livestreamed.

You’ll hear from a panel of researchers and clinicians sharing their expertise on:

• lab-grown tumours for testing cancer treatments: Professor Helen Abud, Monash University
• blindness and deafness: Dr Anai Gonzalez Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute, Sydney.
• heart and muscle conditions: Dr Richard Mills, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, reNEW Melbourne.
• brain conditions: Associate Professor Silvia Velasco, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, reNEW Melbourne.
• ethical and legal implications of emerging technologies: Professor Di Nicol, University of Tasmania.

This forum will be hosted by Foundation director and a leader in the societal implications of stem cell science and its clinical translation Professor Megan Munsie, from University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and reNEW Melbourne.

When: Tuesday 14 November 2023, 5:30 - 7pm AEDT

Where: Australian National Maritime Museum, 2 Murray Street Sydney, NSW 2000.

Pre-event exhibition and science education opportunity

Doors open at 4:30pm with a captivating stem cell photography exhibition and roving early career scientists in the foyer. Students and the broader public can meet and mingle with junior investigators and find out about university courses and careers in science and biomedical research.

This event is hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research and supported by the Foundation as part of our mission to provide community education. It is also proudly supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, reNEW.

Register via Eventbrite.

How stem cells are being used to study and treat cancer

• How stem cells are being used to study and treat cancer
• What kinds of cancer can be treated with stem cell transplants?
• How is umbilical cord blood used to treat some types of cancer?
• How is stem cell science changing our understanding of how cells go rogue, leading to conditions like skin cancer or leukaemia?
• What can we reasonably hope for in the future?

In August we discussed these questions and more with our panel for the webinar – Future Medicine: Stem cells and Cancer, with:

• Associate Professor Ngaire Elwood, who spoke about the use of cord blood for cellular therapies for the treatment of cancer, leukaemia and other disorders
• Dr Ashley Ng on how blood stem cells are controlled, and how they sometime go rogue, leading to blood cancers
• Professor Mark Shackleton, who works with melanoma and other skin cancers.

Watch the recording of the webinar.

Building human skin and blood vessels for wound repair

Melbourne researcher Associate Professor Geraldine Mitchell is growing skin flaps from stem cells to create a new, safer, and less painful way to repair dangerous skin wounds.

The Foundation is supporting her research through its Matched Funding Program to prepare for preclinical trials.

Every year, 60,000 Australian patients have surgery to attach a healthy piece of skin tissue – known as a skin flap – over an area of damage resulting from a diabetic wound, skin cancer removal, a traumatic injury, or another cause.

“Skin flap surgery is in the top 20 of all operations completed in private and public hospitals in Australia, but it’s a tricky procedure that requires long stays in hospital and can lead to high complication rates for patients,” said Geraldine, Vascular Biology Group Co-Leader at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research.

Read more.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are some stories we’ve shared recently:

Scientific American: Newfound stem cell might explain how breast cancer spreads to the spine.

SBS News: Stem cell research reveals the earliest stages of a human life.

The Guardian: ‘Complete’ models of human embryos created from stem cells in lab.

Medical Xpress: Gene-tweaked stem cells offer hope against sickle cell disease.

Science: Two-pronged immunotherapy approach could treat most blood cancers.

Smithsonian Magazine: Scientists treat severe injuries in one eye with stem cells from the other.

New Scientist: Cells from discarded placentas may help to treat heart attacks.

Financial Review: This Australian discovery is set to change stem cell therapy.

Two $60K prizes for rising stars. Plus, what’s the science behind the embryo model headlines?

We’re looking for up-and-coming researchers with big ideas who we can support through the 2023 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Two prizes, worth $60,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career stem cell scientist. Applications close on Friday 28 July 2023. Please consider if there’s someone you should nominate. Read on for more details.

Last year we supported pioneers in sight, and in how blood cancers are controlled.

Anai Gonzalez-Cordero from Children’s Medical Research Institute aims to restore sight in people with inherited retinal diseases, by repairing or replacing damaged light-sensing cells in the eye. Ashley Ng from WEHI is revealing how blood stem cells are controlled, and how they can go rogue, leading to blood cancers.

For all the promising work we promote, we also keep an eye on some of the more breathless headlines stem cell research sometimes generates.

“Breakthrough!” “A major scientific first!” “The world’s first human synthetic embryos!”

These are a taste of some of recent stories on the development of embryo models using just stem cells. But the reporting is somewhat premature, for a study presented at a conference and which is yet to be peer-reviewed.

In this newsletter, we provide a reality check on the science behind these headlines.

More below.

In other news:

• Melbourne researchers have used heart and lung stem cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 to better understand how COVID-19 impacts different organs, paving the way for more targeted treatments.
• UK and Malaysian scientists are calling for regulation of ‘treatment’ fads.
• Stem cell research is happening in space: a Chinese team has grown blood stem cells from embryonic stem cells in space and a separate Axiom Space mission has sent a Saudi biomedical researcher to the International Space Station to conduct stem cell and breast cancer research.

These and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Metcalf Prizes: Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• What is really news and what do we know about model embryos?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $60,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will receive $60,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2023 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, as long as they have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past five to 10 years (from August 2013 to August 2018). Allowances will be made for research-career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability, and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Many past prize recipients have gone on to win significant government and philanthropic grants and prizes such as:

• How embryos and cancer cells grow: the year after winning a 2020 Metcalf Prize, molecular biologist Melanie Eckersley-Maslin was awarded an $8 million Snow Fellowship to study how cancer progresses.
• Researching stem cell treatment for healing broken hearts: cardiologist and 2016 Metcalf Prize winner James Chong was awarded $4.9 million by the Medical Research Future Fund 2020 Stem Cell Mission for his work, which will allow clinical trials to go ahead.
• How stem cells and calcium affect breast function: in 2020, mammary biologist and 2019 Metcalf winner Felicity Davis received a grant of DKK 25 million (AUD $5.5 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to continue her work investigating how breasts change through life.
• Building a blood cancer treatment from the ground up: clinician-scientist and 2017 Metcalf Prize winner Mark Dawson won the Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year at the 2020 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science. He has since been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

You can read more about the Metcalf Prize alumni and their research on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy for many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes form part of the Foundation’s mission to support researchers whose work improves our understanding of the human body and the diseases that affect it and leads to proven stem cell therapies.

Applications close Friday 28 July 2023. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who administers the awards for the Foundation: [email protected]

What is really news and what do we know about model embryos?

The science behind the headlines

“Breakthrough!” “A major scientific first!” “The world’s first human synthetic embryos!”

These are some of the breathless headlines that have appeared in the media since researchers announced they had developed embryo models using just stem cells in a presentation at the 2023 annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) in Boston.

Some of the media reporting created confusion and missed some important information.

To clarify, these models are NOT ‘real’ embryos. And it wasn’t a world first.

The scientists involved created ‘model embryos’ from stem cells – clusters of cells that allow researchers to study key stages of early human development in the laboratory. They do not have the same potential to develop as a natural human embryo and should not be confused with embryos created from sperm-egg fertilisation nor referred to as ‘synthetic’ embryos.

The first stem cell models to mimic human “blastocysts”, the very early-stage embryo development just prior to implantation, were published in two separate papers in Nature in 2021. Researchers used slightly different approaches to form 3-dimensional structures.  One group, led by inaugural Metcalf Prize winner and Monash University researcher Jose Polo, reprogrammed skin cells before creating embryo models that they called “iblastoids”. At the time, Jose told The Age reporter Liam Mannix, “I do not feel like I have created life.”

“Basically, we just created a good model,” he said. “I am 100 per cent sure, based on all available evidence, that they can only model the very early stages of development, and therefore they cannot develop into a human.”

New research hasn’t been peer reviewed.

Peer review is the self-correcting quality control system that allows experts to check each other’s work, giving broader society confidence in the discoveries scientists make.

“It can be dangerous to report on work without the full picture on how experiments were conducted,” says Professor Megan Munsie, Non-Executive Director of the Foundation.

Megan explains that while scientists are encouraged to talk about their work at conferences, including sharing research findings that are yet to be published, best practice usually sees mainstream reporting only after a paper has been peer-reviewed. 

“This should be especially the case in research that is highly nuanced with complex scientific, ethical and regulatory considerations,” she says.

Read full story online.

Further relevant reading/listening

ISSCR: The ISSCR Statement on New Research with Embryo Models

ABC Science: 'Synthetic human embryos' were created using stem cells. What are they, and why were they made? (from June 2023)

The Conversation: Researchers have grown ‘human embryos’ from skin cells. What does that mean, and is it ethical? (from March 2021)

ABC Radio National Science Friction: 14-day rule on human embryo research – why do scientists want it lifted? (from June 2021)

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

News Medical: ‘Researchers use an unprecedented stem cell zoo to study developmental time’

The Global Herald: China makes progress in in-orbit tests on human embryonic stem cells

University of Reading: Stem cell scientists call for regulation of ‘treatment’ fads

Axiom Space: Meet Rayyanah Barnawi - a stem cell scientist and now an astronaut

Fox News: Human-induced stem cells from Seattle now in space

MCRI: Lung and heart stem cell research paves way for new COVID-19 treatments

ISSCR: Stem Cells and Cellular Reprogramming: A Celebration of 10 Year of Outstanding Science in Stem Cell Reports

Daily Bruin: UCLA study investigates link between exercise and stem cell restoration

Laboratory Equipment: 'Village in a dish' accelerates stem cell research

Cancer Research UK: Age: the forgotten cancer risk factor?

New Scientist: Stem cells from umbilical cord 'goo' delay type 1 diabetes progression

New Atlas: Stomach stem cells hold promise as a cure for diabetes

Finding treatments that work for bowel cancer

Bowel cancer researchers are investigating how to find the right treatment for your cancer faster by growing copies of your tumour in the lab. The Foundation is supporting this research project through our Matched Funding Program. Read more below.

A guide to treatment

Should you spend thousands of dollars on those stem cell injections for arthritic knees? How are bone marrow transplants saving lives and what do they involve? How do clinical trials work and should you take part in one?

Our guide to stem cell treatments answers these questions and others. It provides the information people need to make informed choices about their healthcare. Read on for details.

Board update

Congratulations to Professor Megan Munsie who has been elected to the board of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Megan is an award-winning expert in stem cell ethics, policy, and education, and is a member of our volunteer board that includes stem cell research experts.

We also welcome Professor Alice Pebay to our Science and Ethics Committee. She comes from a background in reprogramming cells to study neurodegenerative diseases of the eye and brain. And we welcome existing Science and Ethics Committee member medical oncologist and breast cancer researcher Professor Geoff Lindeman as a new member of our board.

Also in this newsletter: a US woman is in remission for HIV and leukaemia after she received HIV-resistant stem cells from cord blood, scientists are looking to build computers using brain cells grown in a petri dish, and an Australian company is trialling stem cells to treat chronic heart failure in a US study. More in our roundup of stem cell news.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Finding treatments for bowel cancer that will work
• What do patients and their families need to know about stem cell treatments?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Finding treatments for bowel cancer that will work

Bowel cancer researchers are investigating how to find the right treatment for an individual patient’s cancer faster by growing copies of their tumour in the lab. 

Melbourne researcher Professor Helen Abud and colleagues have taken tumour cells from patients who have an aggressive subtype of bowel cancer and successfully grown them into tumours in test tubes. They are now trialling these lab tumours as a testbed to quickly determine how effective drugs are likely to be in individual patients.

The cells come from tumour biopsies and so retain the genetic blueprint of the patient’s original tumour. The Foundation is backing the trial through its Matched Funding Program.

Helen and her team at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute is conducting the trial in partnership with Professor Paul McMurrick, Dr Rebekah Engel and colleagues at the Cabrini Department of Surgery. Together, they hope that testing such treatments in lab tumours before patients commence chemotherapy will allow researchers and oncologists to trial an array of drug combinations and determine how well each individual patient’s cells respond. This information can then be used to prescribe effective care and avoid the side effects and costs associated with futile therapy.

Colorectal or “bowel” cancer is relatively common and has a high mortality rate in Australia.  More than 17,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and over 4,000 deaths were attributed to it.

“We’re trying to have an impact on a particularly aggressive subtype of bowel cancer, that carry a mutation in a gene called BRAF,” Helen explains. “About 10 per cent of patients with bowel cancer have this subtype, and they have a very poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than 12 months.”

Typical treatment involves surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy, of which the side effects can include nausea, diarrhoea, hair loss, and infections resulting from a weakened immune system.

Some patients respond well to treatments, some have only a short-term response, and some do not respond at all.

“We want to give patients only treatments that are effective, and prevent them from experiencing side effects if the treatment has no benefit to them. We also want to avoid wasted cost to our healthcare system,” Helen says.

Following surgery, patients have time to recover, before their oncologist prescribes a chemotherapy regimen.

“Because we can grow the tumours pretty quickly, we think it’s possible to grow them, test a panel of drugs, and give feedback to the oncologist, so they have that information in time to guide treatment decisions for patients before they commence therapy in the clinic,” Helen says.

Read full story.

What do patients and their families need to know about stem cell treatments?

“Australians will pay a lot to relieve the pain of arthritis—sometimes opting for unproven therapies using stem cells.”

A recent story on ABC Radio National reported people paying for three or four stem cell injections at $5000 to $12,000 each to treat debilitating knee arthritis. But does it work?

As Professor David Hunter from the University of Sydney told Dr Norman Swan, “We don't know, that's the bottom line, there isn't sufficient evidence at this point in time from good quality clinical trials to suggest that they provide benefit over and above a saltwater injection.”

The Foundation has developed a guidebook to help people weigh up their healthcare options and the costs involved.

“Stem cells are saving lives today, through bone marrow transplants and other well-established treatments,” says Foundation chairman Dr Graeme Blackman.

“However, the Foundation is concerned by the increasing number of expensive, unproven and unethical stem cell therapies being advertised and offered in Australia and overseas.

“We want to help vulnerable people see through the slick online advertising and seemingly positive testimonials, and to know what questions to ask their healthcare providers.”

What you need to know about stem cell therapies is a practical guide for people contemplating stem cell-based treatments or clinical trials. It provides the information people need to make informed choices about their healthcare and answers to common questions such as:

• How are stem cells currently used as treatments?
• How might they be used to develop treatments in the future?
• Are experimental or unproven stem cell treatments worth trying? What are the risks?
• What questions should I ask my doctor or healthcare specialist?
• And what are stem cells and why are they special?

The guide includes:

• a handy list of questions to ask about any stem cell treatments you’re considering
• an overview of the conditions that are currently treated using approved stem cell therapies
• information on how new therapies are developed and tested
• risks of unproven or experimental treatments.

This resource has been developed with oversight from the Foundation's expert Science and Ethics Committee. It is part of the Foundation’s mission to provide trustworthy science-based information for people living with diseases, and their loved ones.

If you or someone you know needs answers, spread the word about this resource.

Visit the Foundation website to download the handbook.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Wired: Stem cell ‘junk yards’ reveal a new clue about aging. Paper.

Fierce Biotech: Functional thymus organoids successfully grown from human stem cells. Paper.

New Scientist: Umbilical blood stem cell transplant puts woman in HIV remission.

Forbes: Cell therapy prevents risk of heart attack or stroke: study. Paper.

The Australian: Stem cell ‘elixir’ hope for tiniest babies (subscriber only).

NYU Langone Health NewsHub: Genes that form specific bones in the womb heal them later in life. Paper.

Nature: How stem cells make a human brain.

Cosmos magazine: Stem cell therapy offers potential new treatment option for people with chronic heart failure. Paper.

Nature: How organoids are advancing the understanding of chronic kidney disease.

ISSCR News: Meet the new elected ISSCR leaders.

The Register: Now we're building computers from lab-grown brain cells.

9 News Australia: New study helping to treat chronic heart failure.

ABC Radio National (The Health Report): What's the deal with stem cells and knee arthritis?

Cord blood trial for the tiniest babies + $100K grants

Melbourne researcher Atul Malhotra is carrying out preliminary clinical trials on a stem cell treatment for brain injury in extremely premature babies.

The project was one of four selected for our 2022 Matched Funding Program.

The trial uses a baby’s own stem cells taken from their umbilical cord blood and seeks to prevent serious conditions, such as cerebral palsy. Read on to find out more about this research.

We’re now looking for the next Matched Funding projects, so if you know a stem cell scientist whose research projects are nearing clinical trials, encourage them to apply for the 2023 round of four $100,000 grants. Details below.

If you’re trying to understand the potential of gene or cell therapies take a look at our forum, now available on our website. More below.

I’d like to extend warm congratulations to mini-kidney pioneer Professor Melissa Little AC who was appointed as Companion of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours.

Congratulations also to outgoing Foundation Director Professor James Angus AO who has been appointed as inaugural Chair of the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics (Cumming Centre).

We thank him for his service to the Foundation, particularly as a Metcalf Prizes judge and a member of our Scientific and Ethics Committee, and we wish him well in his important work to safeguard Australia in future pandemics.

Also in this newsletter: 2016 Metcalf Prize winner James Chong has developed injections for healing heart scarring, and scientists have reversed signs of ageing in mice. More in our roundup of stem cell news.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Teaspoons of treatment for the tiniest of patients
• $100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists
• VIDEO: What do new gene and cell therapies have to offer?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Teaspoons of treatment for the tiniest of patients

Extremely premature babies’ own stem cells could hold the key to a new treatment for brain injury associated with preterm birth.

Monash University researcher Associate Professor Atul Malhotra, backed by the Foundation, is leading a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of this treatment in 20 patients before proceeding to larger trials.

The treatment uses stem cells taken from as little as seven millilitres of umbilical cord blood – a crucial consideration with patients who weigh 500 grams or less.

The Foundation is supporting the trial through the Matched Funding Program, with $50,000 contributed by a private individual donor, matched dollar-for-dollar by the Foundation.

Atul has seen firsthand the problems of extreme prematurity in his role as consultant neonatologist at Monash Children’s Hospital.

“We have to work really hard to keep them alive to start with. But then we’re hoping to give them a life that is fulfilling and without major disabilities,” says Atul.

Advances in medicine mean more preterm babies are surviving than ever before, but there are no effective therapies to prevent or treat preterm brain injury.

More than 3,000 very preterm babies are born every year in Australia. While this represents less than one per cent of all births, their complex medical conditions represent a huge cost to the healthcare system and community.

Up to half of all babies born before 28 weeks will have a developmental problem. Around 10 per cent will have cerebral palsy and 20 to 30 per cent of the rest will have a learning disability or behavioural problem.

Atul and his colleagues initially received seed funding from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance three years ago to explore the potential to harvest blood from suitable preterm babies and extract stem cells.

“A baby’s first blood cells are a rich mixture,” Atul says. “They have cells that have healing properties that can dampen inflammation and repair damaged tissues.”

His team has been able to extract enough cells to provide a dose of cell therapy in seven to nine millilitres of harvested cord blood – a little under two teaspoons’ worth – in 70 per cent of patients, detailed in a newly published journal article.

Read full story on the Foundation’s website.

$100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists

Open for Expressions of Interest, closing Monday 6 March

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia invites applications for up to four $100,000 research grants as part of its 2023 Matched Funding Program.

Under the program, the Foundation will match any donation it receives from an approved donor (or donors) up to a maximum of $50,000 with up to $50,000 dollars of its own funds, to potentially provide a total of $100,000 for a successful research project.

Ideally, the lead researcher (or their host institution) would find and introduce the donor to the Foundation, however, if they don’t, the Foundation will try to source an appropriate donor through its newsletters, website and social media.

To be eligible the research project must be:

• Using stem cell technology
• Performed predominantly in Australia
• Preclinical studies that would inform a clinical trial OR ready to conduct a clinical trial.

Past successful applicants are invited to submit further application(s) in subsequent years and these will be judged alongside other applications received in that year.

Researchers interested in applying for a grant under the program should complete an Expression of Interest (found on our website) and forward it to us as directed.

Applications will close on Monday 6 March 2022. For more information, an overview of past funding recipients, and to download the Expression of Interest form, visit the Foundation’s website.

The Foundation hopes to support a diversity of projects in stem cell research. Applications from gender and culturally diverse backgrounds are encouraged.

VIDEO: What do new gene and cell therapies have to offer?

Forum event takes questions from patients and the broader public directly to the scientists

• What do new gene and cell therapies have to offer conditions like cancer, inherited eye diseases, spinal muscular atrophy and other degenerative diseases?
• Can we engineer immune cells to treat cancer?
• Or bring eye sight by fixing a faulty gene?
• Are inherited genetic diseases a life sentence?

These questions and more were discussed at a recent public event held at the State Library of Victoria, supported by the Foundation.

A panel of researchers and clinicians shared their perspectives on treatments for:

• leukaemia and haemophilia: Dr Ashley Ng, WEHI, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital
• childhood neurological diseases: Dr Sandi Kariyawasam, Sydney Children’s Hospital
• retinal diseases: Dr Tom Edwards, Centre for Eye Research Australia
• blindness and deafness: Dr Anai Gonzalez-Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute
• muscular dystrophy: Dr Peter Houweling, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

This forum was hosted by Foundation director and stem cell biologist Professor Megan Munsie as part of the 2022 Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research Annual Scientific Meeting. It also featured the moving story of advocate and community leader Julie Cini who lost both of her children to the rare genetic condition spinal muscular atrophy.

Watch a recording of the event online at our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Cosmos magazine: Human stem cell-derived tissue transplanted into rats show potential for repairing damaged brains.

Technology News: Could we slow aging by rejuvenating old blood stem cells? Paper.

Cosmos magazine: Stem cell derived organoids could one day help treat conditions like kidney disease: Professor Melissa Little, stem cell scientist, appointed as Companion of the Order of Australia.

Nature: Seven technologies to watch in 2023.

SciTechDaily: One step closer to artificial organs: living fossil provides new insight.

9 News: Injection to heal heart scarring could help tackle one of Australia's leading killers.

Science: Two research teams reverse signs of aging in mice.

New Scientist: Fetal stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis shows promising signs.

The Scientist: Male and female stem cells derived from one donor in scientific first.

EurekAlert: Can stem cells improve shoulder surgery? Paper.

The Guardian: Radical new therapy for Parkinson’s will use stem cell transplants.

The Hippocratic Post: Stem-cell derived kidneys could improve disease research and treatment. Paper.

Using stem cells to give sight and controlling rogue blood stem cells – Metcalf Prize winners announced

I am delighted to announce the two brilliant scientists who are the winners of the 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, and you can meet them tonight.

Dr Anai Gonzalez-Cordero, a researcher at the Children’s Medical Research Institute, aims to restore sight in people with inherited retinal diseases, by repairing or replacing damaged photoreceptor (light-sensing) cells in the eye.  

Dr Ashley Ng is revealing how blood stem cells are controlled, and how they can go rogue, leading to blood cancers. He is a researcher at WEHI and a clinician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Both will receive a $55,000 prize from the Foundation. We hope that investing in their careers will advance Australian stem cell research and, importantly, improve the prognosis for patients.

Read on to find out more about their research and achievements.

Anai and Ashley are also speaking the Gene therapies and stem cell research: now and in the future public forum tonight at 5.30pm AEDT. There’s still time to register to attend in person in Melbourne or join online via our website.

Also in this newsletter: lab-made blood, using maths to predict the path from cells to humans, and more in our regular round-up of news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Using stem cells to give sight
• Controlling rogue blood stem cells
• Stem cell news from around the world

Using stem cells to give sight

Dr Anai Gonzalez-Cordero’s research aims to restore sight in people with inherited retinal diseases, by repairing or replacing damaged photoreceptor (light-sensing) cells in the eye.

She has already shown that she can grow cultures of healthy photoreceptor cells in a dish in the lab and then use the cells replace the defective cells and restore sight in laboratory models of hereditary blindness. And she has shown that gene therapy can repair diseased human retinal cells grown in the lab as ‘mini-organs’ (or ‘organoids’), providing them with normal light-sensing ability.

Her $55,000 Metcalf Prize will contribute to developing systems to progress both concepts towards clinical trials. She is based at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Western Sydney.

The prize is an initiative of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

More than 16,000 Australians live with an inherited retinal disease, a broad group of genetic eye conditions. These conditions cause blindness in nearly eight million people worldwide and can occur from birth through to late adulthood. Vision loss occurs due to a ‘spelling mistake’ in the genetic code that causes cells of the eye to malfunction.

Until recently, newly diagnosed patients and their families were told to expect progressive vision loss for which there was no treatment or cure.

Working at University College London, Anai learnt to grow stem cells and direct these to become retinal organoids (laboratory-derived ‘mini-organs), which are small, functional colonies of photoreceptor cells.

Now at CMRI in Australia, she is using this stem cell technology in two ways. 

The first is to determine which retinal cell genes are faulty and replace them with versions that are functional, using gene therapy.  Anai and her team plan to use patient-derived organoids to study how viruses can be employed to smuggle healthy copies of genes into diseased retinal cells to replace the genetic fault.

Read more about Anai and her research.

Controlling rogue blood stem cells

Dr Ashley Ng is revealing how blood stem cells are controlled, and how they sometime go rogue, leading to blood cancers. He has discovered how a protein known as ‘ERG’ underpins healthy development of blood cells, and how it also plays a role in Down syndrome-associated leukaemia and a range of other blood cancers.

As a researcher at WEHI and a clinician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter Mac, Ashley will use his $55,000 Metcalf Prize to advance his ideas from the laboratory into treatments for blood and blood cancer diseases.

Blood stem cells can form any cell of the blood system and they self-renew, so they are a source of endless supply. But, blood cancers can also arise from these cells, and are responsible for three per cent of all deaths in Australia. We need to understand why this occurs and use this knowledge to treat disease.

Winning a Metcalf Prize is personal for Ash. While studying for a Bachelor of Medical Science degree at the University of Melbourne, he had the opportunity to work in the late Professor Don Metcalf’s lab and became interested in blood cells and blood disorders.

“Throughout his career Don was always encouraging early career researchers. He was a great mentor and friend to me. So, I’m absolutely blown away by this award. It is very humbling, very emotional for me to receive this award.”

After gaining his BMedSci and his degree in medicine, Ashley did a further 10 years training to become a specialist haematologist. He is currently a consultant in haematology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre. But in 2008 he also returned to the lab, and a PhD at WEHI leading to postdoctoral work as clinician researcher in the areas of blood stem cells, immunology and leukaemia.

Read more about Ashley and his research.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

CNN: Two teaspoons of lab-made blood could have enormous potential for people with rare blood conditions.

ABC News: Patients receive transfusion of laboratory-grown blood in world-first clinical trial.

EurekAlert: Monoclonal antibodies preserve stem cells in mouse brains, bring promise for future studies.

The Scientist Magazine: Cancer cells in mice may hitch a ride with bone-healing stem cells.

UWA News: Australian scientists develop world-first map showing gene activity changes in diverse human brain cell types from pre-birth to adulthood.

University of Melbourne: Research centre to predict how cells become a person using maths.

Phys.org: Scientists discover changes in aging stem cells.

Department of Health and Aged Care: Australia first stem cell research to help adults and children living with joint pain and disfigurement.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Stem cell-based genomic study yields insights on viral infection susceptibility.

Join us to talk future gene therapies, treatments for muscular dystrophy, and healing hearts

New gene and cell therapies are on the horizon to treat a range of diseases, including leukaemia and haemophilia, muscular dystrophy, childhood neurological diseases, blindness and deafness, and more.

Increasingly, gene technologies and stem cell science are being used together to understand diseases and deliver new therapies.

Hear about the latest research from experts and ask your own questions at a free public event in Melbourne and online, focused on gene and cell therapies. Read on for details.

This is the second in the Foundation’s new series of public events. In our first event – Future Medicine: Healing the Heart – we heard from three scientists working on treatments for damaged hearts, from the development of tissue patches to injections for treating heart attacks. You can watch a recording of this webinar online. More below.

Melbourne scientist Peter Houweling is growing mini muscles to study muscular dystrophy – a muscle wasting disease that often emerges in childhood. This will assist clinical trials for new treatments. Read on to find out more about this research, which we’re helping to fund, thanks to the generosity of our donors.

Next month we will announce the winners of our 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

And finally, Australian researchers have grown brain cells from stem cells and trained this ‘DishBrain’ to play Pong. This story and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Can we engineer immune cells to treat cancer? Or fix a faulty gene? Melbourne event to explore gene therapies
• Turning blood cells into muscle cells to test treatments for childhood muscular dystrophy
• Future Medicine: Healing the Heart – watch our webinar
• Stem cell news from around the world

Can we engineer immune cells to treat cancer? Or fix a faulty gene? Melbourne event to explore gene and cell therapies

Bring your questions to a free public event at 5.30pm Tuesday 15 November at the State Library of Victoria.

The convergence of stem cell science and gene therapies are set to impact the future healthcare, with the potential to treat leukaemia, inherited eye diseases, muscular dystrophy, and more.

Gene therapy aims to treat disease by replacing faulty genes or introducing new genes. The field is still in its early days, but there are gene therapies in use, treating some blood cancers and eye conditions.

But what exactly is it? How are stem cells involved? What will it treat? And when? Ask the experts at the Gene therapies and stem cell research: now and in the future public forum.

You’ll hear from a panel of researchers and clinicians sharing their perspectives on treatments for:

• leukaemia and haemophilia: Dr Ashley Ng, WEHI, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital
• childhood neurological diseases: Dr Sandi Kariyawasam, Sydney Children’s Hospital
• retinal diseases: Dr Tom Edwards, Centre for Eye Research Australia
• blindness and deafness: Dr Anai Gonzalez-Cordero, Children’s Medical Research Institute
• muscular dystrophy: Dr Peter Houweling, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

This forum will be hosted by Foundation director and stem cell biologist Professor Megan Munsie. You will also hear from advocate and community leader Julie Cini who lost both of her children to the rare genetic condition spinal muscular atrophy.

When: Tuesday 15 November 2022, 5:30PM – 7PM AEDT

Venue: Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria, Swanston Street, Melbourne

Livestream: via our website at www.stemcellfoundation.net.au.  

The event is hosted at the State Library of Victoria by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research. The Foundation is supporting the event as part of our mission to provide community education.

Register here.

Turning blood cells into muscle cells to test treatments for childhood muscular dystrophy

Melbourne researcher Dr Peter Houweling is growing mini-muscles in the lab, in order to study muscular dystrophy in children, without the need for invasive and painful tissue biopsies.

“Basically, we take an ordinary blood sample and regress those cells back to their stem cell state. From there, we can encourage the stem cells to develop into skeletal muscle,” explains Peter, who leads the muscle research group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

This project uses recent technological advances that reverse-engineers stem cells out of blood or skin samples from patients with muscle disease. It has been selected for the Foundation’s Matched Funding Program.

Peter’s study is partnering with a clinical trial led by paediatric neurologist Dr Ian Woodcock that is testing the benefit of creatine supplements for children with the rare genetic disorder facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FHSD).

Like all muscular dystrophies, FSHD is a gradual wasting disease that targets certain muscle groups. Patients may lose the ability to walk, use their arms, talk, or even swallow without aid.

“The clinical trial will assess the effect protein supplements have on young people with FSHD. We’ll use blood samples from the same participants for our stem cell replicas and administer the same supplements in the lab. By comparing results, we can test how accurately we’re modelling real-life muscular dystrophy,” says Peter.

Donations from the public allow the Foundation to keep funding our half of the contribution to important treatment research projects selected for our Matched Funding Program. If you would like to support us with a donation, visit: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate.

Read the full story on our website.

Healthy (left) vs patient-derived skeletal muscle fibres

Future Medicine: Healing the Heart – watch our webinar

• Could we boost a failing heart with ‘muscle patches’?
• Could a stem cell injection help heart tissue regenerate?
• Can mini hearts in a petri dish solve the mystery of 2,400 babies born with heart disease?
• And can they explain what COVID is doing to our hearts?

Heart disease kills more than 18,500 Australians a year but that’s going to change. Not tomorrow, but in the coming decades.

Four of Australia’s top stem cell researchers joined a live online audience in August to answer these questions and more in the webinar event Future Medicine: Healing the Heart.

Watch the recording.

Featuring:

Associate Professor James Chong, a researcher at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research and the University of Sydney, and a cardiologist at Westmead Hospital, working on stem cell treatments to repair the damage from heart attacks.

Professor Enzo Porrello, a stem cell scientist at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute working to understand congenital heart diseases and developing tissues to supplement pumping.

Professor James Hudson, a bioengineer at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute finding drug candidates for COVID 19-related heart damage.

Hosted by stem cell biologist and Foundation director and Professor Megan Munsie, from The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Department of Health and Aged Care: Australia first stem cell research to help adults and children living with joint pain and disfigurement

BBC: Lab-grown brain cells play video game Pong. Paper.

News Medical: Live imaging and cellular barcoding reveal how new stem cells are vetted for quality. Paper

2GB radio: Associate Professor James Chong chats with Dr Ross Walker about the future of stem cell treatments for the heart.

The Conversation: Pregnancy in space: studying stem cells in zero gravity may determine whether it’s safe.

Medical Xpress: Stem cell-gene therapy shows promise in ALS safety trial. Paper

KU Leuven: KU Leuven stem cell biologists create new human cell type for research. Paper

Ask your questions about heart regeneration; growing mini livers to help sick kids; and $55K in Prizes closing soon.

Research is underway to explore a range of ways in which stem cells may one day treat or mend a broken heart – one of the least regenerative of all our organs.

We’re bringing together three research leaders for our webinar Future Medicine: Healing the Heart, where we’ll discuss repairing hearts after heart attack, drug discovery for COVID 19-related heart damage, and how we might boost the heart’s pumping power for kids with congenital heart disease.

This is a free public webinar for a general audience, so start preparing your burning heart-related questions for our panel of researchers and clinicians. Read more below.

Brisbane scientist Sarah Withey is using mini livers or ‘organoids’ to trial a promising treatment to repair livers in sick kids with a rare disease. We’re supporting her research. Read more below.

And there’s still a small window of time to apply for the Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, which closes 5 August. Please encourage any promising researchers you know to apply. Read more below.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Webinar: Future medicine – Healing the Heart
• Growing ‘mini livers’ to restore liver function in kids with rare disease
• Do you know a promising stem cell researcher? Two $55K Prizes available
• Stem cell news from around the world

Webinar: Future Medicine: Healing the Heart

Hear from a cardiologist and stem cell researchers, and ask your own questions

Heart disease is Australia’s leading cause of death, killing more than 18,500 people a year, one every 28 minutes.

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia presents a public webinar to answer your questions about heart disease and to let you know about the latest developments in stem cell research to heal broken hearts.

It will be hosted by Foundation director and stem cell biologist Professor Megan Munsie as the first in our Future Medicine series of community education events.

You’ll hear from our panel of researchers and clinicians working on:

• repairing damage from heart disease and heart attack by growing new tissues: Associate Professor James Chong, a regenerative medicine researcher at Westmead Institute for Medical Research and The University of Sydney, and cardiologist at Westmead Hospital.
• understanding congenital heart diseases and developing tissues to supplement pumping power: Professor Enzo Porrello, a stem cell scientist at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
• finding drug candidates for COVID 19-related heart damage: Professor James Hudson, a bioengineer at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.

More than 4 million Australians live with cardiovascular disease. While some treatments and lifestyle changes may help manage their condition, long-term treatments or even cures remain out of reach.

Researchers are currently exploring how stem cell treatments provide answers at all stages of life: from addressing congenital heart diseases in infants, to finding treatments for preventing heart damage, and repairing heart tissues after heart attack.

More about the speakers:

• Read about James Chong’s research into stem cell treatments for heart attack patients: stemcellfoundation.net.au/james_chong_showcase
• Read about Enzo Porrello’s work on understanding the mechanisms involved in congenital heart disease: stemcellfoundation.net.au/enzo_porrello_showcase
• Read about how James Hudson develops heart tissue to test drugs candidates for heart repair: stemcellfoundation.net.au/james_hudson

Date and time:

Thursday 25 August 2022

7:30PM – 8:30PM Australian Eastern Standard Time

Register to get the event link at: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/future-medicine-healing-the-heart-tickets-391398672967

Growing ‘mini livers’ to restore function in kids with rare disease

Developmental biologist Dr Sarah Withey is using mini liver ‘organoids’ made from patients’ stem cells to test a potential treatment for children with a rare, genetic, progressive, life-limiting disease – Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T).

The inherited disease usually causes loss of control of movement, increased susceptibility to a range of cancers, respiratory complications, and fatty liver disease, where the liver is unable to process lipids, including fats.

“Liver disease is otherwise rare in children,” says Sarah, a researcher at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland.

“It’s a serious condition that can further limit the life of these kids, who are already dealing with the range of other complications of A-T.”

To investigate the mechanisms of the disease in the liver, Sarah has generated the first patient stem cell-derived liver organoids that exhibit the fatty liver disease associated with A-T.

“By looking at these liver organoids grown from A-T patients’ stem cells, we’ve noticed that an enzyme, which is key to fat metabolism, is in the wrong location in the cells. This means the liver cells can’t process fats properly, causing a build-up characteristic of fatty liver disease.”

Sarah’s research is trialling the introduction of a synthetic, gene-edited enzyme into the cells. Hopefully, this will put the enzyme back where it belongs in the organoid cells to restore fat metabolism.

“We’re going to trial a drug candidate that’s shown promise in other species and other human cell types,” she says. “So, I think there’s a good chance that it will work on these liver cells.”

As part of the Matched Funding Program, the Foundation matches, dollar-for-dollar, donations made by other supporters to provide a total of $100,000.

The Foundation will match the generous gift of $50,000 already pledged from A-T patient support group BrAshA-T to support Sarah’s trial.

“Being selected for the matched funding program is humbling because it shows that the Foundation also cares about this disease and our work. This is especially important for rare diseases such as A-T, which often lack research and funding investment.

“I’d also like to thank the Foundation for supporting this research and giving an early-career researcher an opportunity that might otherwise be afforded to a more senior researcher. This early-career support is a real foot in the door.”

Read the full story on the Foundation’s website.

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research closing 5 August

If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply for the 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research. The Prizes are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, as long as they have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past five to 10 years (from August 2012 to August 2017). Allowances will be made for research-career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability, and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

You can read about the Metcalf Prize alumni and their research on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to support researchers whose work improves our understanding of the human body and the diseases that affect it and leads to proven stem cell therapies.

We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who is administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected]

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Technology Networks: Time-lapse footage shows neural stem cells grow in 3D scaffolds Paper.

Medical Xpress: Stem cells and AI team up to predict cardiac arrhythmias in patients. Paper.

Forbes: Research On Flies Provides Hope For Brain Repair. Paper.

Sci Tech Daily: A newly discovered type of stem cell could allow scientists to make organs in a dish. Paper.

News Medical: Study focuses on how telomerase activity affects the regenerative potential of stem cells in human urine. Paper.

News Medical: Complex molecular dance could inform the development of future treatments for fragile X syndrome. Paper.

Phys Org: A newly identified stem cell regulator enables lifelong sperm production. Paper.

GEN News: Neuron regeneration following brain injury activated by neuron and glia connection. Paper.

Cambridge Network: Researchers find epigenetic switch that helps keep early embryo cells on the right track. Paper.

Two $55K prizes for rising stars. Plus, what do you need to know about stem cell treatment? We have a guide.

Do you know any up-and-coming stem cell researchers who deserve recognition?

Encourage them to apply for the 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Two prizes, worth $55,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career stem cell scientist.

The applications close on Friday 5 August 2022.

Last year’s winners were Siok Tey and Pengyi Yang. Siok is researching treatments which will improve the survival rate and quality of life for her patients with leukaemia or other blood cancers. Pengyi is using computer science to understand how stem cells work.

We encourage people who applied last year to do so again. Read on for more details.

Are you considering a stem cell therapy but don’t know what to expect? Or do you know someone trying to understand their treatment options?

The Foundation has published a new handbook to help people living with illness make informed choices about stem cell therapies. More below.

In other news:

• animal trials in the USA are showing promise for brain repair in Parkinson’s disease
• Japanese scientists are studying endangered zebra stem cells, unveiling ancient genetic links between mammals
• Australian scientists have used stem cell models to reveal previously unknown genetics of glaucoma – a leading cause of blindness.

These and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Metcalf Prizes: Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• What do people need to know about stem cell treatments?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $55,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will receive $55,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, as long as they have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past five to 10 years (from August 2012 to August 2017). Allowances will be made for research-career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability, and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Past Metcalf Prize winners include:

• Brisbane clinical haematologist Siok Tey
• Canberra computer scientist Pengyi Yang
• Melbourne molecular biologist Melanie Eckersley-Maslin
• Brisbane haematologist Steven Lane
• Brisbane mammary biologist Felicity Davis
• Brisbane bioengineer James Hudson
• Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee
• Melbourne heart development researcher Enzo Porrello
• Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson
• Brisbane computational biologist Jessica Mar
• Sydney heart clinician and researcher James Chong
• Melbourne immunologist Tracy Heng
• bioinformatician Christine Wells
• Perth geneticist Ryan Lister
• Tasmanian neural stem cell researcher Kaylene Young
• Monash University reprogramming legend Jose Polo.

You can read more about the Metcalf Prize alumni and their research on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to support researchers whose work improves our understanding of the human body and the diseases that affect it and leads to proven stem cell therapies.

Applications close Friday 5 August 2022. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who is administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected]

What do people need to know about stem cell treatments?

New Foundation handbook guides patients and their families as they weigh up healthcare options

What proven stem cell therapies are available, what’s at risk from trying an unproven, experimental treatment, and what do patients and their families need to know?

The Foundation has developed a new guidebook – What you need to know about stem cell therapies – for people contemplating stem cell-based treatments or clinical trials.

Please spread the word about this resource.

“Stem cells are saving lives today, through bone marrow transplants and other well-established treatments,” says Foundation chairman Dr Graeme Blackman.

“However, the Foundation is concerned by the increasing number of expensive, unproven and unethical stem cell therapies being advertised and offered in Australia and overseas.

“We want to help vulnerable people see through the slick online advertising and seemingly positive testimonials, and to know what questions to ask their healthcare providers.”

This new guide includes:

• a handy list of questions to ask about any stem cell treatments you’re considering
• an overview of the conditions that are currently treated using approved stem cell therapies
• information on how new therapies are developed and tested
• risks of unproven or experimental treatments.

This resource has been developed with oversight from the Foundation's expert Science and Ethics Committee.

Visit the Foundation website to download the handbook.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Medical News: Stem cell models help determine previously unknown genetic markers of glaucoma. Paper.

The Conversation: Stem cell therapy offers a new hope to repair brain damage in newborns.

Medical News Today: Parkinson’s: Promising stem cell treatment reverses symptoms in rodents. Paper.

Texas A&M Today: Scientists uncover key factor in human brain development. Paper.

India Today: Why do we suddenly become frail in the 70s? Scientists unlock cellular secret. Paper.

Weill Cornell Medicine: Immune therapy targets cells that cause leukemia relapse. Paper.

Mirage: Your liver is just under three years old. Paper.

Tulane News: Study examines why kidneys can’t regenerate after birth. Paper.

New Scientist: Buckyball-shaped scaffold makes stem cell tissue grow faster. Paper.

Science Daily: Learning from endangered zebra stem cells. Paper.

Testing treatments for heart defects and cystic fibrosis; grants of $100K for projects approaching the clinic

Extra pumping power for hearts with congenital defects is just one of the outcomes being pursued by a new international collaborative regenerative medicine centre.

The Australian arm will be led by Melbourne cardiac stem cell researcher and Metcalf Prize alumnus Enzo Porrello. Read on for details.

The Foundation has raised funds to support Newcastle researcher Gerard Kaiko’s efforts to bring a life-extending treatment for cystic fibrosis to clinical trials. But we need more - can you help? More below.

Gerard’s project is one of four selected for our 2021 Matched Funding Program.

We’re now looking for the next four projects. If you know a stem cell scientist whose research projects are nearing clinical trials, encourage them to be in the running for the 2022 funding round’s four $100,000 grants. Details below.

Finally, some of our directors have been in the news. Read on to find out more about the experts who lead the Foundation.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Engineered heart tissue and other treatments the target of a new half-billion-dollar international research effort
• Giving cystic fibrosis patients longer, better lives
• $100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists
• Foundation directors in the news
• Stem cell news from around the world

Engineered heart tissue and other treatments the target of a new half-billion-dollar international research effort

Australian scientists lead new international research centre

An international collaboration of three research institutes will develop new drugs and therapies using human stem cells to treat heart, respiratory and kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, and other conditions.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, or ‘reNEW’, is a €300 million (A$468 million) collaboration between Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands.

Pioneering Australian scientist Professor Melissa Little has been appointed CEO.

Professor Little, Chief Scientist at MCRI, is known for creating functioning ‘mini-kidneys’ from stem cells, used to study diseases and test treatments.

“Stem cell research has come so far,” says Melissa. “Right now we are producing beating heart tissue that may be able to treat children with congenital heart disease. And we’re really only scratching the surface.”

Cardiac stem cell researcher Professor Enzo Porrello, a 2018 Metcalf Prize-winner, will be Director of reNEWS’s Melbourne node.

He will oversee the centre’s research at MCRI and continue his own work developing patches of heart tissue that can contract to provide extra blood-pumping power to people with heart conditions.

“I’m really excited about the development of these engineered heart patches,” he says. “Over the next few years, we want to move that work forward to a point where we’ve established it’s safe and effective in large animal trials. Then we can begin to think about taking that into the clinic for human trials.”

Enzo says the MCRI’s inclusion as one of reNEW’s three institutes is a recognition of the strengths in stem cell research in Australia.

“This is the first time in its history that the Novo Nordisk Foundation has invested in an international centre of this nature. All of their previous centres are Danish,” he explains.

Under the collaboration, University of Melbourne Professor Megan Munsie will also be joining MCRI part-time to lead reNEW’s social, ethical and regulatory research theme. Megan is an expert in stem cell ethics, legislation and the global regulatory environment, and is one of our Directors.

Watch a video about MCRI’s involvement in reNEW.

Read more about reNEW on MCRI’s website.

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia would like support more mid-career scientists like Enzo Porrello, which is why we award two $55,000 Metcalf Prizes to promising local researchers each year. Thanks to the support of our donors, we will open the 2022 Prizes for nominations mid-year.

Read more about the Metcalf Prizes.

Giving cystic fibrosis patients longer, better lives

Join the effort to bring a new life-changing treatment to the clinic

Dr Gerard Kaiko has developed a new molecule that could help cystic fibrosis patients live longer and with a better quality of life.

With your support, the Foundation wants to help fund Gerard’s research and bring this life-changing treatment to clinical trials.

A baby is born with cystic fibrosis every four days on average in Australia. The inherited genetic disease causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs.

When cystic fibrosis was first recognised 80 years ago, most babies with the condition died before their first birthday.

Life expectancy is about 38 years – less than half that of the general population – and Gerard wants to extend it further.

“Existing drugs don’t restore enough of the function of the defective gene to give patients the same life expectancy as the general population,” Gerard says.

“There’s no reason why, with the advent of targeted therapies, like those we’re working on, that we can’t make greater strides.”

Gerard and his colleagues at Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle were selected for the Foundation’s 2021 Matched Funding Program for their project using personalised medicine for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

Under the Program, the Foundation will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations made by other supporters to provide a total of $100,000.

A generous donation from Whiteley Corporation, an Australian manufacturing company specialising in cleaning and infection control and prevention products, has brought the funds raised to $70,000.

We’re looking for donors to cover another $15,000, which, matched by the Foundation, will meet the funding target.

The project uses stem cells in two ways. The drug molecule is made using living stem cell ‘biofactories’; it can’t be made synthetically through chemical reactions in a traditional manufacturing lab.

“Stem cells allow us to make the large quantities we will need for treatments in the clinic.”

The project also uses stem cell-derived tissues from individual patients to test how different people might respond to the drug.

Gerard says that personalised treatment is particularly important in cystic fibrosis. Although only one gene is involved, there are about 2000 different mutations. Not everyone has the same prognosis or the same symptoms.

A biopsy from a patient’s airways or colon provides cells that are grown into ‘mini-lung’ or ‘mini-gut’ tissues that allow Gerard’s team to test the stem cell ‘biofactory’ drug candidate in living cells with the patient’s unique genetics.

“With this disease, you see some really sick kids. You can also see patients who don’t go downhill until later in life. Being able to study how treatments work in a wide range of patient-derived tissues from the actual patients in the clinic with different mutations will mean we can get to clinical trials much faster.”

If you want to make a donation to support Gerard’s research, contact Graeme Mehegan via [email protected].

$100K funding opportunity for stem cell scientists

Applications closing soon

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia invites applications for up to four $100,000 research grants as part of its 2022 Matched Funding Program.

Under the Program, the Foundation will match any donation it receives from an approved donor (or donors) up to a maximum of $50,000 with up to $50,000 dollars of its own funds, to potentially provide a total of $100,000 for a successful research project.

Ideally, the lead researcher (or their host institution) would find and introduce the donor to the Foundation, however if this does not occur the Foundation will try to assist by using its resources to source an appropriate donor (through its newsletters, website and social media).

To be eligible the research project must be:

• Using stem cell technology
• Performed predominantly in Australia
• At the late pre-clinical trial stage in readiness for clinical trials OR ready to conduct a clinical trial.

Researchers interested in applying for a grant under the program should complete an Expression of Interest (found on our website) and forward it to us as directed.

Applications will close on Tuesday 8 March 2022. For more information, an overview of past funding recipients, and to download the Expression of Interest form, visit the Foundation’s website.

The Foundation hopes to support a diversity of projects in stem cell research. Applications from gender and culturally diverse backgrounds are encouraged.

Foundation directors in the news

Independent oversight from experts

From left to right: Governor of Victoria the Honourable Linda Dessau AC and Professor James Angus AO; Professor Caroline Gargett; Zali Steggall OAM, MP and Professor Megan Munsie.

The Foundation’s work is overseen by a voluntary board of independent directors, with expertise in governance, finance, scientific leadership, stem cell and medical research, and ethics. Recent news from our directors:

• Biomedical pharmacologist and research sector leader Professor James Angus AO was sworn in as the 15th Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria on 12 November 2021. James comes to the role with 45 years of experience across academia and medical research.
• Professor Caroline Gargett from Hudson Institute of Medical Research is the key international member of the team which was awarded the $US1 million Magee Prize for their work on identifying vaginal stem cells to use with new biomaterials to repair tissue loss in women with compromised vaginal structure and function.
• In addition to her role at reNEW, Professor Megan Munsie from The University of Melbourne received a High Commendation in the Advocacy Award category at Research Australia’s 18th Health and Medical Research Awards for her work on the public education and ethical considerations for stem cell medicine. Read an AusBiotech story about her achievement.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Technology Networks: Newly discovered stem cell resembles cells in early human embryo. Paper.

RMIT: Sonic advance: How sound waves could help regrow bones.

Department of Health: New PBS listing to help fight chronic graft versus host disease.

BBC Health: Sickle cell: ‘The revolutionary gene-editing treatment that gave me new life’.

Al Jazeera: Woman cured of HIV after stem cell transplant.

Wired: A twist on stem cell transplants could help blood cancer patients. Paper.

NPR: Watch these robotic fish swim to the beat of human heart cells. Paper.

Medical News: Individual dosing of preparatory drug makes stem cell transplants safer for children. Paper.

New Atlas: Stem cell rejuvenation helps immunotherapy fight cancer tirelessly. Paper.

Business Insider Australia: Researchers are getting better at regenerating lab animals’ limbs. They might regrow human body parts in your lifetime. Paper.

The Niche: Fact-checking stem cell therapy for hair loss.

ABC: Calls for stem cell donation to change in Australia to reduce reliance on overseas donors.

Better bone marrow transplants and making a virtual human cell – Metcalf Prize winners announced

I am delighted to announce the two brilliant scientists who are the winners of the 2021 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Associate Professor Siok Tey, a clinician researcher at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, is working to improve bone marrow transplantation for leukaemia patients by untangling the mixed bag of good and potentially harmful cells.  

Dr Pengyi Yang of the Children's Medical Research Institute and at The University of Sydney wants to transform stem cell research using computer science. He is mapping the many, complex influences that control stem cells and how they specialise.

Each will receive a $55,000 prize from the Foundation. We hope that investing in their careers will advance Australian stem cell research and, importantly, improve the prognosis for patients.

Siok and Pengyi will be presented with their prizes at a special event next month.

Read on to find out more about their research and achievements.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• More ‘good cells’, safer treatments for leukaemia patients
• Making a virtual human cell to explore how we’re made and how we can regenerate damaged organs
• Stem cell news from around the world

More ‘good cells’, safer treatments for leukaemia patients

Associate Professor Siok Tey is researching treatments that will improve the survival and quality of life for her patients with leukaemia or other blood cancers.

“Bone marrow transplantation is an important form of treatment for blood cancers, but it cures only two-thirds of patients,” says Siok, a clinician researcher at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

Siok will use her $55,000 Metcalf Prize to improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation, which rebuilds the blood and immune systems to protect patients from leukaemia relapse. Not all patients, however, stay in long-term remission, and the treatment often comes with serious side effects.

Siok plans to identify which transplanted cells provide protection from leukaemia relapse and which ones contribute to complications, and then to use this knowledge to develop better treatments.

In recognition of her leadership in the field, Siok has received one of two annual Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

Fifty years ago, certain blood cancers, such as aggressive types of leukaemia, were essentially a death sentence. Nowadays, chemotherapy and radiation therapy ensures 70 to 80 per cent of cases go into remission, but some cancer cells evade treatment. For some patients, the risk of relapse can be as high as 90 per cent and bone marrow (blood stem cell) transplant is the only pathway to long-term remission.

Each year, about 700 Australians receive a bone marrow transplant, using cells from a healthy donor to treat leukaemia or other blood cancers.

“Bone marrow transplantation has saved thousands of lives, but it is very much a broad-brush approach,” Siok says.

“We infuse a mixed bag of donor cells: some are good cells that help rebuild the immune system and fight rogue cancer cells. But others are harmful and can attack the patient’s tissues and organs, resulting in complications that are life-threatening and can have long-term effects on quality-of-life.”

Siok has developed ways to improve transplant outcomes through her laboratory and clinical research. The Metcalf Prize will help her develop blood cell transplantations that are more precisely targeted and therefore safer and more effective.

Read more about Siok and her research.

Making a virtual human cell to explore how we’re made and how we can regenerate damaged organs

 Dr Pengyi Yang plans to transform stem cell research.

“Today’s stem cell treatments have been the product of trial and error. My virtual stem cell will allow us to understand what’s happening inside a single stem cell that makes it decide what type of cell it will become, be it hair, skin, muscle, nerve, blood or other.”

He is mapping the many, complex influences that control stem cells and how they specialise into different cell types.

Pengyi is based at the Children's Medical Research Institute and at The University of Sydney. He aims to remove much of the guess work from stem cell science and eventually stem cell medicine.

In recognition of his leadership in the field, Pengyi has also received a Metcalf Prizes from the Foundation.

“Stem cells are amazing because they can produce any kind of cell in the body. They’re fundamental to regenerative medicine,” Pengyi says. “But, when their controls fail, rogue stem cells can lead to cancer.”

We all start life as a single stem cell. It goes on to produce cells that eventually become every type of tissue and organ of the human body. Even in adulthood, stem cells are repairing and replacing tissue all the time.

“People are excited about the potential of stem cell medicine, but the reality is extremely complicated. Thousands of genes, complex gene networks, environmental factors, and an individual’s own health are all involved in pushing stem cells to become specific cell types.”

Pengyi, a computer scientist turned stem cell researcher, is using computational science and statistics to understand how stem cells function at a fundamental level – work that will be useful for the entire stem cell field of research.

“We need a computer model to bring all of these influences together so we can identify the specific gene networks that drive the stem cells towards each cell type.”

“The stem cell treatments that are already being used have been the product of trial and error. I want to find out how they work, and what’s controlling them,” he explains.

Read more about Pengyi and his research.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Cell Stem Cell: 'The American stem cell sell in 2021: US businesses selling unlicensed and unproven stem cell interventions. Article.

The Guardian: Documentary: ‘This is such an important moment’: how stem cell research is transforming medicine.

Baylor College of Medicine: It takes cellular teamwork to heal the intestine. Paper.

ABC News: Queensland researchers create functioning brain tissue in lab from blood of epilepsy patients to tailor treatments

Genetic engineering and biotechnology news: In embryonic stem cells, genes link pluripotency and ease of self-destruction. Paper.

Science Daily: Protein involved in heart development boosts stem cell strategy for heart repair, scientists show. Paper.

University of Johannesburg: Adult stem cells transform faster with two lasers. Paper.

Medical News Today: COVID-19 and 'stem cell' research: Does the hype match the reality? Paper

Peter Mac: Peter Mac and University of Melbourne research receives $16m boost from Snow Fellowships.

Forbes: Is this petri dish looking at me? Paper.

Research Centre for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: Stem cell transplant: How skin-derived T cells can damage other organs.  Paper.

What eye treatments are in sight? Ask the experts

University student and runner Billy Morton is leading the charge to raise $150,000 in a single day for research into gene therapies to protect and restore vision. He has a rare genetic disease that is causing his eyesight to deteriorate.

A new gene therapy being developed by Melbourne scientist Dr Raymond Wong aims to treat eye diseases like this by regenerating lost light-sensing cells in the eye.

We’re partnering with the Centre for Eye Research Australia on World Sight Day to raise funds to bring his ideas closer to clinical trial. Triple your impact by making a donation on Thursday 14 October. More below.

Raymond will join a panel of ophthalmologists and scientists to share the latest eye research and answer audience questions through an online forum event on the eve of World Sight Day. Questions like: what’s next for treating glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and inherited retinal diseases? Join the forum and ask the experts. Read on for details.

The winners of our 2021 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research will be announced next month. They’re named for the late pioneering stem cell scientist Professor Don Metcalf, whose work transformed cancer treatment. Read on for a patient’s perspective on how his discoveries are saving lives.

In other news,

• US scientists observing mouse hair follicles have discovered an unexpected mechanism of ageing,
• stem cell-derived mini organs are continuing to assist COVID-19 research
• biotech start-up companies are working to overcome the challenges of mass-producing reprogrammed stem cells in the quantities needed for clinical use.

These and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Support gene therapy research focused on the eye’s light receptors
• What are the latest developments for treating eye diseases? Ask your questions at a free online public forum
• How Don Metcalf changed cancer treatment
• Stem cell news from around the world

Support gene therapy research focused on the eye’s light receptors

Triple the impact of donations given on 14 October - World Sight Day

Melbourne university student and long-distance runner Billy Morton, 22, was first diagnosed in his early teens with a rare genetic disease that is causing his eyesight to deteriorate. At the time there was no prospect of a treatment, but progress in gene therapy research is providing new hope.

Now Billy is leading the charge to raise $150,000 in a single day for research into gene therapies to protect and restore vision. He is the face of the Centre for Eye Research Australia’s (CERA) World Sight Day campaign, which aims to raise funds to develop and trial pioneering gene therapies in Australia.

Every dollar donated on this day will be matched by donations from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and the CERA Foundation, tripling the impact of your donation.

You can make a donation online at: charidy.com/HopeinSight.

Funds raised will support the research of Dr Raymond Wong and his team who are developing a new gene therapy to regenerate photoreceptor cells in patients like Billy.

Billy, with the rare genetic disease choroideremia, is one of 190 million people worldwide with diseases causing the death of light-sensing photoreceptor cells in the eye.

“Photoreceptors are tiny cells in the retina at the back of our eye, which pick up light and send the signal from the retina to the brain, enabling us to see,’’ explains Raymond.

“Currently there is no cure for blindness once photoreceptors are lost but my research is aiming to change that.’’

Billy says that gene therapy research makes him hopeful and optimistic that it will make a difference.

“Hopefully there will be research that will benefit me, but if not, it is exciting to know that it could make a difference to other people,” he said.

“Raymond and his colleagues at CERA have an outstanding scientific track record” said National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia General Manager Graeme Mehegan. “It’s a pleasure to partner with them to give real hope for people with vision loss on this World Sight Day.”

What are the latest developments for treating eye diseases? Ask your questions at a free online public forum

Online event: Hope in Sight online forum

When: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (AEDT), Wednesday 13 October

More than 13 million Australians have one or more chronic eye conditions, according to government data. Of these, 131,000 people have partial or complete blindness.

If you or a loved one are among these, you likely have questions.

Can stem cells treat blindness? What is gene therapy? Can progressive eye diseases like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration be prevents, halted, or even reversed?

Send in your questions, and join an online event to hear the answers from a panel of experts from the Centre for Eye Research Australia.

Panellists:

• Dr Carla Abbott is a clinician-scientist and expert in structure and function of the retina and optic nerve. Her research areas include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), inherited retinal diseases (such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP)) and glaucoma.
• Associate Professor Lauren Ayton is a clinician-scientist with research interests in retinal disease, low vision and vision restoration
• Dr Tom Edwards is a vitreoretinal surgeon and scientist. His research looks at the potential of gene therapy to cure inherited retinal diseases, aiming to develop treatments that may halt or partially reverse some inherited causes of blindness.
• Professor Robyn Guymer AM is a clinician scientist who leads a team of researchers primarily investigating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects one in seven Australians over the age of 50 years.
• Professor Keith Martin is a clinician scientist ophthalmologist. His research is focused on developing new strategies to protect and regenerate the optic nerve in glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. He was first in the world to demonstrate gene therapy and stem cell therapy could reduce retinal ganglion cell death in an experimental model of glaucoma.
• Dr Raymond Wong is a stem cell biologist. His research focuses on understanding the genetic signals that define retinal cells, and using cell reprogramming and stem cell technologies to study and treat retinal diseases.
• Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden is an ophthalmologist and medical scientist with research interests in diabetic retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease and retinal imaging biomarker discovery.

Register via www.cera.org.au/tribe-events/hope-in-sight-online-forum/ and email questions to [email protected].

How Don Metcalf changed cancer treatment

The story of a journalist, his brother, and the man who helped 20 million cancer patients

Transplant day: Chris Kimball (left) pictured with his brother and stem cell donor Sean (centre) and with his donated stem cells. (Photo: Chris Kimball)

In 2011, journalist Chris Kimball noticed he was losing weight, along with other odd symptoms. The 35-year-old father of two young children found out he had an unusual and aggressive form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. And it was severe. It had spread to multiple lymph node sites, other organs and his bone marrow.

Within a week, Kimball had started treatment. He would need an intensive, brutal regime of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant to rebuild his immune system from scratch using donor stem cells from his brother.

Kimball’s road to recovery involved pain, fear, uncertainty, and several weeks in an isolation ward to protect him from infections.

“I don’t think you can under-estimate how full-on that process is,” he says.

“When you spike a fever and you have no immune system, it’s scary. It is the worst moment of your life and you’re completely isolated, waiting for that moment when you can start having some protection.”

Gruelling as Kimball’s treatment was, it would have been even tougher without a glycoprotein called granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). G-CSF stimulates the bone marrow to produce stem cells, white blood cells and other blood cells, and releases them into the bloodstream.

Colony stimulating factors—there are four different types—were discovered in the early 1980s by the pioneering Australian stem cell scientist Professor Donald (‘Don’) Metcalf, who pursued cancer research at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne. The Foundation’s Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research is named in his honour.

Go to full story.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

New York Times: Losing Your Hair? You Might Blame the Great Stem Cell Escape. Paper.

Nature: The next frontier for human embryo research

The Conversation: New gene therapies may soon treat dozens of rare diseases, but million-dollar price tags will put them out of reach for many

New Scientist: The stem cell revolution isn't what you think it is

Nature: Stem-cell start-ups seek to crack the mass-production problem

Science Daily: Lab grown tumor models could improve treatment for pancreatic cancer.

EurekAlert: Repeated injury to airway stem cells could be major factor in chronic lung disease. Paper.

Caltech: Researchers build embryo-like structures from human stem cells. Paper.

Science Daily: When organoids meet coronaviruses

Massive Science: Precise CRISPR gene editing can correct the mutation that causes cystic fibrosis in mini-intestines. Paper.

About the Foundation

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia is an ATO-registered tax-deductible Health Promotion Charity dedicated to promoting the study and responsible use of stem cells to reduce the burden of disease.

The Foundation’s activities include:

• supporting research that pursues cures for as-yet-untreatable diseases
• building a community of people with a shared interest in stem cell science
• providing the Australian public with objective, reliable information on both the potential and risks of stem cell medicine.

We are working to build a community of people with a stake in stem cell science and to promote collaboration between scientists locally and internationally.

Please feel free to contact the Foundation’s General Manager Graeme Mehegan via [email protected].

Spread the word

Help us grow

We're keen to build a community of people with a stake in stem cell science to educate the community and support patients, clinicians and researchers. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone who might be interested.

Got a story?

If you have comments, questions or news you think might be of interest to the stem cell community, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at [email protected].

Connect with us online:

• Web: stemcellfoundation.net.au
• Twitter: @AusStemCell
• Facebook: National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia
• YouTube: Stem Cell Channel

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Meet the clinician-scientist mending broken hearts

It is always exciting to see researchers who we have backed in early careers progress, and their work blossom thanks to the generosity of our donors.

In this bulletin, we catch up with Sydney clinician and researcher James Chong, who is developing stem cell therapies to repair damaged heart tissue.

Support from our donors has helped James get his work to the point where he just won a $4.9 million grant from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

You can hear James speak about heart health and his research, and send in your own questions, through a webinar this month. Read on for more information.

We’re backing four more scientists working on treatments for cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and other diseases. Read on for more information and how you can join the effort to bring these treatments to clinical trials.

Later this year, we will publish a new patient information book for people considering stem cell therapies.

And early next year, we will help a group of students and early career researchers to attend Australia’s premier stem cell science conference – an investment in the next generation of medical scientists.

These are just some examples of how donations are making a difference.

In other news,

• in Germany, mini brains grown in a lab have spontaneously developed rudimentary eye structures,
• beating heart cells have been grown from stem cells in an experiment at the International Space Station,
• stem cell science continues to make a contribution to COVID-19 research.

These and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Meet the stem cell scientist mending broken hearts
• Targeting new treatments for cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and other genetic diseases
• Stem cell news from around the world

Meet the stem cell scientist mending broken hearts

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for all Australians. Every year more than 57,000 Australians suffer a heart attack. Many develop heart failure.

Westmead Institute of Medical Research/University of Sydney scientist Associate Professor James Chong is pioneering the use of stem cells to repair heart damage. But further work is required before human clinical trials can safely commence.

With your help, we want to pump a further $100,000 into his heart research at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research through their ‘Double the Love’ campaign.

Donate now or any time through September until World Heart Day on 29 September, and we will match your donation dollar-for-dollar to double the impact.

Register to attend James’ webinar and send in your own questions via this link: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WwlxC3H3Q1uZ-xz8NZI-3w

James is sharing his research and heart health insights through a special online event on Wednesday 22 September at 1pm AEST. 

James’ approach to heart repair is to inject stem cell-derived heart muscle cells or ‘cardiomyocytes’ directly into the injured region.

It has the potential to save the lives of millions of people as a viable alternative to heart transplants.

Compounding this, COVID-19 is being shown to impact heart health and the long-term consequences are unknown.

Watch a video about James’ research.

Early support leads to government funding success

We saw the promise of James’ work early. Following animal trials that featured in a landmark Nature paper, he received one of two $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia in 2016.

That helped him go on to prove that stem cells could repair the damaged hearts in other clinically relevant large animal models.

From there, James moved on to a five-year project aiming to bring to bring the therapy to a clinical trial with patients who have had heart attacks.

The Foundation swung behind him again with a Matched Funding initiative, under which we matched, dollar for dollar, every public donation of $500 or more.

Then this year, James was awarded $4.9 million by the Medical Research Future Fund 2020 Stem Cell Mission for his work which will allow clinical trials to go ahead.

James says the Matched Funding support was vital help in him winning the MRFF funding.

“It was really instrumental in helping me with this recent MRFF success,” he says.

“It allowed us to carry out the pre-clinical large animal work. Part of that was cell manufacture with my co-investigator in Queensland, Professor Peter Gray. And the large animal experiments have been instrumental in the preliminary data that I put into the MRFF grant application.”

James also has some other exciting news. The large animal large animal studies, while successful in repairing heart tissue, did in some cases cause an arrhythmia – a condition where the heart beats abnormally. Now he thinks he and his colleagues may have found a solution.

Being on the verge of publishing a paper on the subject, he can’t give too many details but says large animal studies have shown that the arrhythmia can be suppressed with a combination of two drugs, and that are already available in clinical use.

“So, it doesn't get rid of it totally, but suppresses it quite significantly, so that it becomes less sinister, less aggressive.”

Targeting new treatments for cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and other genetic diseases

Your chance to support research into therapies for inherited diseases

Each year, the Foundation selects up to four promising Australian stem cell research projects that need a funding boost to help them progress new therapies to human clinical trials.

As part of our Matched Funding Program, the Foundation will match money it receives from approved donors up to a maximum of $50,000, potentially providing a total of $100,000 for each project.

We are delighted to announce the 2021 Matched Funding Program recipients:

• Dr Peter Houweling from Murdoch Children's Research Institute is developing a treatment for a type of muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.

• Dr Gerard Kaiko from Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle is working on personalised gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, an inherited condition that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs.

• Dr Raymond Wong from the Centre for Eye Research Australia and The University of Melbourne is developing a gene therapy for late-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP), an inherited retinal disease that causes progressive loss of vision.

• Dr Sarah Withey from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland is using mini liver ‘organoids’ made from stem cells to test a treatment for children with a rare, genetic, progressive, life-limiting disease Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T).

We will share more information about each project in future newsletters. In the meantime, we need donations to help us cover our half of the grants given to recipients.

Please consider assisting us in our work to support this important and growing area of medical science. The Foundation is registered as a Health Promotion Charity with the Australian Tax Office, so donations are tax deductible.

If you would like to make a donation or are considering making a bequest, please visit our website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate.

The 2022 funding round will open for applications early next year. For more information visit: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/matched_funding_program.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

The Science Show: Science and the public good

News-Medical.Net: Researchers convert human stem cells into beta cells using small molecules

Medical Xpress: How stem cells alleviate COPD inflammation in humans. Paper.

ABC Big Ideas: Vaccines, stem cells, and the myth of wellness

Science Alert: Scientists grew stem cell ‘mini brains’. Then, the brains sort-of developed eyes. Paper.

Reuters: Australian researchers develop hydrogel to combat Parkinson's

Technology Networks: New CRISPR technique corrects cystic fibrosis in human stem cells. Paper.

Houston Chronicle: Stemming the tide of stem-cell treatment scams

Sydney Morning Herald: Will genetic engineering lead to designer babies and supersoldiers?

Healio: Cardiac cells can be grown in space

ABC Science Friction: Why scientists want longstanding ‘14-day rule’ for human embryo research changed

AusBioTech: New international guidelines for stem cell research

EurekAlert: COVID-19 studies are bolstered by lung cells made from induced pluripotent stem cells

About the Foundation

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia is an ATO-registered tax-deductible Health Promotion Charity dedicated to promoting the study and responsible use of stem cells to reduce the burden of disease.

The Foundation’s activities include:

• supporting research that pursues cures for as-yet-untreatable diseases
• building a community of people with a shared interest in stem cell science
• providing the Australian public with objective, reliable information on both the potential and risks of stem cell medicine.

We are working to build a community of people with a stake in stem cell science and to promote collaboration between scientists locally and internationally.

Please feel free to contact the Foundation’s General Manager Graeme Mehegan via [email protected].

Spread the word

Help us grow

We're keen to build a community of people with a stake in stem cell science to educate the community and support patients, clinicians and researchers. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone who might be interested.

Got a story?

If you have comments, questions or news you think might be of interest to the stem cell community, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at [email protected].

Connect with us online:

• Web: stemcellfoundation.net.au
• Twitter: @AusStemCell
• Facebook: National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia
• YouTube: Stem Cell Channel

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COVID heart treatment trial; Prizes for rising stars

COVID 19 causes heart damage. Brisbane researchers using mini-hearts have identified an existing drug that could stop it. Patient trials are underway in America. More below.

The Foundation was an early supporter of the researcher, James Hudson, who created the heart tissue vital to these discoveries, awarding him the Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research in 2019.

We are currently looking for other rising stars like James who deserve recognition and a funding injection to take their careers to the next level. Nominations for the 2021 Metcalf Prizes are now open for mid-career stem cell scientists.

Two prizes, worth $55,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career researcher.

Applications close 11.59pm on Friday 30 July 2021. We encourage people who applied last year to do so again. Read on for more details.

In other news,

• Adelaide scientists are seeing if faecal transplants could stop bone marrow transplant rejection,
• Melbourne researchers seeing promising results from a stem cell therapy to treat mice suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and
• there are international calls for updating embryo research guidelines to consider the ethical implications of new discoveries. We will report on these issues in a future newsletter.

These and more in our regular round up of stem cell news from around the world.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Stem cells help unveil potentially lifesaving COVID treatment
• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Stem cells help unveil potentially lifesaving COVID treatment

Mini-hearts made from stem cells reveal how COVID-19 causes heart damage, leading to drug treatment trials

In severe cases of COVID-19, out-of-control inflammation rampages through the body damaging tissues and organs such as the heart but, thanks to Brisbane researcher Associate Professor James Hudson, we may be on track to prevent or even reverse that harm.

James grew thousands of functioning mini-hearts from stem cells, which he and his colleagues used to track down the specific inflammatory pathways causing the damage by exposing the heart organoids to blood serum from COVID patients.

This was a huge scientific effort, involving James’ team at QIMR Berghofer, and collaborators at the University of Sydney, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Monash University, and companies Resverlogix and Dynomics.

“We then used our mini-heart organoids to screen several existing drugs and discovered ones that can prevent and reverse the damage,” James explains.

Based on this Australian research, the Canadian biotechnology company Resverlogix is now running a phase II clinical trial of the drug Apabetalone to see if it can improve the outcome of hospitalised COVID patients.

The drug was able to be rapidly repurposed straight to phase II trials as it was already in phase III human trials for treating cardiovascular disease. It recently received breakthrough therapy designation from the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration.

“It’s a tablet, so if someone gets COVID-19 they can go to hospital and start taking the drug. It could potentially stop people from dying or prevent some of the side effects of the disease. There is also evidence that it may act on multiple organs,” James says.

“It could be transformational. It’s a small molecule that’s easy and cheap to produce, and stable at room temperature – that makes it much more accessible to everyone.”

James’ work is a direct application of the research for which he won a 2019 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research. Even then his vision was to mass-produce mini-hearts from stem cells to provide living tissue to rapidly test the potential of hundreds of existing and new drugs to treat different diseases.

James is also working with regular collaborator and fellow Metcalf Prize winner Enzo Porrello from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Their research has benefitted from $390,000 in funding from the Medical Research Future Fund to establish human stem cell-based models of COVID-19 infection, to better understand the disease and screen potential treatments.

James says winning the Metcalf Prize helped raise his profile and gave valuable recognition of his work, which helped attract further funding and support, positioning him to rise to the challenge when a global pandemic struck.

His message to up-and-coming researchers considering entering the Metcalf Prizes: “It’s a great initiative. It raises your profile and helps you network with senior stem cell scientists. You should go for it!”

Read more about James’ COVID research on the QIMR Berghofer website. Read the Cell paper, publishing the research.

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $55,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will be awarded $55,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2021 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, and have a primary focus on stem cells.

Applications are open to those who have completed their PhD or MD (research-based) within the past 5-10 years (from August 2011 to August 2016). Allowances will be made for research career breaks, such as maternity leave.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Past Metcalf Prize winners include:

• Melbourne molecular biologist Melanie Eckersley-Maslin
• Brisbane haematologist Steven Lane
• Brisbane mammary biologist Felicity Davis
• Brisbane biologist and bioengineer James Hudson
• Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee
• Melbourne heart development researcher Enzo Porrello
• Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson
• Brisbane computational biologist Jessica Mar
• Sydney heart clinician and researcher James Chong
• Melbourne immunologist Tracy Heng
• bioinformatician Christine Wells
• Perth geneticist Ryan Lister
• Tasmanian neural stem cell researcher Kaylene Young
• Monash University reprogramming legend Jose Polo.

You can read more about the Metcalf Prize alumni and their research on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to support researchers working sound science that improves our understanding of the human body and its different diseases, and that leads to proven stem cell therapies.

Applications close Friday 31 July 2021. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who are administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected].

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Spectrum: Enzyme blockers may counteract excess protein levels in fragile X syndrome

Sydney Morning Herald: Embryo research law needs tweaking to catch up with science

9News: Australian scientists make major Parkinson's disease breakthrough

Nature: Stem-cell guidelines: why it was time for an update

Daily Bruin: UCLA-led team develops potential treatment for children with rare immune disease

Science Alert: This Beating Sesame Seed-Sized 'Human Heart' Grew Itself in a Lab

ABC News: Printing meat from stem cells could be the future of food, but consumers will need convincing

EurekAlert: A connection between senescence and stem cells caused by a breast cancer-initiating protein

The Science Advisory Board: AI tracks cell movements in stem cell colonies

The Advertiser: SAHMRI faecal transplant research to stop bone marrow stem cell rejection [paywall]

Optometry Today: Tiny ‘ice cube tray’ could help restore sight

BioNews: First stage of human embryo development created with lab-grown stem cells

The Lewiston Tribune: Commentary: Paper boosting stem cell treatments retracted

EurekAlert: The origin of reproductive organs

Scientific heroes and villains; hot topics at international conferences

Bone marrow and cord blood transplants have been saving the lives of cancer patients for decades. There are promising new stem cells treatments to restore lost vision, and other potential therapies in early clinical trials.

The stem cell research field is filled with genius and incredible discoveries which have changed the world but there are also some shonky charlatans, declares a new book that sets out “to help clean up the stable of science”.

Flesh made new, by physician-scientist Professor John Rasko and writer-historian Carl Power, shares the stories of the heroes and villains of regenerative medicine. Their publisher is offering a 30% discount to our supporters. Read on for details.

Potential COVID cures, clinical trials, gene therapies for blood disorders, and mini organs in the lab: two major international conferences are seeing top researchers, clinicians and biotech companies share the latest developments in stem cell science. More below.

The search for patient-tailored leukaemia treatments by Steven Lane’s laboratory in Brisbane is continuing. In Melbourne, eye surgeon Tom Edwards is developing gene therapies to restore eyesight.

Both received funding from the Foundation, thanks to our donors. Our general manager Graeme Mehegan recently visited them. Read on to find out how their work is progressing.

Self-healing living robots, lab-created embryos, and spinal injury repair have been in the news. Read these and other stories in our regular round up of stem cell news.

Finally, warm congratulations to Professor Mark Dawson FAA FAHMS who is among the new Fellows elected by his scientific peers to the Australian Academy of Science. Mark investigates how genes function in leukaemia. His research has led to several pioneering epigenetic therapies used worldwide.

Mark won a Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research from the Foundation in 2017 and is an exemplar of talent the prizes hope to support. We look forward to opening the 2021 prizes for applications in the next few weeks.

Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• New book shares stories of stem-cell pioneers and charlatans
• From COVID-19 cell therapies to skin stem cells as we age: annual international scientific meetings go online
• Seeing your dollar in action: visiting leukaemia and eye treatment researchers
• Stem cell news from around the world

New book shares stories of stem-cell pioneers and charlatans  

Flesh made new: the unnatural history and broken promise of stem cells – a wake-up call

“When it comes to stem cell research, there’s a lot of muck to rake,” declares a new book that sets out “to help clean up the stable of science”.

Flesh made new, by physician-scientist Professor John Rasko and writer-historian Carl Power, shares the stories of the heroes and villains of regenerative medicine – and occasionally people who are both.

Meet the late pioneering vascular surgeon, Nobel Prize winner and suspected Nazi sympathiser, Alexis Carrel, whose notorious chicken heart cell experiment pushed the false hope of cell immortality.

Or Haruko Obakata, the darling of Japanese media with her cooking apron ‘lab coat’, who announced a new way to make stem cells, before being uncovered as a fraud.

But then there are the heroes, such as cell reprogramming pioneer Shinya Yamanaka who discovered he could convert mature mouse cells into stem cells by just adding four genes; and Dottie and Don Thomas, the ‘mother’ and ‘father’ of bone marrow transplantation, a proven stem cell therapy that has saved millions of lives.

Co-author John Rasko is ideally placed to provide an expert insider’s view—he is head of the gene and stem cell therapy program at Centenary Institute and head of the department of cell and molecular therapies at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Shonky charlatans aside,  the stem cell research field is, “filled with genius and incredible discoveries which have changed the world”, he told ABC’s The Science Show, recently.

“If we didn't have stem cells we wouldn't have vaccines that can improve people’s lives and improve certainly the COVID-19 epidemic.”

Flesh Made New was written to strip away the hype so that we can appreciate the difficulties of stem cell science and find in its hard-won achievements genuine reason for hope.

“Advocating for evidence-based medicine and community education is part of the Foundation’s mission,” says Chair Dr Graeme Blackman. “We applaud researchers like Professor Rasko who stand up for science and show why people should exercise caution when making choices about their health.”

Our supporters and subscribers can receive a 30% discount on the recommended retail price ($34.99) via Booktopia using the code FLESH at checkout until 5 June, 2021.

COVID-19 cell therapies and skin stem cells as we age: annual international scientific meetings online 

Virtual conferences share the latest stem cell science in late May and June

International Society for Stem Cell Research 2021 Annual Meeting (ISSCR 2021), 21 – 26 June

Past  ISSCR Annual Meetings have highlighted the promise of stem cell treatments in Type-1 diabetes and vision loss due to macular degeneration.

What new science will be presented at ISSCR 2021?

The 2021 Annual Meeting will feature speakers including:

• Shinya Yamanaka, who together with John Gurdon won a 2012 Nobel Prize for the discovery that mature cells can be converted or ‘reprogrammed’ to stem cells.
• Valentina Greco, an expert in skin stem cells and the behaviour of normal and mutant cells in the epidermis under stress and as we age.
• Clinician-scientist Stuart H. Orkin, whose research underpins the development of gene therapies for blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease and thalassaemia.
• Outstanding Young investigator award winner Madeline Lancaster, who was the first scientist to develop cerebral organoids as a model to study human brain development and disease.

Visit the conference website to find out more and to register: www.isscr2021.org.

International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy 2021 Annual Meeting (ISCT 2021), May 26 – 28

ISCT 2021 took place last week.

COVID-19 was a hot topic in 2020 and still is. Several speakers returned this year to provide an update on the latest results from ongoing cell therapy trials for COVID-19, and to address the hurdles to bringing these treatments to the clinic.

There were also panel sessions and talks on topics including:

• Donor cell therapies: what really is a healthy donor?
• The economics of advanced cell and gene therapy
• Manufacturing human cells at scale via cellular reprogramming
• Understanding the ethical considerations and necessary conditions for ‘first in human’ trials
• Phishing for cell therapies: deceptive direct-to-consumer marketing of unproven and unlicensed treatments.

You can still visit the conference website https://isct2021.com/ or see the highlights and comments shared on Twitter via the hashtag #ISCT2021.

Your dollars in action: visiting leukaemia and eye treatment researchers 

Foundation general manager visits funded researchers

Clinical haematologist Associate Professor Steven Lane is studying the genetic fingerprints of blood cancer stem cells from leukaemia patients, thanks in part to the support of Foundation donors.

Earlier this year, Steven was named as one of two winners of a $55,000 2020 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research. However, pandemic lockdowns turned our award ceremony into an online event.

Foundation general manager Graeme Mehegan recently visited Steven and at his lab in Brisbane, to finally pass on his award in person.

“Like many past winners, Steven was always eager to recognise the support and work of his colleagues and group members,” says Graeme. “It was a real pleasure to meet the people involved in this research and see where the funds donated by the Foundation’s supporters are ultimately going.”

Hear Steven’s interview with ABC Radio about the state-of-play with leukaemia research and treatment.

Back in Melbourne, Graeme visited Professor Tom Edwards in his lab at the Centre for Eye Research Australia where he is developing gene therapies for incurable inherited eye diseases.

Tom’s research was one of four projects chosen by the Foundation last year to have donations they attracted matched dollar-for-dollar by the Foundation.

He’s testing the treatments on eye cells created from stem cells, ahead of progressing to clinical trials. All the surgical techniques required to deliver this treatment have already been developed.

“There’s a lot of competition for large government and philanthropic grants for medical research,” says Graeme. “As a health promotion charity, we aim to provide targeted funding to promising projects so that they can do the research that strengthens their case to attract major investment.”

You can make a donation to the Foundation via our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Toronto Star: These mutant cacti suggest that there are better ways to battle cancer

New York Times: Linda Griffith is reframing endometriosis as a key to unlocking some of biology’s greatest secrets.

Washington Post: Frog stem cell research changes what we know about how organisms are built. Paper.

Monash University: Breakthrough discovery could speed up bone implant recovery. Paper.

EurekAlert: Targeting microRNAs could unmask hidden vulnerability in breast cancer stem cells. Paper.

SYFY Wire: These mobile, self-healing living robots were born from frog stem cells. Paper.

The Conversation: Researchers have grown ‘human embryos’ from skin cells. What does that mean, and is it ethical? Paper.

The Age: Scientists have created embryos. What does that mean? And what comes next? Paper.

ABC Radio: Tegan Taylor talks to Superstars of STEM bioengineer Kiara Bruggemann about creating the right environment for brain stem cell growth.

The Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Stem cells in hyperdrive’: Breakthrough in the hunt for a healing secret. Paper.

New Atlas: New evidence stem cell therapy helps spinal injury patients. Paper.

ABC Radio: Leading stem cell researcher unpicks the 'gold rush' surrounding stem cell therapy.

ABC News: Humble aquarium fish helps Melbourne scientists discover how to reverse muscle trauma.

Saving our skin; what new therapies should we back?

Support stem cell research into melanoma

We need your help to fight melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

We’ve supported Professor Mark Shackleton’s stem cell research to find new ways to prevent melanoma and also to treat vitiligo, a skin disease characterised by patches of skin lacking the pigment melanin.

Our story below explains how you can help Mark’s work progress to the next phase.

We’re now looking for new projects to back through our Matched Funding Program. If you know a stem cell scientist whose research projects are nearing clinical trials, encourage them to be in the running for the 2021 funding round’s four $100,000 grants. Details below.

Finally, each year we support two exceptional mid-career researchers with the Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Our latest winners are tackling the fundamentals of cancer cell growth and the genetics of leukaemia treatment and survival. They are Dr Melanie Eckersley-Maslin and Associate Professor Steven Lane, and they each receive $55,000 as part of the prize.

This morning Professor Suzanne Cory AC FAA FRS presented our newest winners with their awards at a special event held online. Congratulations Melanie and Steven.

Steven spoke to ABC’s Bern Young about the prize and the inspiration of Donald Metcalf’s contribution to science. You can listen to the interview on our website.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Science that could save your skin
• We’re looking for new therapies to back
• Stem cell news from around the world

Science that could save your skin

Stem cell project targets two diseases: melanoma and vitiligo

The Foundation is backing Professor Mark Shackleton’s stem cell research aimed at preventing melanoma and treating vitiligo – two diseases affecting the melanin pigment-producing cells, called melanocytes.

His project was one of four selected by the Foundation last year to receive a total of $100,000; with the Foundation matching the $50,000 provided by other donors.

While we’ve met the funding cap for this project, you can still donate to support Mark’s work and we will pass the funds on.

Melanoma is an aggressive cancer that kills nearly 1,400 Australians each year.

Vitiligo, a condition where patches of skin stop producing pigment and become pale or white, may not be life-threatening, but it can cause deep distress to the one in every 100 Australians who develop it.

Mark, an oncologist and researcher at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University in Melbourne, and his team believe stem cell science could hold the answers to both conditions and are working to bring treatments to clinical trials within five years.

“In essence, there’s two main diseases which arise from melanocytes: one involves having too many melanocytes, which is melanoma, and the other results from not having enough melanocytes, which is vitiligo,” Mark says.

Mark’s approach centres on adapting drugs, treatments and techniques that have demonstrated safe use for other conditions.

He believes his research could lead to clinical trials for vitiligo treatments and melanoma-prevention within five years.

For example, he has found that a blood cancer drug undergoing clinical trials can protect melanocytes from the effects of UV radiation in the lab.

Read full story online.

We’re looking for new therapies to back

Call for expressions of interest for up to $100,000 per project

Are you writing a cheque to support research that deserves more funding? Do you know a scientist whose stem cell research holds promise for new treatments? Or are you one such scientist yourself? Now is the time to get in touch!

Our Matched Funding Program provides up to four $100,000 research grants to scientists developing promising treatments. The 2021 round opens for Expressions of Interest from interested and eligible scientists today.

Under the program, the Foundation will match money it receives from approved donors up to a maximum of $50,000, potentially providing a total of $100,000 for a successful research project.

To be eligible the research project must be:

• utilising stem cell technology
• performed predominantly in Australia
• preclinical studies that would inform a clinical trial OR ready to conduct a clinical trial.

Applications close on Monday 8 March. For more information and to download the Expression of Interest form, visit the Foundation’s website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

New India Express: Study sheds light on how blood stem cells maintain their lifelong potential for self-renewal. Paper.

EurekAlert: Robin Lovell-Badge receives the 2021 ISSCR Public Service Award

The New Daily: Motor neurone disease: Researchers hope existing drugs can reverse deadly nerve damage

SciTech Daily: Cure for blindness in sight: retinal stem cell transplant clears experimental hurdle. Paper.

UNSW Medicine: Scientists are a step closer to developing ‘smart’ stem cells – and they’re made from human fat. Paper.

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre: Mystery proteins reveal how embryos and cancers grow

QIMR Berghofer: QIMR Berghofer scientist awarded Metcalf Prize for stem cell research

CTV News: 5 things scientists learned in 2020 from research conducted in space

Tackling cancers through mystery molecules and genetic fingerprints – Metcalf Prize winners announced

I am delighted to announce the two brilliant scientists who are the winners of the 2020 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research. They’re taking two different stem cell research approaches to fighting cancer.

Dr Melanie Eckersley-Maslin—a new recruit of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre—believes the proteins which control the growth of cells in embryos could teach us how to stop the uncontrolled growth of cells in cancer.

Associate Professor Steven Lane of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute wants to lift the survival rates of his leukaemia patients. He thinks the key could lie in the genetic fingerprints of the blood cancer stem cells that proliferate the disease.

Melanie and Steven will be presented with their prizes by molecular biologist Professor Suzanne Cory AC FAA FRS at a ceremony in Melbourne next month.

Each will receive a $55,000 prize from the Foundation. We hope that investing in their careers will advance Australian stem cell research and, importantly, improve the prognosis for cancer patients.

Read on to find out more about their research and achievements.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Mystery molecules in cancer puzzle
• Genes may hold key to leukaemia survival
• Stem cell news from around the world

Mystery proteins reveal how embryos and cancers grow

Can early development shed light on cancer growth?

Proteins which control the growth of cells in embryos could teach us how to stop the uncontrolled growth of cells that is the hallmark of cancer, thanks to work by molecular biologist Dr Melanie Eckersley-Maslin.

Vital to normal development in early life, these molecules may later play a role in the early stages of cancer or help it spread. If so, we could target them therapeutically and block or slow progression of the disease.

In recognition of her leadership in the field, Melanie has received one of two annual $55,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

After more than a decade studying stem cells in embryonic development, Melanie has just returned to Australia from the United Kingdom to lead a research group at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

She is initially focusing on a pair of protein molecules – developmental pluripotency-associated 2 (Dppa2) and Dppa4 – that are linked with early development of different cell types. In most cases they fall silent once their work is complete. However, they can reappear later in life in some cancers.

“Cancers take on some of the features of early development and that’s been known, but how this works isn’t fully understood,” she says.

The secret could be in the role of Dppa2 and Dppa4. Healthy embryonic cell development is tightly controlled. Once the cell type is determined the cells themselves do not change.

Read more about Melanie and her research.

Genes may hold key to leukaemia survival

Brisbane scientist awarded for research into new blood cancer treatments

Clinical haematologist Associate Professor Steven Lane wants to lift the survival rates of his leukaemia patients. He thinks the key could lie in the genetic fingerprints of the blood cancer stem cells that proliferate the disease.

Steven is studying how these cells become resistant to treatment through genetic changes. He will use the knowledge to develop more effective and tailored therapies, both to prevent and treat potentially fatal relapses.

In recognition of his achievements, he has also been awarded a $55,000 Metcalf Prizes from the Foundation.

About 1000 Australians each year are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer. Under current trends, three quarters of people with AML die within five years of diagnosis.

Steven’s lab at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane is tackling AML and other blood cancers. He also treats patients at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

“Leukaemia often responds to chemotherapy initially, however the disease often comes back after this and we have very limited curative options,” he says.

“New treatment options are desperately needed.”

Steven’s work has focused on identifying the stem cell populations that give rise to leukaemia, and he wants to know how some cells respond to current therapeutic approaches and conversely, why some cancerous cells become resistant to treatment.

Read more about Steven and his research.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

CTV News: 5 things scientists learned in 2020 from research conducted in space

Australian Financial Review: 'Cancer reversing' professor takes out top science prize

Scimex: Patients cured of two nasty inherited blood diseases using gene editing and gene therapy. Paper.

Interesting Engineering: New drug starves cancer cells by attacking their powerhouse. Paper.

The Niche: Where do stem cells come from? Expert answers

Washington Post: Getting to the root of why and when our hair goes grey

Spectrum: New method probes genes’ function in brain organoids. Paper.

2020 in review; Four $100K funding opportunities in 2021

There was no shortage of fascinating stem cell news in 2020, from the birth of living ‘xenobots’, to the legal consequences for controversial scientists, and the role cord blood banks played during the pandemic. Read on for our selection of the good, the bad and ugly stem cell stories of the year.

They represent a microcosm of the wider narrative of stem cells in medicine. The field has been saving lives for decades through a limited number of proven treatments. It will save more as the science progresses, but we need to exercise caution, especially with unproven therapies.

We will share more of the year’s top stories of stem cell science on Twitter over the holidays using the hashtag #StemCellsIn2020.

And in February, expressions of interest will open for four $100,000 grants for research projects using stem cell technology that are nearing clinical trials. Our Matched Funding Program ensures that your contribution goes further. Details below.

We look forward to sharing more news in 2021, starting in January with the announcement of our support for two remarkable stem cell researchers through the $55,000 Metcalf Prizes.

Wishing you a happy and safe holiday season.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• 2020 highlights … and lowlights …
• Scientists: funding to help bring your ideas to clinical trials
• Stem cell news from around the world

2020 highlights … and lowlights …

Living robots, questionable COVID-19 cures, and sound science bringing therapies to trials. Here’s our year in review.

January

Better scar tissue after heart attack

2016 Metcalf Prize winner James Chong kicked off 2020 with a major journal publication on New Year’s Day. His study, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed a new protein therapy could encourage better quality, more flexible scar formation following a heart attack.

Heart disease remains the largest killer in Australia and around the world. The Foundation is supporting James and his colleagues at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research to bring a different new stem cell-derived treatment for heart attacks to the clinic. You can support his work by making a donation, which we will match dollar-for-dollar. Find out more about our Heart Project.

Scientists make the first ‘living robots’ from frog stem cells

US researchers created programmable living machines – dubbed xenobots – by assembling cells from African clawed frogs into robots that can move around on short stumpy legs. These living robots could deliver small amounts of material, such as medicines or useful reagents.

Unlike metal or plastic robots, the xenobots biodegrade when they die. But the research raises ethical issues. Read more in ScienceDaily or The Guardian.

March

Scientists unite to warn of snake oil merchants riding the pandemic’s coat tails

For years, rogue clinics have been touting expensive and unproven stem cell therapies as ‘natural’ and ‘miracle’ cures for everything from multiple sclerosis to autism to Alzheimer’s disease.

COVID-19 was no different, bringing new health fears and a fresh market for charlatans peddling false hope.

Leading stem cell science institutes and societies including the Centre for Stem Cell Systems at the University of Melbourne and the International Society for Stem Cell Research, joined forces to sound the warning to vulnerable patients and consumers. Read more.

April – October

Science during a pandemic

“Australia’s research workforce will be severely impacted by the pandemic and the effects are likely to be felt for an extended period.”

This was one of the key findings of an investigation conducted by the Rapid Research Information Forum, an initiative convened by the Chief Scientist, designed to quickly bring together relevant expertise to inform Australia’s response to COVID-19 on multiple fronts.

The investigation, titled ‘Impact of the pandemic on Australia’s research workforce’, also highlighted university job losses, travel restrictions impacting international student enrolments, and reduced innovation capacity in research and industry sectors, with consequences for Australia’s long-term economic growth. Read the full report.

This has reinforced the Foundation’s commitment to supporting scientists.

Melbourne researchers in particular had to work under lockdown conditions for an extended period. To get an idea of the toll the crisis has taken, we found out about life during the crisis for Florey Institute researcher Dr Jennifer Hollands, who studies the development and treatment of brain diseases. You can read the story on our website.

September

Swedes indict surgeon for stem-cell windpipe transplants

The once-feted regenerative medicine pioneer and surgeon Paolo Macchiarini was indicted for aggravated assault in relation to three fatal plastic trachea transplants performed at the Karolinska Institute hospital in Sweden.

Macchiarini’s method involved ‘regenerated tracheas’ made by growing new tissue seeded by a patient’s stem cells onto a scaffold – either plastic or sourced from a deceased donor.

Initially hailed as a breakthrough, the work made Macchiarini some famous friends. He was even featured in a two-hour documentary. But most of the patients who received artificial tracheas died. Investigators found evidence of scientific and medical misconduct.

The indictment is the latest chapter in the saga of a charismatic celebrity scientist, and a cautionary tale reminding us that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Ryan Lister wins WA Scientist of the Year

The Foundation is committed to supporting researchers developing treatments underpinned by the rigorous science we need for evidence-based medicine.

One such is Professor Ryan Lister (pictured with WA Science Minister Dave Kelly) who, in late September, was named joint Western Australian 2020 Scientist of the Year for his work in genome regulation and stem cell biology.

In 2015, we backed Ryan with a $50,000 Metcalf Prize to support his research into gene molecular on/off switches, how they change through a cell’s life, and how this knowledge can be used to make reprogrammed stem cells ‘forget’ their past lives.

Ryan is an epigenetics researcher at the University of Western Australia and Harry Perkins Institute.

Watch Ryan’s Scientist of the Year video.

November

Cord blood even more important in 2020

Frozen cord blood became a vital back-up source of blood-forming stem cells during COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Stem cells, of course, have been saving lives for decades, through bone marrow and cord blood transplants.

But during the coronavirus pandemic it was extremely difficult for adult bone marrow donors and couriers to travel for transplantation.

Cord blood is used in the treatment of leukaemia and other blood cancers, certain types of anaemia, and other conditions. Cord blood collection has recommenced in Melbourne, having paused due to the complications and risks of COVID-19.

We marked World Cord Blood Day on 17 November by celebrating the role public cord blood banks play—both in normal times and during global emergencies. Read our guide to cord blood donation.

Scientists: funding to help bring your ideas to clinical trials

Call for expressions of interest for up to $100,000 per project

Next year, the Foundation will provide up to four $100,000 research grants as part of its Matched Funding Program.

Expressions of interest will open in February, so now is the time to think about applying or encouraging researchers developing promising treatments to do so.

Under the Program, the Foundation will match money it receives from approved donors up to a maximum of $50,000, potentially providing a total of $100,000 for a successful research project.

To be eligible the project must:

• Use stem cell technology
• Take place predominantly in Australia
• Be at the late pre-clinical trial stage in readiness for clinical trials OR ready to conduct a clinical trial.

Ideally, the lead researcher would find and introduce the donor to the Foundation, but if this does not occur the Foundation will use its communication channels to try to source an appropriate one.

The projects selected in 2020 are already fully funded, taking a variety of different approaches to finding donors:

• Dr Tom Edwards from the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and the University of Melbourne is working on gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases. CERA raised the entire amount by holding a special fundraising campaign on World Sight Day.
• Professor John Bateman from Murdoch Children's Research Institute is researching genetic disorders of bone and cartilage. Family members and business associates donated to his research, delighted the Foundation would match their contribution.
• Professor Mark Shackleton from the Alfred Hospital and Monash University is developing new treatments for the skin pigment disorder vitiligo and for melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer. He received funds from two major contributors: a corporate donor and a vitiligo foundation.
• Associate Professor Mike Doran from Queensland University of Technology and the Translational Research Institute is working with the departments of orthopaedic surgery at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Mike is exploring the potential of stem cells to promote healing in long bones. His project was fully funded through support from Inner Wheel Australia.

Applications will open on Monday 8 February, and close on Monday 8 March. For more information and to download the Expression of Interest form, visit the Foundation’s website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Ars Technica: Two very different approaches to restoring vision.

The Scientist: Genetic reprogramming restores vision in mice: study. Paper.

Crick Institute: Researchers uncover the unique way stem cells protect their chromosome ends. Paper.

Science Daily: World's first: Drug guides stem cells to desired location, improving their ability to heal. Paper.

EurekAlert: Your own stem cells can grow missing bones.

Parkinson’s News Today: New design of 3D ‘organ-on-a-chip’ device grows neurons most affected in Parkinson’s. Paper.

CBS San Francisco Bay: Proposition 14 stem cell research funding initiative approved by California voters.

Phys.org: How stem cells choose their careers.

Genetic Engineering News: Human airway basal stem cells created from patients’ cells.

Inherited eye and cartilage diseases treatments; stem cell scientists kick goals

New drugs could treat debilitating inherited bone and cartilage diseases in children. But we need to know more about how they work. Professor John Bateman is using stem cells to close the knowledge gap, with your and our help.

Our report below explains how your support can help John’s work progress to the next phase.

We are also supporting a team at the Centre for Eye Research Australia that is pioneering gene therapies for inherited eye diseases, providing new hope for people with conditions that currently have no treatments. Our joint campaign met its target in just one day — on World Sight Day. Read how your money will be spent.

Our investment in promising scientists through the $50,000 Metcalf Prizes continues to produce results.

In 2015, we backed Professor Ryan Lister with a Metcalf to support his research into gene molecular on/off switches and how they change through a cell’s life.

He has now been recognised as joint Western Australian 2020 Scientist of the Year for his work in genome regulation and stem cell biology.

Dr Felicity Davis won the prize in 2019 for her work investigating how mammary glands go through rapid changes during life, cycling between dormancy, pregnancy and lactation.

She has just won a Young Investigator Grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, worth about $5.5 million, to continue her research program, dividing her time between Denmark and Australia.

We backed Mark Dawson in 2017 to develop his ideas for new leukaemia treatments.

He’s now leading international clinical trials of these life-extending drugs and has won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year in recognition of this work. Read more below.

Congratulations Ryan, Felicity and Mark.

We are also pleased to share the news that Foundation director Professor Megan Munsie has been appointed to an influential science sector policy committee. New cell therapies will present regulatory challenges, so Megan’s expertise and input will make a valuable contribution. Read on for details.

It was also good to see the importance of gene editing being acknowledged by the Nobel Prize Committee. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have won the 2020 Nobel for Chemistry for their development of the CRISPR gene editing tool. We’ve included links to this and other news stories in our regular round-up of stem cell news.

Finally, public support for research in Australia has seldom been more urgently needed, especially with the setbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Backing our researchers over the next few months will be more important than ever as they work to catch up.

To get an idea of the sort of toll the crisis has taken, we found out about life under lockdown for Florey Institute researcher Dr Jennifer Hollands, who studies the development and treatment of brain diseases. You can read the story on our website.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Your generosity raises $165,000 in a single day
• Bringing life-changing bone and cartilage therapies closer
• New drugs for blood cancers: Mark Dawson wins a Prime Minister’s Prize
• Foundation director Megan Munsie joins influential policy committee
• Stem cell news from around the world

Your generosity raises $165,000 in a day

Foundation’s matching campaign gets behind gene therapy fundraiser for World Sight Day

“The new gene therapy research gives me hope that in my lifetime there will be a treatment for retinitis pigmentosa,’’ says Kate Barrett (pictured right, with her sister).

She was diagnosed with the condition at the age of six and is now, aged 35, starting to experience some deterioration of her eyesight.

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia joined with the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) on World Sight Day to raise money to fight genetic retinal diseases like retinitis pigmentosa, which cause progressive, irreversible vision loss.

That meant people could triple the impact of donations made on the day, with the two organisations pledging to match public donations dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000.

The $150,000 target was met and surpassed, totalling $165,000 by the end of the day, giving new hope for people like Kate and her family.

The donations will support the work of Dr Tom Edwards who is developing gene therapies to treat the diseases.

Tom uses stem cells derived from patient skin biopsies to create affected eye cells for his research.

“Thanks to the exciting progress being made in this field, for the first time we’re able to tell patients there’s hope,” he says.

Tom’s project is one of four selected by the Foundation this year to receive funding to match donations from other sources, to a cap of $50,000 from the Foundation per project.

Tom’s project has met its target, but you can still donate to his research via the Foundation website, and we will pass it on.

“We’re particularly excited by the potential for Dr Tom Edwards’ gene therapy approach to be applied to many different inherited eye diseases, not just one,” says Foundation Chairman Dr Graeme Blackman AO.

Read more about Tom’s research.

We’re also fundraising and matching public donations for Professor Bernie Tuch’s research into a new treatment for type 1 diabetes and Associate Professor James Chong’s development of a stem cell therapy for heart attack repair.

Visit: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/donate to make a donation.

Life-changing bone and cartilage therapies move closer

Clinical trial for gene therapy is only the first step

In Australia, about 100 babies are born each year with bone and cartilage disorders caused by genetic mutations. These diseases can mean a lifetime of pain and difficulty with normal movement.

A team at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne is about to start a clinical trial of a promising drug to treat one of these conditions: metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, Schmid type (MCDS).

We are backing MCRI’s Professor John Bateman to use stem cells to understand at a molecular level exactly how the drug works.

MCDS is caused by gene mutations that lead to misfolded proteins clogging up cells, preventing the normal development and function of the skeleton.

Preclinical results for the MCDS drugs have been encouraging, but if we are to progress the drug to the next phase, and identify other drug candidates, we need to know exactly how it works.

That’s where John comes in.

“Like all genetic disorders, they’re individually rare, but as a group, they’re a significant clinical problem,” he says.

“They affect a person’s growth and the strength of their skeleton, can lead to osteoarthritis, and cause a great deal of life-long pain and suffering.”

The National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia aims to provide $100,000 to support John’s project, and will match dollar for dollar every public donation of $500 or more up to a total of $50,000.

You can contribute via our website – just specify ‘CARTILAGE’ when prompted: www.stemcellfoundation. net.au/cartilage_donate.

Read more about John’s research.

New drugs for blood cancers

Mark Dawson wins a Prime Minister’s Prize

Melbourne scientist Professor Mark Dawson built a new blood cancer drug from the ground up, winning our Metcalf Prize in 2017. He first explored how genes function in leukaemia, then identified molecules that interrupt the key genetic instructions that perpetuate cancer cells—a new drug therapy approach to treating these diseases.

Mark has progressed this work, and has now won the 2020 Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, announced on 28 October at the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.

A clinician and researcher at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Mark’s focus is on acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive blood cancer that remains incurable in the majority of adult patients.

He has pioneered research in the field of cancer and the influence of the epigenome—the molecular markers that control how the instructions in DNA are read and applied by cells. He’s used that knowledge to develop new drugs and lead major international clinical trials.

“Every global pharmaceutical company now has a pipeline for epigenetic drug discovery,” said Mark in his prize announcement video.

“The Foundation set up the Metcalf Prizes with the desire to support stem cell scientists at the crucial mid-career stage by providing both funding and recognition so they can take their career to the next stage,” says Foundation Chairman Dr Graeme Blackman AO.

“Mark exemplifies the spirit of the Prize with his commitment to rigorous science and his desire to alleviate human suffering. We thank our donors for their support, which make the Metcalf Prizes and our other initiatives possible.”

Read more on the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science website.

Foundation director joins influential policy committee

STA connects scientists with government and the community through initiatives including Science Meets Parliament and the women in science program, Superstars of STEM.

The Policy Committee guides STA’s work producing regular submissions to government, statements on policy decisions, and contributions to national discussions around the future of Australian science and technology through Parliamentary Forums.

Megan, an eminent stem cell researcher, is no stranger to policy development and Parliamentary engagement. She is deputy director of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Stem Cell Systems, a member of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research, and has worked with the Therapeutic Goods Administration on its review of regulations governing the use of cell therapies using a patient’s own tissues.

Read the announcement on the Science & Technology Australia website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

New York Times: Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to two scientists for work on genome editing

Particle: How Jurassic Park inspired WA’s joint Scientist of the Year to become a world leader in epigenomics

Washington Post: Swedes indict surgeon for stem-cell windpipe transplants

Cosmos magazine: Inside Biology’s Black Box

Drug Target Review: Stem cells used to identify potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Paper.

ABC News: Australia scrambles to save blood cancer patients as COVID-19 border closures delay foreign cell transplants

Sydney Morning Herald: In a world first, reprogrammed stem cells used to treat immune disease

ABC Radio National: New era of stem cell treatment beckons

RegMedNet: Placental stem cells could treat premature babies with long-term lung disease

New York Times: Cartilage is grown in the arthritic joints of mice

University of Sydney: From stem cells to islets - hope for treatment of type 1 diabetes. Paper.

Phys.Org: DNA damage triggers reprogramming into stem cells [plants]. Paper.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute: Stem cell project aims to better understand impact of COVID-19 on different organs

CBS News: Could gene therapy cure sickle cell anemia?

Science Alert: Science may have finally explained the reason why we still get goosebumps

Hijacking viruses to save sight; 2 x $50,000 prizes for rising stars in stem cell research; new talent on the board

Please join the Foundation in supporting the development of a new treatment to save the sight of thousands of Australians born with one of the many types of inherited retinal diseases.

We are getting behind Melbourne clinician-scientist Dr Tom Edwards’ efforts to bring to human trials a new stem cell enabled gene therapy for these conditions. But we need your help. Read on for more information.

Another important investment of the Foundation is the Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, rewarding exceptional mid-career scientists who are conducting excellent and sustained work in the discipline.

There are two $50,000 prizes, one each to be awarded to a successful male and female researcher. Nominations for the 2020 prizes are now open and will close on Friday, 31 July. If you know any strong candidates, encourage them to apply. Read on for details.

Also in this newsletter, we welcome a new director: Professor Megan Munsie. Megan is an expert in the ethical, legal and social implications of stem cell research. She is a great communicator and educator, a compassionate voice for patient welfare, and a defender of sound science. We’re delighted to have her join the team. Read more about Megan below.

Finally, our regular round-up of stem cell news includes stories on their use as pharmaceutical factories, 3D printing for cartilage repair, calls for caution with unproven treatments in multiple countries, and Australian research projects collectively receiving a $5.9 million research injection.

 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Hijacking viruses to save sight
• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• Megan Munsie joins Foundation board
• Stem cell news from around the world

Hijacking viruses to save sight

Your chance to support research on a gene therapy for inherited eye diseases

Dr Tom Edwards wants to use the infectious power of viruses to develop cures for blinding eye disease using gene therapy.

More than 16,000 Australians live with an inherited retinal disease (IRD). One type, retinitis pigmentosa, is the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population. Currently, there are no cures or treatments.

IRDs affect adults and children alike. For most young people, vision loss is due to a ‘spelling mistake’ in the genetic code that causes cells to malfunction.

With your support, the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia wants to help fund Tom’s research into new gene therapies for these conditions.

The Foundation aims to provide $100,000 for the project, by matching, dollar for dollar, every public donation of $500 or more, capped at $50,000. You can contribute via our website – just specify ‘EYE’ when prompted.

Tom is a surgeon at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) in Melbourne, dividing his time between the lab and seeing and treating patients.

He says that one of the hardest parts of being a clinician-researcher is giving patients, especially children, the life-changing news that they have an inherited disease that will inevitably take away their eyesight. He leads a laboratory group focused on developing treatments that may stop this vision loss from progressing.

“Thanks to the exciting progress being made in this field, for the first time we’re able to tell patients there’s hope,” he says.

Gene therapies work by correcting the disease-causing spelling mistakes in a person’s genetic code. Modified viruses are the delivery vehicles.

“When you get a common cold, that’s an example of a virus delivering its trouble-making genetic material into your body,” Tom explains.

“We are borrowing this ability to deliver a genetic payload of DNA to dysfunctional retinal cells.”

Tom and his colleagues reengineer a naturally harmless virus, removing most of its DNA and replacing it with a corrected copy of the patient’s original misspelt retinal gene.

“You’re essentially hijacking the virus to deliver useful genetic material,” he says. “In its simplest form, you’re delivering a functioning copy of the gene that is not working.”

To do his research, Tom needs eye cells with faulty genes. That’s where stem cells come in.

“The retina is the light-detecting layer inside the eye,” he explains. “It’s less than half a millimetre thick and extremely delicate. You can’t just go in and biopsy that tissue because you would damage the eye.”

Skin biopsies, in contrast, are far easier and less invasive, so his colleagues at CERA and the University of Melbourne take skin cells from patients, turn them into stem cells and then into new retinal cells.

“Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived eye cells are an immensely helpful model that can help us to understand how a gene mutation causes disease, and allow us to test different therapies,” said Tom.

Tom hopes the funding support from the Foundation and its donors will help bring new treatments for IRDs to clinical trial.

“All the surgical techniques required to deliver this treatment have already been developed,” he said.

“We’re just applying them to the task of delivering a precise volume of virus underneath the retina.

“It’s a huge honour to have my project selected and I’m immensely grateful for the Foundation’s support. We now feel a sense of duty to deliver results. Thankfully, I’m fortunate to have a great team at CERA and outstanding collaborators working hard to deliver for our patients.”

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $50,000 Metcalf Prizes now open

The 2020 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research will see two up-and-coming leaders in the field awarded $50,000 each to turbocharge their work. If you know a promising researcher, encourage them to apply.

Potential winners could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia.

Applications are open to scientists who completed research-based PhDs or MDs between August 2010 and August 2015 – although allowances will be made for career breaks, such as maternity leave periods.

Winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, leadership ability and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Past Metcalf Prizes have honoured:

• Brisbane mammary biologist Felicity Davis,
• Brisbane bioengineer James Hudson,
• Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee,
• Melbourne heart development researcher Enzo Porrello,
• Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson,
• Brisbane computational biologist Jessica Mar,
• Sydney heart clinician and researcher James Chong,
• Melbourne immunologist Tracy Heng,
• Melbourne bioinformatician Christine Wells,
• Perth geneticist Ryan Lister,
• Tasmanian neural stem cell researcher Kaylene Young, and
• Monash University reprogramming legend Jose Polo.

You can read more about these alumni and their research on our website.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research honour the exceptional contribution made by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

The prizes support the Foundation’s mission to promote the study and use of stem cells in the prevention or control of disease in human beings, and to enhance public education around the subject.

Applications close Friday, 31 July. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to nominate again this year, if still eligible.

To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to our website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public: [email protected].

Stem cells in society expert Megan Munsie joins Foundation board

We’re delighted to welcome Professor Megan Munsie as a new director of the Foundation. She also joins the Metcalf Prizes jury.

Megan is Deputy Director of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Stem Cell Systems in the School of Biomedical Sciences, and a strong voice in the Australian media for patient welfare and sound science.

She is an internationally recognised biologist who has made a significant contribution to policy development and community engagement in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.

Megan serves on advisory committees to national and international scientific organisations, and is the chair of the ethics committee for the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and of the policy, ethics and translation committee of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research.

She was awarded the ISSCR’s 2018 Public Service Award in recognition of her contribution to outreach and policy advocacy in stem cell science.

Professor Munsie was appointed to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia board on 25 May 2020 and also serves as a member of the science and ethics committee.

Here is a selection of media interviews she has done to help sort science from snake oil:

• BBC Radio 4: The stem cell hard sell
• ABC 7.30 (transcript): The big cell: Unproven stem cell treatments facing tighter regulation
• ABC Radio National Ockham’s Razor: The hope (and hype) of stem cells
• ABC Radio National Science Friction: Elixir for everything? Private stem cell clinics, hope, hype, and horror

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

International Society for Stem Cell Research: ISSCR urges FDA and EMA to enforce regulation of clinics offering unproven and unapproved stem cell-based interventions

Yahoo! News: 5-year-old Thai boy with COVID-19 saves sister’s life with his stem cells

The Irish Times: Stem cell therapy: why we need to be suspicious about cure-all claims

Office of Minister for Health Greg Hunt: Treatment for incurable diseases receives $5.9 million research injection

Scientific American: Inside the stem-cell pharmaceutical factory

EurekAlert: Microneedling therapeutic stem cells into damaged tissues. Paper

Study Finds: Scientists grow mini human livers from stem cells, successfully transplant them in rats. Paper

University of Queensland: Stopping the clones may help win skin cancer battle. Paper

Science Alert: There's been a dangerous rise in people selling stem cell 'treatments' for coronavirus. Paper

Phys.org: A nanostructure that stimulates growth of stem cells for Parkinson's disease treatment

Nine News (Melbourne): BioPen: 3D printing with stem cells for cartilage repair

Nature: Revealed: two men in China were first to receive pioneering stem-cell treatment for heart-disease

Technology News: Can stem cells heal a brain injury? A new biomarker may predict the answer.

Los Angeles Times: Column: Don’t be taken in by stem cell firms offering unsubstantiated therapies for COVID-19

Stem cells and mending bones; COVID-19; and more

The Foundation is investing $50,000 in research to develop a new treatment for hard-to-fix fractures, matching a $50,000 donation from the public.

We’re also matching public donations to bring a new diabetes treatment and a heart attack treatment to clinical trials, and have selected a further three stem cell therapy research projects to partner with. Read on to see how you can join us to make your donated dollars go further.

We’re concerned to see yet another rise in the marketing of unproven stem cell treatments, now being hyped to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. We join the international stem cell research community in sounding the warning to beware of misleading information. More below.

Stem cell science continues, with two major international research conferences happening online in the coming weeks. Read on for details.

And our support for evidence-based regenerative medicine continues, despite COVID-19 disrupting society.

Next month we will invite stem cell researchers to nominate for this year’s $50,000 Metcalf Prizes.

The two 2018 Metcalf Prize winners are investigating cancer survival and mass-producing mini-hearts. In this newsletter, we catch up with leukaemia researcher Heather Lee and heart researcher Enzo Porrello, to see what they’re achieving. More below.

Finally, enjoy our regular round-up of links to stories we’ve shared via social media, including news of reputable trials involving stem cells for COVID-19.

 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Eye, skin and bone treatment research selected for fundraising boost
• Warning about unproven stem cell treatments for COVID-19
• From ethical organoids to accelerating cell and gene therapies: annual international scientific meetings go online
• Understanding the cancer cells that get away: Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee
• Making masses of mini-hearts: Melbourne cardiac development researcher Enzo Porrello
• Stem cell news from around the world

Eye, skin, and bone treatment research selected for fundraising boost

Treatment targeting better broken bone-mending shows promise

A new regenerative medicine treatment to help mend broken bones is the first of four projects chosen to receive donations through the Foundation’s 2020 Matched Funding Program.

Associate Professor Mike Doran from Queensland University of Technology is exploring the potential of special cells taken from placentas to repair non-union bone fractures.

While we’ve reached the cap for matching funding to this project, we’re happy to pass on new donations to Mike and his colleagues. You can contribute via our website – just specify ‘BONE’ when prompted. We are also still seeking donations to match for Bernie Tuch’s diabetes project and James Chong’s heart project.

“Everyone knows someone who has broken a bone,” explains Mike. “In most cases, bone tissue will repair on its own very efficiently.

“However, in some patients, fractures do not heal, and non-unions form.  This outcome is more common in populations of older people, smokers, or those in the early stages of diabetes.  Non-unions also form in healthy individuals, and it is not always clear why the repair process stalled.”

Mike describes the normal healing of damaged bone and other tissues as an elegant cascade of events, with each stage triggering the next.

“However, some underlying pathologies or events can interrupt this cascade, and the bone ends don’t properly knit together,” he explains.

Mike thinks a treatment where placenta-derived stem cells – more conservatively called placenta-derived stromal cells – could be implanted into the fracture site to promote tissue repair.  

Mesenchymal stem cells are thought to repair tissue either by directly contributing to the cells that make up the repair tissue, or by secreting factors that upregulate natural tissue repair processes.

“The important thing about placenta-derived stromal cells is that they secrete a lot of growth factors that encourage tissue regeneration,” says Mike. “It is unlikely that placenta stromal cells will make a long-term contribution to new bone cells.  Instead, the very large number of placental stromal cells used in the therapy will secrete factors that will ‘kick start’ stalled healing cascades and upregulate natural bone repair processes.”

Mike says it takes about 100 million cells to make a cubic centimetre of tissue. In this instance, these cells act like small biofactories at the site of the injury, producing the factors needed for healing exactly where they’re needed.

“And we’re getting them from placental tissue, which is normally discarded. The placenta is a wonderful resource! We can get 1000 doses of this treatment from a single donated placenta.”

Once restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic ease, Mike will be ready to start safety trials of the treatment. He will be joined by his colleagues at the Queensland University of Technology at the Translational Research Institute, working in collaboration with the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Royal Brisbane and Woman’s Hospital and at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

We’re thrilled to share the news that this project has already reached the $100,000 target, thanks to a $50,000 donation from Inner Wheel Australia, the local arm of the international women’s community group formed by a group of wives of Rotary International club members in 1924.

The group has a 20-year history of sponsoring cord blood research, choosing a medical research field aligned with their membership, which is largely made up of mothers and wives. Sponsoring clinical trials involving placental cells was therefore a natural fit.

Mike’s first research grant, many years ago, was from Inner Wheel Australia for a cord blood project he was working on.

“I’m very grateful for the support from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and Inner Wheel Australia,” he says. “Especially at this time. Once we can get through this COVID-19 period, it will be a huge time for cell therapies. They are the next big thing in medicine.”

The other selected projects

We will share more information about the three other projects, outlined briefly below, in our next newsletter.

• Dr Tom Edwards from the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and the University of Melbourne is working on gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases.
• Professor John Bateman from Murdoch Children's Research Institute is researching genetic disorders of bone and cartilage.
• Professor Mark Shackleton is from the Cancer Development and Treatment Group Laboratory at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University seeks to develop new treatments for the skin pigment disorder vitiligo, and for melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer.

Warning about unproven stem cell treatments for COVID-19

An important message from the Centre for Stem Cell Systems, University of Melbourne, shared with permission:

We join the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) in raising concern about the marketing of unproven stem cell therapies to treat people infected with Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

While stem cell research shows promise for numerous diseases and conditions, there currently are no approved stem cell-based approaches for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection.

Despite the unmet need at this challenging time, we need to continue to insist that new therapies are appropriately tested and authorised prior to their use.

Clinics claiming that expensive stem cell products can protect people or cause miraculous improvements for those suffering from COVID-19 should be viewed with caution.

Legitimate clinical trials are underway to evaluate a range of interventions, from drugs to vaccines and cellular therapies. It remains too early to know if these will work or are safe. Experimental interventions should only be explored under expert medical care and as part of recognised clinical investigation.

Read full statement online.

From ethical organoids to accelerating cell and gene therapies: annual international scientific meetings go online

Scientists in Australia and around the world will be able to participate in two major conferences without the costs of international travel.

The International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy 2020 Annual Meeting (ISCT 2020) and the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2020 Annual Meeting (ISSCR 2020) have both adapted their programs to take place online. This virtual offering will allow the communities to share knowledge, collaborate and network within the constraints imposed by coronavirus pandemic.

ISCT 2020: ‘Accelerating Cell and Gene Therapy Adoption: From Proof of Concept to Standard of Care’ – May 28 – 29

ISCT 2020 will be accessible remotely and on-demand, including live and recorded sessions that are certified for accreditation programs, in addition to networking events, poster halls, and one-on-one partnering opportunities.

The program features:

• ‘The Force Awakens’ – an opening plenary showcase of COVID-19 therapies in development, with live Q&A
• A look at the history, present and future of gene engineering
• Emerging issues in unproven therapies
• Addressing the practical challenges of industrialising CAR T-cell therapies.

More information and to register: www.isct2020.com.

ISSCR 2020: ‘The Future Starts Here’ – 23 – 27 June

The ISSCR Annual Meeting brings together scientists, clinicians, business leaders, ethicists, and educators from more than 65 countries.

This year’s program features:

• A keynote address from Sekar Kathiresan, CEO of Verve Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on treatments for heart disease
• Four core themes of tissue stem cells and regeneration, cellular identity, modelling development and disease, and clinical applications
• Sessions on the progress of cell therapies and tissue engineering to the clinic
• Ethical considerations for brain organoid research
• A science advocacy and communication seminar
• A Women in Science panel discussion.

More information and to register: www.isscr.org/meetings-events/annual-meetings/isscr-2020-virtual.

Understanding the cancer cells that get away: Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee

Dr Heather Lee of the University of Newcastle won a Metcalf Prize for her work analysing individual cancer cells to understand how some survive therapy. Her research ultimately aims to prevent relapse and lift survival rates for leukaemia. We caught up with her recently and asked what’s she’s been up to since her win.

What have you been up to since you won a Metcalf Prize?

“My scientific highlights have been developing a new experimental technique with PhD student, Kooper Hunt, and developing closer collaborations with haematologist Dr Anoop Enjeti. I’ve also contributed to research manuscripts from UNSW and the University of Melbourne.

“A major achievement has been the award of an NHMRC Ideas Grant with my colleague, Dr Carls Riveros. We propose to study how acute myeloid leukaemia cells can change over time, to see if epigenetics can drive evolution of this disease.

“On the home front, I have welcomed a second daughter into our family. Felicity Rose was born in May last year and is a very happy and healthy baby.”

Read full story online.

Making masses of mini-hearts: Melbourne cardiac development researcher Enzo Porrello

2018 Metcalf Prize for his work exploring newborn heart development to develop heart attack drugs and engineer ‘artificial hearts’ from patient stem cells.

He was delighted to see his regular collaborator and friend Associate Professor James Hudson win a Metcalf in 2019. We sat down with him for a chat.

What have you been up to since you won a Metcalf Prize?

“It has been an incredibly busy year since I won the Metcalf Prize in 2018. A major highlight for my team was our publication in Cell Stem Cell, which described the first ever large-scale drug screen in human stem cell-derived cardiac organoids. This work led to the identification of several drugs that can promote regeneration of human heart muscle cells, which may have therapeutic potential for patients with heart failure.

“This publication was the culmination of several years of work and resulted from a collaboration with Astra Zeneca that started in 2014, so it was a real highlight to finally publish this work in the world’s top-ranked stem cell journal.”

Read full story online.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Science Daily: Lipid metabolism controls brain development. Paper

7 News: Coronavirus Australia: Stem cell treatment for virus patients to be trialled in Sydney

ABC Radio National: COVID-19 update with Norman Swan (includes reporting on stem cell trial for COVID-19)

The New Daily: Australia joins international bid to use stem cells against COVID-19

EurekAlert: Study shows stem cells constitute alternative approach for treating corneal scarring. Paper

Washington University: Diabetes reversed in mice with genetically edited stem cells derived from patients. Paper

US News: Transplanted skin stem cells help blind mice see light. Paper

European Pharmaceutical Review: Stem cells in the clinic: how are they regulated?

Cosmos magazine: Cancer gene could help repair hearts

Science Daily: Parkinson's disease may start before birth

The Niche: Rudy Giuliani now plugging unproven stem cells for COVID19: is Trump next?

Tech Explorist: Scientists reprogrammed cells from a 114-year-old woman

EurekAlert: Blood stem cells boost immunity by keeping a record of previous infections

ABC Triple J Hack: Graham is waiting on lifesaving stem cell treatment. Coronavirus is stopping delivery

SciTechDaily: Stanford scientists discovered the invisible pattern that growing neurons follow to form a brain

Future Medicine: Portrayal of umbilical cord blood research in the North American popular press: promise or hype?

$6 million for stem cell science from MRFF; heart regeneration; and what’s next for Stem Cells Australia?

Recently published research from cardiologist and stem cell researcher James Chong has shown a new protein treatment can stimulated heart regeneration after heart attack, resulting in less severe scarring.

The Foundation supported James’ developing research career through a Metcalf Prize in 2016. We’re now fund-raising to bring another of James’ stem cell treatments to clinical trials. More below.

There are big changes happening in stem cell science across Australia, with the ending of the Stem Cells Australia Special Research Initiative.

As well as chairing the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s board, I was an independent board member of Stem Cells Australia and I’m proud of what that organisation has achieved, from fundamental epigenetic science to clinical trials for vision-restoring treatments.

I’d like to acknowledge the work of Stem Cells Australia’s program leaders Martin Pera and, more recently, Melissa Little; members of the consortium; and especially the tireless public education work led by Megan Munsie.

The Foundation supported or partnered several of their events and patient information programs. In this bulletin, we look back at the work of Stem Cells Australia – and forward to what’s coming next, including new grants from the Medical Research Future Fund. Read on for more.

Finally, enjoy our regular round-up of links to stories we’ve shared via social media.

 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Stem Cells Australia – what’s next?
• $6 million-dollar grant round open for stem cell therapy research
• Research news: forming better scars in broken hearts
• Stem cell news from around the world

Stem Cells Australia – what’s next?

Stem Cells Australia (SCA), a $24 million-dollar Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative, has formally come to an end.

Over its eight years of operation, it has brought stem cell treatments a step closer to the clinic and deepened our understanding of fundamental stem cell science.

Program leader Professor Melissa Little says the national collaborative effort has been crucial to the many achievements of Australian stem cell science.

“Our scientists are now growing heart tissue for replacement and testing of new drugs for heart repair, making mini-kidneys in the laboratory to study what happens in kidney disease, using big data to understand cellular identity, and repairing damaged corneas and restoring eye sight using grafts made from the patient’s own stem cells,” she explains.

“Furthering basic science and bringing it to the clinic needs interdisciplinary work, bringing clinicians, cell scientists, bioengineers, geneticists, data scientists, haematologists and a many other scientists together. This network has been a core strength of Stem Cells Australia, and the linkages created will continue to bear fruit.”

During its tenure, it  brought together more than 300 researchers from 14 universities and medical research institutes, graduated more than 70 PhD and Masters students, supported more than 210 early career researchers, held 97 public outreach events, and facilitated research that resulted in 15 patents lodged. SCA-supported studies comprise more than 950 journal publications.

SCA will continue as an educational website, administered by the University of Melbourne, providing teaching resources for schools, and reliable information for people making choices about their own health care.

“At its heart, this website is for patients,” says Professor Megan Munsie, who led SCA’s Engagement, Ethics and Policy Program.

 “We see the ongoing need for reliable information in this fast-moving field. That’s what we hope our website will do.”

“We’re developing it with the input of leading patient advocacy groups, such as the Chronic Illness Alliance, and well as leading academics who are experts in specific diseases, health education and ethical issues.”

This new website will launch later this year.

On the scientific research side, Health Minister Greg Hunt last year announced the establishment of the $150 million 10-year Australian Stem Cell Therapies Mission, funded through the Medical Research Future Fund and co-chaired by Melissa Little and inventor of the vaccine nanopatch, Professor Mark Kendall. Read about the initiative’s first grant round below.

 Read more about the achievements of Stem Cells Australia.

$6 million-dollar grant round open for stem cell therapy research

Open for applications; closing 4 March 2020

The first grant round of the Medical Research Future Fund Stem Cell Therapies Mission is open for applications. A total of $6 million will be awarded through the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The funding will accelerate the investigation of the use of stem cells from fat, cord blood, bone marrow and foetal tissue as possible treatments for spinal cord injuries, brain degeneration, kidney diseases, and other illnesses.

The first round involves applications from teams working on ‘proof of concept’ research targeted towards a health care outcome. Funding will target two priority areas aimed at driving innovation and accelerating implementation into clinical practice: stem cell therapies, and new treatments using human tissues made from stem cells.

More information about the grant round on the GrantConnect website.

Read more about the Stem Cells Therapies Mission.

Research news: forming better scars in broken hearts

A simple protein to fight Australia’s biggest killer

Although heart disease is Australia’s single leading cause of death – killing more than 18,500 people each year – many heart attacks aren’t fatal. Some can go undetected, but still do permanent damage.

Cardiologist and 2016 Metcalf Prize-winner Associate Professor James Chong is a step closer to a new treatment for these ‘silent’ heart attacks – a protein therapy that results in stronger scar tissue with a better blood supply. This reduces the loss of function and improves the odds of long-term survival.

James and his colleagues have found that giving the protein therapy to pigs which have had a heart attack improved their chances of survival by 40 per cent, compared with control animals. Pigs are a useful pre-clinical trial animal because they have a similar sized heart and heart rate to humans.

The discovery was published last month in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Further animal studies are needed to check the safety of the treatment and the optimum dose before trials with human patients begin.

Read ABC News’ story about James’ discovery.

“Ultimately, what I’m working towards is to be able to provide new treatments to extend the quality and length of life of my patients,” James says. To that end, he is also pursuing other ways to treat damaged hearts,

With the Foundation’s support, he is working on a treatment for heart failure patients that works by injecting stem cell-derived heart muscle cells or ‘cardiomyocytes’ directly into the injured region.

This is one of the Foundation’s matched funding projects. We aim to provide $1 million for the project, by matching, dollar for dollar, every public donation of $500 or more. Donations can be made online.

James is a researcher at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research at the University of Sydney, and a cardiologist at Westmead Hospital.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

ABC Landline: IVF pioneer Alan Trounson's work started with sheep fertility, helped forge new research into stem cells.

EurekAlert: Kidney stem cells can be isolated from urine. Paper.

The Conversation (USA): Brain organoids help neuroscientists understand brain development, but aren't perfect matches for real brains

The Conversation (UK): Autism: stem cell clinics are offering treatments despite lack of evidence it works.

BBC Radio 4: Special investigation: the stem cell hard cell.

Microscopy Australia: Breakthrough protein treatment repairs damaged hearts.

News-Medical.net: Snake stem cells create real venom to use as medicine. Paper.

Nature: Research on embryo-like structures struggles to win US government funding.

CNN: Meet the xenobot: world's first living, self-healing robots created from frog stem cells. Paper.

The Hill: Do you know the 3 most important health revolutions of the past decade?

AAAS: Young stem cell donors can transfer mutations to patients.

The Niche: Perspectives on CRISPR baby guy He Jiankui (贺建奎) going to jail.

National Institutes of Health (USA): NIH launches first U.S. clinical trial of patient-derived stem cell therapy to replace dying cells in retina.

Hackathon unearths new stem cell talent and Metcalf Prize winners awarded

The next generation of data scientists is learning about stem cells, and young biomedical researchers are learning how to mine big data, thanks to the Stem Cell Hackathon run by 2017 Metcalf Prize winner Jessica Mar. Read on for details.

Our newest Metcalf Prize winners Dr Felicity Davis and Associate Professor James Hudson were presented with their awards by Professor Hugh Taylor AC at a special ceremony in Melbourne. More below.

Enjoy our regular round-up of links to stories we’ve shared via social media.

We will be sharing more of the year’s top stories of stem cell science on Twitter over the holiday period, using the hashtag #StemCellsIn2019.

And we look forward to sharing more news and stories of science, scientists and discoveries in 2020.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Biology meets big data at the Stem Cell Hackathon
• Young scientists' work on breasts and miniature hearts awarded
• Stem cell news from around the world

Biology meets big data at the Stem Cell Hackathon

Metcalf Prize winner puts students and young researchers through their paces at bioinformatics bootcamp

About 70 students, dozens of datasets, seven coaches, four judges and one award-winning scientist came together this year for a stem cell hackathon, with teams battling to unearth the best problem-solving idea buried in big data.

The event was held over three days in August at the University of Queensland.

The initiative was the brainchild of Associate Professor Jessica Mar, a computational biologist at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). It’s something she’s been planning since winning a Metcalf Prize two years ago.

Jessica has seen the rapid increase in both the capability of supercomputing and the sheer volume of genetic and biological data. She wants to equip the next generation of biologists with data and coding skills, and to imbue data scientists with an understanding of biomedical science.

Participants in the hackathon heard from entrepreneurs, data scientists and stem cell experts, including Jessica’s fellow Metcalf Prize winner Professor Christine Wells, director of the Stemformatics initiative, an online encyclopaedia of stem cell genetic information.

They learnt practical skills from coaches and worked in teams to choose a stem cell related problem and a way to address it using data science. The teams created videos outlining their approach. A panel of judges chose the winners, and more than 200 viewers selected a people’s choice favourite.

“A hackathon is perfect for bringing people together across disciplines and problems,” says Jessica.

“It was risky to allow teams to come up with their own problems to solve or questions to answer, but this allowed them to devise creative ideas and topics they were really invested in.”

The winning entries included:

• a citizen science project that turns cell classification into a computer game, and tests the skills of gamers against known classifications to find the ones who are lay person ‘experts’;
• an online information portal aiming to increase umbilical cord blood donation;
• two teams taking two different approaches to addressing the problem of research reproducibility.

The people’s choice award went to a project addressing the shortage of stem cell donors, creating an online tool that helps potential donors get a sense of the difference their donation could make, keeps their contact information up to date and provides details of nearby clinics.

Jessica was delighted with the response, particularly the creativity of the entries and the relationship-building she saw among the participants.

“We had considerable representation from undergraduate students and it was fantastic to see them making substantial contributions during the hackathon, in amongst the postdocs, staff and PhD students.

“In particular, there was one first year undergraduate biology student who came on his own and didn’t know anybody,” she adds. “He was so blown away by the fact that you could do computational science and biology. Seeing how interdisciplinary research works in action is what we wanted our participants, especially the undergraduates, to take away from this hackathon”

See the winning entries at the AIBN website

Visit the Stem Cell Hackathon website

Browse the #stemcellhack tweets

Young scientists' work on breasts and miniature hearts awarded

“Two scientists, both from Queensland, both researching stem cells, and both working with mouse models. But their work is very different.”

That’s the way Laureate Professor Hugh Taylor AC, a specialist in Indigenous eye health, introduced Dr Felicity Davis and Associate Professor James Hudson, the winners of the 2019 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research, at the award ceremony in Melbourne late last month.

(Pictured left to right) Hugh Taylor, James Hudson, Felicity Davis and Graeme Blackman.

Felicity is looking at the secret life of women’s breasts at Mater Research Institute at the University of Queensland, and James is making millions of miniature beating hearts to help find cures for cardiac diseases at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.

Breast cells know how to switch between periods of status quo and rapid change. Heart cells, by contrast, change very little, Hugh explained.

In accepting her prize, Felicity described the excitement of working with the mammary gland, one of the body’s most regenerative organs.

James described the different uses of mouse models and mini-hearts made from human stem cells. The organoids have been invaluable in drug screening, eliminating 97 per cent of false positives obtained when using mouse models alone.

Their work highlights the importance of basic biomedical research that can be built on by translational researchers.

While in Melbourne, the pair visited the ABC studios, where Patricia Karvelas interviewed them about their work, what the $50,000 Metcalf prize money will mean for their research, and the sad state of funding for science in Australia.

Listen to the radio interview online at the ABC website.

See photographs from the event at our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Washington Post: Institute offers unproven treatments to patients — and coaches them on raising cash.

Financial Times: Organoid innovation offers potential for cancer research.

New Scientist: Two pigs engineered to have monkey cells born in China.

Phys.org: 'Conductor' gene found in plant root stem cell 'orchestra'. Paper.

Technology Networks: How stem cells decide their identity.

The Conversation: China’s failed gene-edited baby experiment proves we’re not ready for human embryo modification.

ABC Radio National: Young scientists' work on breasts and miniature hearts awarded.

Science Daily: Leukaemia cells can transform into non-cancerous cells through epigenetic changes. Paper.

The Scientist: Spaceflight alters genes of human stem cell–derived heart cells. Paper.

San Diego Union-Tribune: Diabetics make insulin for first time with stem cell-derived therapy.

The Conversation: Three-parent IVF could prevent illness in many children (but it’s really more like 2.002-parent IVF).

Permanent hearts and changing breasts spur stem cell research – Metcalf Prize winners announced

I’m delighted to announce the two brilliant young scientists who are the winners of this year’s Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Dr Felicity Davis of the University of Queensland’s Mater Research Institute is investigating the secret life of mammaries: how they develop, how they change during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and how things can go wrong.

Associate Professor James Hudson of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute studies the human heart, and how its cells have to last a lifetime without renewal. To better understand this, he has made more than 20,000 beating ‘mini-hearts’, called organoids.

Felicity and James will be formally presented with their prizes by Professor Hugh Taylor AC at a special ceremony in Melbourne later this month.

We hope that supporting Felicity’s work will help make a difference in this important area of women’s and children’s health, and that James’ work will help us tackle Australia’s biggest killer.

Both scientists are great examples of the depth and breadth of stem cell research undertaken in Australia – all of it bringing us closer to important clinical outcomes.

Read on to find out more about their research and achievements.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO

Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Stem cells and calcium affect breast function
• Scientist mass produces mini-hearts
• Stem cell news from around the world

Stem cells and calcium affect breast function

Brisbane scientist targets knowledge gap in women’s health

Mammary biologist Dr Felicity Davis is investigating how breasts change through life: how they develop during puberty, alter during pregnancy and change back after breastfeeding is complete.

A scientist at the University of Queensland’s Mater Research Institute, she is examining the role stem cells play in this remarkable tissue plasticity.

In recognition of her leadership in the field, she has received one of two annual $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

Felicity leads research that details how mammary glands form and how they function during lactation. Discovering how this happens at a molecular, cellular and tissue level will provide new insights when problems in the breast arise – ranging from breastfeeding difficulties to breast cancer.

“We don’t completely understand what makes these cells in developing mammary glands grow and divide, branch out and form these intricate complex structures in a very controlled manner, where every cell is exactly where it needs to be when it needs to be there,” she says.

“We should be doing everything we can in order to understand how that happens physiologically, how the breast changes to allow that to happen and how it remodels after the process is complete.”

Read more about Felicity and her research.

Scientist mass produces mini-hearts

Brisbane scientist awarded for research tackling Australia’s biggest killer

Bioengineer Associate Professor James Hudson has developed a new way to mass-produce human heart tissue from stem cells.

The achievement will help researchers study diseases, screen new drugs, and investigate heart development and repair.

In recognition of his achievements, he has also $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

Professor Hudson, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, induces stem cells to form ‘organoids’ – miniature beating hearts. To date, he has created 20,000 of them.

As well as using them to study diseases and test new pharmaceuticals, he also deploys the organoids to study how heart muscle cells obtain and use energy, and how this influences their ability to regenerate. His goal is to make new tissue to repair damaged hearts

Cardiovascular disease kills an average of 23 Australians every day, and scientists face an urgent need for human heart tissue to use in research.

“In five years, I hope we will be closer to or even starting clinical trials for stem cell-derived patches for cardiovascular repair and for drug candidates we helped identify, with many more treatments in the pipeline behind them,” he says.

Read more about James and his research.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:

Texas Monthly: How unproven stem cell therapies are costing desperate patients

Pursuit (University of Melbourne): Convergence Science Network event: The promise of stem cell therapies

Monash Life: The promise of stem cell therapy for repairing the brain

The Scientist: Long-lived neural stem cells identified in living mice

Sydney Morning Herald: Surgeon banned over 'quack' procedures and 'reckless disregard' for safety

Science: NIH and Gates Foundation lay out ambitious plan to bring gene-based treatments for HIV and sickle cell disease to Africa

Science Daily: Embryo's early development revealed in a dish

Stem cells for broken hearts; funding opportunity for researchers; Brisbane event; and more

Sydney cardiologist and researcher James Chong has developed a new stem cell treatment for heart attacks. We want to work with him to take it from the lab to patients. We invite you to join us.
 
We’re matching donations from the public to this project dollar-for-dollar. Read on for more information.
 
This is our second major donation-matching project, with our Type 1 diabetes fundraising initiative underway and seeking further support.

We’re also looking to help fund other stem cell research projects nearing clinical trials for future donation-matching initiatives. See below.
 
Find out if stem cell science is delivering on its early promise at a public forum in Brisbane next month. Read on for details.
 
This newsletter marks the public welcome of a new Director for the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia: Professor James Angus AO, a pharmacologist, academic and medical education leader. We also say a fond farewell to our Executive Officer, Julia Mason. More below.
 
Company Secretary and CFO, Graeme Mehegan has taken on an expanded role as our new General Manager. He will oversee the day-to-day management of the Foundation, including presenting our work to fundraisers and donors, as he recently did in Beauty Point in New South Wales. Read on for more.
 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• James Chong: stem cells to heal broken hearts in humans
• New funding opportunity for stem cell scientists approaching the clinic
• Brisbane event: ask your questions at a free public forum
• Seniors craft a novel way to support science
• Changes at the Foundation
• Stem cell news from around the world

James Chong: stem cells to heal broken hearts in humans

Help us bring this new treatment to clinical trials

Cardiologist and researcher Associate Professor James Chong has already used human stem cells to repair the damaged hearts of other large primates — a world first.  

The achievement and his subsequent work won him a 2016 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research.

Now he’s ready to start a five-year project that aims to bring the therapy to a clinical trial with patients who have had heart attacks.

Heart disease is Australia’s single leading cause of death killing more than 18,500 people a year, or one every 28 minutes.

James, a researcher at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research/University of Sydney and Cardiologist at Westmead Hospital, wants to change those numbers.

“The patients I see affect my thinking every day,” he says. “What I’m working towards is to be able to provide new treatments to extend the quality and length of life of my patients.” 

With your support, the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia wants to help fund James’ research. 

The Foundation is aiming to raise provide $1 million for the project, by matching, dollar for dollar, every public donation of $500 or more.  Donations must be at least $500 and the total of donations made cannot exceed $500,000.

Read more about James’ research.

Brisbane event: Stem cell research – now and in the future
When: 5:30 pm – 7:00pm, Tuesday 12 November
Where: State Library of Queensland, Stanley Place, South Brisbane

Can stem cells treat cancer or autoimmune conditions? What can they tell us about Alzheimer’s disease? How will big data and genetic engineering change medicine? What will regenerative medicine deliver in the next few years? And what are the ethics we need to consider?

The Foundation is sponsoring an Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research public event to give the community a way to tap into the knowledge and expertise of Queensland scientists.

This is a unique opportunity to have your questions answered by the experts and to learn more about what the future may hold as stem cell science discoveries move towards clinical translation.

Speakers:

• Dr Siok Tey from the QIMR Berghofer and Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital is a specialist clinician in blood cancer and bone marrow transplantation. She works with blood stem cells and immune cells to treat cancer and autoimmune conditions.
• Professor Ernst Wolvetang from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, uses stem cells to model brain and ageing diseases in a dish. These models are used to determine the causes of disease, develop diagnostic tools and to test potential treatments.
• Associate Professor Jessica Mar, also from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, is a computational biologist who won a 2017 Metcalf Prize for her work using big data to understand, at the level of the cell, what is happening during ageing and disease.
• Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani from the University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute is a practicing clinician and researcher, interested in skin biology, regenerative medicine and skin cancer.
• Dr Nathan Palpant from the university’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience seeks to understand heart development by studying how stem cells differentiate into heart cells.
• Moderator: Associate Professor Megan Munsie from the University of Melbourne. Megan has combined academia and industry to develop an understanding of issues associated with stem cell research and its clinical translation, and has contributed to developing policies at a domestic and international level.
  

Doors open at 4:30pm and people are welcome to arrive early to explore a stem cell photography exhibition and meet the researchers.

For more information and to register, visit the forum’s Eventbrite page.

Knitted beanies, blankets and scarves are helping to raise funds for stem cell science and public education.
 
For the past five years the Craft Group at the Beauty Point Retirement Resort in New South Wales knit and crochet scarves hats, gloves and other goodies and hold an annual sale, with proceeds going to the Foundation.  
 
Our General Manager Graeme Mehegan recently visited the resort to give a presentation to the residents about stem cell research and the Foundation’s work, and to thank them for their support.

Changes at the Foundation

Recent months have seen some changes in the leadership of the National Stem Cell Foundation. We’re thrilled to welcome award-winning pharmacologist and researcher James Angus to the board.
 
Professor Emeritus James A. Angus AO is a biomedical pharmacologist with a strong scientific and leadership background. He was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne from 2003 to 2013.
 
He is currently President of the Stroke Foundation, Chair of the Campus Council at the Melbourne Children’s Campus, Chair of the Australian Advisory Board on the Medicinal Use of Cannabis, a Director of The Jack Brockhoff Foundation, and Chair of the Advisory Board for Melbourne University Sport.
 
James has received many awards and honours, including the Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy of Science (1984), the Centenary Medal for contribution to Pharmacology and the Community (2003), and an appointment as Officer of the Order of Australia (2010) for distinguished service to biomedical research and education. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and has been a member of its Council.
 
Professor Angus was appointed to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia board on August 12, 2019 and also serves as a member of the Science and Ethics Committee.
 
Earlier this year, Julia Mason finished her role as the Foundation’s Executive Officer. We warmly thank her for her service and wish her well in her future endeavours.
 
The Foundation took the opportunity to transition to a different management model. Graeme Mehegan has taken over the day-to-day running in the newly created role of General Manager. He has served the Foundation as Company Secretary and CFO since its inception in 2012.
 
Graeme brings a wealth of experience and expertise in financial and administrative management to the role. He was Chief Financial Officer for the Australian Stem Cell Centre from 2009 to 2011, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary for Pioneer Electronics Australia from 2001 to 2008 and prior to that held senior financial roles with Random House Australia and Pitman Publishing, both in the book publishing industry.

Stem cell treatment for type 1 diabetes nears trials; last call for $50K Metcalf Prize applications

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.
 
120,000 Australians have type 1 or ‘juvenile diabetes’, and the number is increasing. It is one of the most common chronic childhood conditions, and can lead to serious complications, including kidney failure.
 
The Foundation is getting behind Sydney scientist Professor Bernie Tuch’s efforts to bring a promising new stem cell treatment for the condition to human trials. We invite you to join us.
 
We’re matching donations from the public to this project dollar-for-dollar. Read on for more information.
 
There’s just over a day left for mid-career scientists to apply the 2019 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research. Prizes, worth $50,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career researcher.
 
We’ve extended the deadline to 11.59pm on Friday 2 August 2019. Visit our website for details.
 
We look forward to announcing the winners later in the year.
 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Stem cells and seaweed: a novel approach for type 1 diabetes
• Stem cell news from around the world

Stem cells and seaweed: a novel approach for type 1 diabetes

New device progressing towards human trials

Type 1 diabetes is currently incurable, can be life-threatening, and, unlike type 2, can't be prevented through better diet and lifestyle choices. In 2015, the disease claimed 800 Australian lives.
 
Professor Bernie Tuch has been searching for a cure for more than 40 years. He’s getting close to it with the help of the unlikely combination of stem cells and seaweed.
 
Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, making the body unable to manage blood sugar.

Prof Bernie Tuch (left); Glucose monitors, injections, tests, and insulin pumps are part of the daily challenges of living with diabetes (right).

“Without insulin, you die,” Bernie says. “Sugar levels affect your performance: your cognitive capacity, your ability to think, your ability to act, and you may sometimes behave in a bizarre way when you don’t intend to.
 
“If they get too low, it’s an emergency; you fall into a coma. There are also cases of ‘dead-in-bed syndrome’ where people have died unexpectedly in their sleep.”
 
Currently, people with type 1 diabetes manage their condition using insulin pumps or multiple daily injections.
 
While these treatments keep people alive, Bernie points out that they’re not perfect. On average, people with type 1 diabetes have a lifespan 12 years shorter than those who don’t.
 
Bernie and his colleagues in Australia and Israel are developing an alternative approach.

They’re using stem cells to produce new insulin-producing beta cells and encasing them in protective micro-capsules made from alginate – a gel-like substance obtained from seaweed. The micro-capsules are arranged on special scaffolding inside a small device that is transplanted under the skin.
 
The device allows nutrients into the capsules and insulin to flow out into the blood stream while protecting the beta cells from the malfunctioning immune system.
 
With your support, the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia wants to help fund Bernie’s research and bring this life-changing treatment to clinical trials.
 
The Foundation is aiming to provide $1 million in funding for this project and will match, dollar-for-dollar, every donation made. Donations must be at least $500 and the total of donations made cannot exceed $500,000.
 
The Foundation is very pleased that the Lions District 201N3 Diabetes Foundation (based in Newcastle) has kicked off the campaign with a very generous donation of $40,000, which after the matching $40,000 was provided by the Foundation, resulted in $80,000 being provided for this vital research.
 
To make a donation to the Foundation’s Diabetes Project fund, visit the Foundation website.
 
Read the full story about this diabetes research initiative.

Stem cell news from around the world

 Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
The New Yorker: The promise and price of cellular therapies
 
Science Daily: Mapping cells in the ‘immortal’ regenerating hydra
 
New Atlas: Newly-discovered cells help patch up scarred hearts
 
Science Daily: Researchers explain muscle loss with menopause
 
MedicalXpress: Can magnetic stem cells improve cartilage repair?
 
CBC News: A stem cell ‘cautionary tale’ as Health Canada cracks down on private clinics
 
Sydney Morning Herald: The tragic results of stem cell ‘cures’
 
The West Australian: Hair-raising research in focus
 
Tech Crunch: Space moss, stem cells and more are on their way to the International Space Station
 
Phys.org: Stem cells moonlight to protect the stomach from bacterial invaders

2 x $50,000 prizes for rising stars in stem cell research

Do you know any up-and-coming stem cell researchers who deserve recognition?
 
Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.
 
I’m pleased to announce that the 2019 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are now open. We're inviting mid-career stem cell scientists to apply. Two prizes, worth $50,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career researcher.
 
Applications close 11.59pm on Monday 29 July 2019.
 
Last year’s winners were Heather Lee and Enzo Porrello. Heather is analysing individual cancer cells to understand how some survive therapy, while Enzo is exploring newborn heart development to develop heart attack drugs and engineer ‘artificial pumps’ from patient stem cells. We encourage people who applied last year to do so again.  Read on for more details.
 
The promise of stem cell science is getting closer. Kaylene Young will start a clinical trial of a treatment for multiple sclerosis next month. She received a Metcalf Prize back in 2014. More below.
 
However unproven treatments are still being marketed to patients, despite the efforts of regulators around the world. Our round up of stem cell news includes recent stories including an ABC Media Watch story about an unproven treatment for osteoarthritis.
 
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we’re able to support researchers like Kaylene and the other Metcalf Prize winners as they unravel the science of stem cells and their potential to address conditions from cancers to heart attacks to brain diseases.
 
You can help us continue to support stem cell scientists by making a tax-deductible donation online at our website.
 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• MS clinical trial set to kick-start brain repair with magnets
• Stem cell news from around the world

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $50,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will be awarded $50,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.
 
The 2019 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers who are five to 10 years past their PhD or MD (research-based) and working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia, and have a primary focus on stem cells.
 
The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Past Metcalf Prize winners include:

• Newcastle leukaemia researcher Heather Lee,
• Melbourne heart development researcher Enzo Porrello,
• Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson,
• Brisbane computational biologist Jessica Mar,
• Sydney heart clinician and researcher James Chong,
• Melbourne immunologist Tracy Heng,
• bioinformatician Christine Wells, who is now Deputy Program Leader of Stem Cells Australia,
• Perth geneticist Ryan Lister,
• Tasmanian neural stem cell researcher Kaylene Young (read more about her below), and
• Monash University reprogramming legend Jose Polo.

 
The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.
 
The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to promote the study and use of stem cells in the prevention or control of disease in human beings and to enhance stem cell public education.
 
Applications close Monday 29 July. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.
 
To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, go to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes.
 
If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who are administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected].

MS clinical trial set to kick-start brain repair with magnets 

Inaugural Metcalf Prize winner Kaylene Young’s stem cell research leads to potential new non-invasive treatment

A new pain-free treatment for multiple sclerosis using magnetism to stimulate brain repair is about to begin trials with patients in Hobart.
 
In multiple sclerosis, a person’s immune system attacks the insulation around their nerve cells. Without this insulation, nerves can’t reliably transmit signals to where they’re needed, leading to a range of often-debilitating symptoms.
 
Associate Professor Kaylene Young has been studying the insulating cells (called oliogdendrocytes) and the stem cells in the brain that make them (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, or OPCs).
 
“We know OPCs make new oligodendrocytes throughout your life,” explains Kaylene.
 
“In conditions like multiple sclerosis, you can lose a lot of insulating oligodendrocytes in one area and that forms a lesion. We’re looking at the ability of those OPCs to come in and try to repair that lesion and replace those lost cells.”
 
Kaylene’s lab at the University of Tasmania is the only MS research group in the world exploring the insulation repair potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation, a non-invasive form of magnetic brain stimulation that has been used in the treatment of depression and other mental health conditions.
 
Kaylene has teamed up with neurologist Professor Bruce Taylor, head of the MS clinic at the Royal Hobart Hospital, to bring the treatment to clinical trials.
 
“You put a circular magnet about the size of a saucer over the person’s head and turn it on for three minutes,” says Kaylene.
 
“It’s a very low level of stimulation; the person won’t feel anything. But it’s enough to stimulate electrical activity in the brain. The OPCs respond to that by making more new insulating cells.”
 
The initial clinical trial, with 30 people with MS, will start in July 2019 and aims to establish the safety of the procedure. The team will also measure the effect of the treatment by taking MRI scans before and after treatment to look for changes in the size of brain lesions. Assuming all goes well, larger trials will follow.

Read the full story online.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
ABC The Science Show: Magnetic brain stimulation trials for multiple sclerosis
 
ABC Media Watch: Stem cell “miracle”
 
Wired: YouTube testimonials lure patients to shady stem-cell clinics

San Francisco Chronicle: Some stem cell experts want out of documentary after funding source revealed
 
University of Melbourne: Improving gut function in Hirschsprung Disease by adding new neurons
 
Drug Target Review: First blood-brain barrier chip using stem cells developed
 
STAT: Stem cell clinics co-opt [US] clinical-trials registry to market unproven therapies, critics say
 
Massive Science: Testing drugs on stem cells in petri dishes may revolutionize our understanding of difficult-to-study diseases
 
New Atlas: Harvard breakthrough shows stem cells can be genetically edited in the body
 
Science Daily: Killing the unkillable cancer cells
 
The Washington Post: FDA wins groundbreaking case against for-profit stem cell company
 
British Heart Foundation: Heart patches set for human trials
 
The Conversation: Misreporting the science of lab-made organs is unethical, even dangerous
 
Nine News: Promising gene therapy trial for haemophilia
 
Sydney Morning Herald: Would you eat lab-created fish? This startup is carving new path in 'alt-meat' industry
 
Australian Academy of Science: Exploring how blood cells are produced: Prof Warren Alexander one of 22 scientists elected new Fellows
 
Asian Scientist: A light to guide stem cells to sites of injury

Eyes, heart, kidney, brain & ageing: how is Australian stem cell science shaping tomorrow’s treatments?

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.

Have you wondered about how stem cell science is delivering on its early promise? You can bring your questions to a public forum in Melbourne next week, where scientists from Stem Cells Australia will share their stories and take questions from the audience. Read on for details.

We’re delighted to see this week’s Australian Government announcement of funding for a new program that will focus on translating Australia’s excellent fundamental stem cell research into clinical applications. Congratulations to Melissa Little, Mark Kendall and the rest of the team involved. More below.

Another major international stem cell science conference is coming to Melbourne, and cord blood guru and one of our board members Ngaire Elwood is co-chair of the organising committee. Read on for a taste of what is on the program for ISCT 2019.

The Foundation marked the sixth anniversary of our official launch earlier this year. In our years of operation, we’ve seen Metcalf Prize winners involved in improving leukaemia treatments, unravelling the intricacies of how cell reprogramming works, and major discoveries about heart regeneration.

We look forward to opening applications for the 2019 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research in late winter.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia 

In this bulletin:

• Ask your questions at a free public forum
• Government announced new $150 million stem cell therapies initiative
• Conference: what is the global state of play for cell and gene therapy?
• Stem cell news from around the world

Heart regeneration, restoring eyesight, improving kidney function, and understanding the ageing brain: ask your questions at a free public forum

How are Australian stem cell scientists shaping tomorrow’s medicine?

Melbourne event: At the Frontier of Tomorrow’s Medicine
When: 5:30 pm – 7:00pm, Tuesday 19 March
Where: Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria Conference Centre, 179 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
 
Can stem cells treat corneal disease and other forms of blindness? Could they heal damaged hearts, or create heart muscle patches to help pump blood? How can big biological data be used to create new types of cells? What will regenerative medicine deliver in the next few years? And what are the ethics we need to consider?
 
Our friends at Stem Cells Australia are holding a public event to allow the community a way to tap into the knowledge and expertise gained through the eight years of this Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative.
 
This is a unique opportunity to have your questions about stem cell science answered by the experts and to learn more about what the future may hold as these discoveries move towards clinical translation.
 
Speakers:

• Professor Melissa Little (Program Leader, Stem Cells Australia), who has led the Initiative’s shift from investigating fundamental knowledge of stem cells towards harnessing this knowledge for clinical applications.
• Associate Professor Megan Munsie (University of Melbourne), an internationally-recognised leader in public education and community engagement in stem cell science. She made major contributions to Australian guidelines on the ethical use of stem cells.
• Associate Professor Enzo Porrello (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute), a developmental biologist who won a 2018 Metcalf Prize for his research using stem cells to develop new ways to regenerate heart tissue following injury.
• Professor Stephanie Watson (University of Sydney), a researcher and clinician who has led clinical trials that have already restored the eyesight of patients with a form of blindness caused by limbal stem cell deficiency.
• Professor Christine Wells (University of Melbourne), a data scientist who studies the behaviour of stem cells, and a 2015 Metcalf Prize winner. By understanding the genes that control stem cells, her research is developing design strategies to create new types of cells, with new functions.
• Professor Ernst Wolvetang (University of Queensland), who uses stem cells to model brain and ageing diseases in a dish. These models are used to determine the causes of disease, develop diagnostic tools and to test potential treatments.
• Moderator: Professor Trevor Kilpatrick (Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and University of Melbourne), an internationally recognised neuroscience researcher who is interested the neurobiology of Multiple Sclerosis.

Doors open from 4:30pm. People can come early, explore a stem cell photography exhibition and meet the researchers.
 
For more information and to register, visit the forum’s Eventbrite page.

Government announced new $150 million stem cell therapies initiative

This week, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced a new Australian Government medical research program to turn Australia’s leading regenerative medicine and stem cell research into clinical trials.
 
The Australian Stem Cell Therapies Mission will support stem cell research targeting a range of conditions including heart disease, spinal cord injuries, strokes, kidney disease, and neurological conditions including dementia and Parkinson’s disease. It is supported with a funding commitment of $150 million over 10 years.
 
The two inaugural co-chairs of the new initiative reflect the diversity of skills, knowledge and expertise needed to address our major medical challenges:

• Professor Melissa Little's pioneering work growing kidney ‘organoids’ from stem cells targets chronic kidney disease, a condition that affects an estimated one in 10 Australians, is one of our biggest killers, and costs the economy $4.1 billion each year.
• Professor Mark Kendall is a rocket scientist turned medical technology inventor. His new ‘nanopatch’ vaccine delivery technology could replace the needle and syringe method we've been using for 160 years. Its use of dry vaccines eliminates the need for refrigeration, making it more practical for the developing world.

 
Read The Herald Sun story about the announcement.

What is the global state of play for cell and gene therapy?

If the last medical revolution was pharmacological (with chemical therapies from aspirin to ZzzQuil, a sleep aid), the next medical revolution will be biological, driven by advances in cell and gene therapies.

More than 1000 delegates from 50 countries are heading to Melbourne this May for ISCT 2019, the annual conference of the International Society for Cellular Therapy.

Delegates will hear the latest research in tissue engineering, new types of immunotherapy, cell processing, cord blood-derived treatments, gene editing, and the quality control processes needed with cell therapies.
 
The Presidential Plenary focuses on CAR T cell therapy, a new type of immunotherapy that uses specially altered T cells to precisely target cancer cells. It features experts from the United States, China, and Italy working on CAR T cell treatment avenues for the blood cancer acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma (the most common solid tumour in children under five years old), and other types of solid tumour.
 
ISCT 2019 follows last year’s huge 2018 International Society for Stem Cell Research annual meeting, which was also held in Melbourne. These two international scientific events are helping cement Melbourne and Australia as centres of excellence for research in regenerative medicine and clinical trials.
 
ISCT 2019 will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 29 May to 1 June, and is a great opportunity for Australian scientists in these and related fields to hear from and network with the world leaders in gene and cell therapies. More information: www.isct2019.com.

Stem cell news from around the world

 
Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
ABC News: AIDS cure hope emerges following stem cell procedure with HIV patient
 
EurekAlert: Scientists rejuvenate stem cells in the aging brain of mice. Paper.
 
ABC News: 3D printed ears could help children with ear deformities avoid complex surgery
 
Washington Post: ‘Miraculous’ stem cell therapy has sickened people in five states
 
The Niche: Nature yanks article that was actually advertisement on controversial stem cells
 
Health (journal): The politics of evidence in online illness narratives: An analysis of crowdfunding for purported stem cell treatments
 
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: CRISPR drapes invisibility cloak over stem cells
 
Medical News Today: New stem cells could be 'universally transplanted'. Paper.
 
LA Times: A warning from the Reeve Foundation about unproven stem-cell therapies
 
Stem Cell Reports (Journal): Women in Stem Cell Science: Part II
 
ScienceDaily: In vitro grafts increase blood flow in infarcted rat hearts. Paper.
 
The Conversation (USA): Stem cell treatments for arthritic knees are unproven, expensive and potentially dangerous
 
LA Times: A stem cell clinic touts its links with leading scientists. Some say they have no such connections
 
The Conversation (UK): Cancer growth in the body could originate from a single cell – target it to revolutionise treatment

The journalist, his brother, and the man who helped 20 million cancer patients: stem cell summer reading

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.
 
More than 2,800 scientists from around the world converging in Melbourne in June, keeping stem cell science in the Australian media in 2018. Talks ranged from saving lives by growing new skin, new ways to restore vision, growing mini-organs from stem cells and more.
 
Hosting the 2018 annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research has cemented Melbourne’s reputation for stem cell science and given the Australian public access to some of the field’s leading scientists. We are sharing highlights from the conference through our social media channels over summer.
 
News from China of gene-edited babies brought the year to a close on a controversial note. In this newsletter, we’ve included a story that explains the science and ethics in question. Read on for details.
 
Recently, Professor Richard Larkins AO presented our newest Metcalf Prize winners Dr Heather Lee and Associate Professor Enzo Porrello with their awards at a special ceremony in Melbourne. Photographs from the event are on our website.
 
The Prizes are named in honour of the late Professor Don Metcalf whose discoveries revolutionised cancer treatment. In this newsletter, we hear more about his research and the difference it made to journalist Chris Kimball. He shares his lymphoma treatment and bone marrow transplant story below.
 
The end of this bulletin includes our regular roundup of links to stories we’ve recently shared via social media.
 
Over the holiday period, are sharing more of the year’s top stories of stem cell science on Twitter using the hashtag #StemCellsIn2018.
 
We look forward to sharing more news and stories of stem cell science, scientists and discoveries changing lives throughout 2019.

Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• The journalist, his brother, and the man who helped 20 million cancer patients
• How a scientist says he made a gene-edited baby—and what health worries may ensue
• Stem cell stories, guides for patients, teachers’ resources, videos, galleries and more
• Stem cell news from around the world

The journalist, his brother, and the man who helped 20 million cancer patients

In 2011, journalist Chris Kimball noticed he was losing weight, along with other odd symptoms. The 35-year-old father of two young children found out he had an unusual and aggressive form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. And it was severe. It had spread to multiple lymph node sites, other organs and his bone marrow.

Within a week, Kimball had started treatment. He would need an intensive, brutal regime of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant to rebuild his immune system from scratch using donor stem cells from his brother.

Kimball’s road to recovery involved pain, fear, uncertainty, and several weeks in an isolation ward to protect him from infections.

“I don’t think you can under-estimate how full-on that process is,” he says. 
“When you spike a fever and you have no immune system, it’s scary. It is the worst moment of your life and you’re completely isolated, waiting for that moment when you can start having some protection.”

Gruelling as Kimball’s treatment was, it would have been even tougher without a glycoprotein called granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). G-CSF stimulates the bone marrow to produce stem cells, white blood cells and other blood cells, and releases them into the bloodstream.

Colony stimulating factors—there are four different types—were discovered in the early 1980s by the pioneering Australian stem cell scientist Professor Donald (‘Don’) Metcalf, who pursued cancer research at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne. The Foundation’s Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research is named in his honour.

Read full story.

How a scientist says he made a gene-edited baby—and what health worries may ensue

George Seidel, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, writing for The Conversation
 
On 28 November 2018, He Jiankui claimed to a packed conference room at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong to have edited the genomes of two twin girls, Lulu and Nana, who were born in China.
 
Scientists at Southern University of Science and Technology in Guangdong, China, condemned He’s research asserting he “has seriously violated academic ethics and codes of conduct,” and philosophers and bioethicists were quick to dive into the morass of editing human genomes. So I’m not going to cover that territory. What I want to address is what we learned: how He made these babies.
 
I am theoretically a retired professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. For more than 50 years, I have researched numerous aspects of assisted reproductive technology including cloning and making genetic changes to mammalian embryos, so I am interested in most any research concerning “designer babies” and the health problems they may suffer.
 
Read full story.

Stem cell stories, guides for patients, teachers’ resources, videos, galleries and more

Do you want to know more about stem cell science? Are you considering stem cell therapies and seeking guidance? Do you want to see opportunities for researchers in the field? Or resources for teaching students about this field of science?
 
These are some of the features of our new look website. You can also find out more about our past Metcalf Prize winners, watch videos, and catch up on our past newsletters.
 
Visit: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au.

Newborn babies offer clues to healing hearts, and why do some cancer cells get away? – Metcalf Prize winners announced

I’m delighted to announce that two brilliant young researchers are the winners of this year’s Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Heather Lee is analysing individual cancer cells to understand how some survive therapy. Her research ultimately aims to prevent relapse and lift survival rates for leukemia.

Enzo Porrello is exploring newborn heart development to develop heart attack drugs and engineer ‘artificial pumps’ from patient stem cells.

Dr Heather Lee of the University of Newcastle and Associate Professor Enzo Porrello of the University of Melbourne will formally receive their Prizes, presented to them by Professor Richard Larkins AO, at a special ceremony in Melbourne later this month.

Heather and Enzo were selected from an outstanding group of applicants, reflecting Australia’s continuing strength in stem cell research.

Read on to find out more about their research and achievements.

We’ve been able to award these two $50,000 prizes thanks to the generosity of our supporters. In this bulletin, we share two stories of very different donors. Read on for more.

Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Leukaemia: studying the cancer cells that get away
• Newborn babies offer clues for healing hearts
• From junior footy teams to families: heart-felt thank you to our donors
• Stem cell news from around the world

Leukaemia: studying the cancer cells that get away 

Dr Heather Lee is analysing individual cancer cells to understand how some survive therapy. Her research ultimately aims to prevent relapse and lift survival rates for leukemia.
 
Heather invented a way to study the genetics of individual cells more closely that will help her find out why some cancer cells are treatable, and others go rogue. With her new technique, she can see the chemical ‘flags’ that tell the cell how to interpret its genetic code. At the same time, she can watch how those instructions are—or aren’t—carried out.
 
Heather and other scientists use the technique to study what makes rogue cancer cells different at a genetic level.
 
Heather is now studying cells from patients with acute myeloid leukaemia to see how just a few cells can resist treatment and go on to cause a fatal relapse. She hopes this will lead to new, more effective drug treatments for this devastating disease.
 
Dr Heather Lee is a Cancer Institute NSW Fellow at Hunter Medical Research Institute and the University of Newcastle.
 
In recognition of her leadership in stem cell research, Heather Lee has received one of two $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.
 
Read Heather’s full profile online.
 
Cancer researcher Dr Heather Lee awarded Metcalf Prize for stem-cell science: read Newcastle Herald’s story about Heather’s research.

Newborn babies offer clues for healing hearts

For a few short days after birth, the heart can regenerate damaged tissue. Associate Professor Enzo Porrello wants to understand why this ability turns off, so that he and colleagues can switch it back on to heal broken hearts.
 
Understanding regeneration could lead to new treatments for different types of heart disease, the world’s biggest killer, from birth defects to heart attacks late in life.
 
“I recently showed that the hearts of newborn mice can regenerate after a heart attack,” Enzo says. “But this self-healing ability rapidly diminishes in the days after birth.”
 
Enzo thinks there is a similar capacity in humans. He is using stem cells to recreate the development of the heart in the lab to study the processes and the genes involved in turning self-healing on and off.
 
He wants to develop drugs that can stimulate heart muscle cells to rebuild after a heart attack.
 
He is also part of a new consortium that aims to engineer new working heart tissue to treat children with heart disease, made from their own stem cells.
 
Associate Professor Enzo Porrello is Group Leader of Cardiac Regeneration at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
 
In recognition of his leadership in stem cell research, Enzo Porrello has received one of two $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.
 
Read Enzo’s full profile online.
 
Scientists hope to use newborns’ stem cells to mend broken hearts: read The Herald Sun’s story about Enzo’s work.
 
The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are named for the late Professor Donald Metcalf, AC. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.

From junior footy teams to families: heart-felt thank you to our donors

When the Manor Lakes ‘Storm’ Football Club under 12s and their families aren’t kicking goals and supporting each other on the field, they’re applying their team spirit to craft, cake-making and fundraising.
 
When Jai, the younger brother of team player Callum, was diagnosed with a heart condition, the club asked the family what they could do to offer support. The boys’ mother Kim suggested they raise funds for stem cell research. She chose the Foundation to receive the benefits of their efforts.
 
They held a cake and craft stall and a raffle, raising $334.15 for stem cell science. This will help our ongoing work, such as awarding the Metcalf Prizes. We will take great pleasure in being able to tell the family about newly minted Metcalf Prize winner Enzo Porrello whose research is specifically targeting congenital heart disease as well as other heart conditions.

A legacy that lives on
 

I was deeply moved to meet Mrs Gwendoline Johns recently. She is the sister of the late Gordon Lapham (pictured), who died a few years ago after a serious illness.
 
During his illness, Gordon researched treatments that are currently unavailable or that may have great potential in the future. He became interested in stem cell science and came across our Foundation through his own research.
 
In his will, he left significant bequests to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as well as the Heart Foundation. I told Mrs Johns about our grants program that brings student and early career researchers to major scientific conferences, and our hope that this investment in the next generation of Australian stem cell scientists will bring the discoveries Gordon hoped for. The Lapham Estate will support this investment in future years.
 
Thank you to the family of Gordon Lapham and the Manor Lakes ‘Storm’ champions.
 
People who want to donate to our ongoing work can do so securely online at our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
Washington Post: Lab-grown brain bits open windows to the mind—and a maze of ethical dilemmas
 
The Niche: Placebo effect & “the fade” after stem cell clinic shots
 
Sci News: Scientists reverse congenital blindness in mice. Paper.
 
Eureka Alert: New method grows brain cells from stem cells quickly and efficiently. Paper.
 
The Niche: Arthritis patient with pain’s email on stem cell clinic & my answer
 
John Hopkins University: Bioengineers borrow from electronics industry to get stem cells to shape up. Paper.
 
Eureka Alert: This matrix delivers healing stem cells to injured elderly muscles. Paper.
 
Biopharma Reporter: Japanese scientists conduct first clinical trial for Parkinson’s using iPS cells
 
ABC Radio National ‘The Health Report’: Stem cell treatment for premature babies shown to be safe
 
The Conversation: Stem cell transplants to be used in treating Crohn’s disease

Last call for applications for the 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research.

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.
 
We're inviting mid-career stem cell scientists to apply. Two prizes, worth $50,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career researcher.
 
We’ve extended the applications deadline by a few days. They will now close 11.59pm on Thursday 9 August 2018. Do encourage your colleagues to enter. Read on for more details.
 
Find out how the Prize has helped 2017 winner Jessica Mar. She says that the media coverage and peer acknowledgement helped her re-establish herself in Australia’s scene after spending several years overseas. More below.
 
The buzz from Melbourne’s recent International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting is continuing. Stories from the Meeting are still emerging in the media—see our regular round-up of stories below—and the full video recording of our public forum is now online. Read on for details.
 
Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Metcalf Prizes: what it’s like to win and how to apply
• Eyes, heart, skin, kidneys & blood: what’s the state of play with stem cell research?
• Top award for the stem cell scientist who pioneered mini-kidneys
• Stem cell news from around the world

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Metcalf Prizes: what it’s like to win and how to apply

Catching up with 2017 winner Jessica Mar 
 
2017 Metcalf Prize winning computational biologist Jessica Mar is analysing stem cells to discover the changes that influence ageing. Who will win the 2018 Prizes?
 
Jessica says the Prize was a well-timed opportunity for her as she returned from New York to Australia to take up a Future Fellowship, based at The University of Queensland.
 
“All the attention, recognition and media interviews I had as part of winning a Metcalf Prize made me feel like I was returning to Australia with a bang!” she says.
 
“It’s really helped me to link in with my old networks, form new relationships and collaborations, and kick-start this new phase of my career back home.”
 
Jessica is particularly excited about bringing together her past and current research institutes—the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Brisbane—for future collaborative work on drugs for ageing.
 
2018 Metcalf Prizes: one week left to apply
 
Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will be awarded $50,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.
 
The 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers who are five to 10 years past their PhD or MD (research-based) and working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia.
 
The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to promote the study and use of stem cells in the prevention or control of disease in human beings and to enhance stem cell public education.
 
Applications close Thursday 9 August. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.
 
To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes
 
If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who are administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected].

Eyes, heart, skin, kidneys & blood: what’s the state of play with stem cell research?

Highlights from the Stem Cell Research - Now and in the Future public forum

• Your bone marrow makes one million new mature blood cells every second. Your life depends on it!
  • You can take one bone marrow stem cell and regenerate the entire blood system in the lab.
• Your skin is a vital barrier. Without it, you’re vulnerable to dehydration and infections from bacteria, fungi and other pathogens.
  • Skin grafts for treating burns and other skin conditions can restore a protective barrier and can be made from stem cells found in the epidermis.
  • Stem cell researchers now want to produce skin tissue that has hair follicles and sweat glands, that comfortably stretches, cools itself down and has the sense of touch.
• Cardiac disease affects at least 1.4 million Australians and almost 350,000 will have a heart attack at some point in their life. One in every two people with severe heart failure will die within one year of diagnosis. Stem cells may have the potential to treat heart failure.
• Kidneys are complex organs with two million little tubules called nephrons. The stem cells that form nephrons are gone by the time you’re born.
• Beware, some of the clinics offering experimental treatments for conditions like multiple sclerosis may have no experience treating that condition at all.

These are just some of the things a live audience learnt from six Australian stem cell scientists at the ‘Stem Cell Research—Now and in the Future’ forum—the public event held in the lead up to the ISSCR 2018 Annual Meeting in Melbourne.
 
The Foundation sponsored the event to give people an opportunity to hear from the top scientists and clinicians in town for ISSCR 2018.
 
The audience heard about the current state of play with research and treatments for eye, skin, heart, kidney and blood disorders. They also had the opportunity to ask the panel their own questions; from what inspired the panellists to become stem cell scientists (with one freaky sci-fi related answer), to the treatment options here and overseas for MS.
 
You can now watch the full event video recording on our website in the video gallery.
 
As host and organiser Megan Munsie says in the introduction, “We hope that after tonight’s presentations and the opportunity for you to ask questions, you’ll know a little bit more about what stem cell research is, what stem cells do in the body and possible the applications of stem cell science for the future.”
 
Watch out for:

• Susie Nilsson’s simple schematic of how the different blood cell types are formed
• Metcalf Prize winning cardiologist James Chong’s video of stem cell-derived heart muscle cells beating under a microscope
• the moving personal story of Daniel Feller whose son Harry has Usher Syndrome, which causes deafness from birth and blindness in adolescence.

A big “thank you” to the panellists, the event partners, the student ambassadors, and especially Megan Munsie who hosted and organised the event.

Top award for the stem cell scientist who pioneered mini-kidneys

In the past year Melissa Little has:

• Grown mini-kidneys using stem cells derived from adult skin cells
• Shown these mini-kidneys can mature in a mouse and filter blood
• Started using these mini-kidneys to model kidney disease, screen for drugs and explore therapies
• Led the team that attracted 2,800 stem cell researchers to Melbourne last month
• Served as President of the Australian Society of Stem Cell Research
• Taken up leadership of Stem Cells Australia.

Her vision is that she will be able to use stem cells to treat kidney disease affecting nearly one in ten Australians. It won’t be easy and it will take years, but she believes she can make it happen during her career.

On Wednesday 26 June, Melissa received the National Health and Medical Research Council Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship – Biomedical. The Fellowship is named after 2009 Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn who discovered how chromosomes are protected by telomeres. Melissa was one of 20 of Australia’s finest health and medical researchers honoured at the NHMRC’s annual Research Excellence Awards in Canberra.

Melissa is an internationally-respected leader in the development of ‘mini-organoids’ from stem cells. She leads cell biology and kidney research at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.

Congratulations Melissa!
 
Read more on our website.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
9News: Stem cell research given $3 million funding boost
 
ABC Science: These mice have brains that are part human. So are they mice, or men?
 
LA times: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards' stem cell treatment failed. That should help dispel the stem cell hype
 
The Conversation: CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing scissors are less accurate than we thought, but there are fixes
 
Eureka Alert: NYSCF researchers develop novel bioengineering technique for personalized bone grafts
 
MD Magazine: Characterizing dangerous, unregulated stem cell therapy for ocular disease
 
Eureka Alert: What's in an egg? Oocyte factors that can reprogram adult cells
 
The Guardian: Seven ways IVF changed the world – from Louise Brown to stem-cell research
 
ABC Radio National Science Friction: Elixir for everything? Private stem cell clinics, hope, hype, and horror
 
Johns Hopkins Medicine: Scientists create nano-size packets of genetic code aimed at brain cancer ‘seed’ cells

2 x $50,000 prizes for rising stars in stem cell research

Do you know any up-and-coming stem cell researchers who deserve recognition?

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.

I’m pleased to announce that the 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are now open. We're inviting mid-career stem cell scientists to apply. Two prizes, worth $50,000 each, will be awarded to one male and one female mid-career researcher.

Applications close 11.59pm on Monday 6 August 2018.

Last year’s winners Mark Dawson and Jessica Mar were chosen from a strong field of candidates, highlighting the quality of stem cell research in our country. We encourage people who applied last year to do so again. Read on for more details.

The Metcalf Prizes are part of our mission to support stem cell research in Australia. It’s been a delight to see the careers of scientists we’ve funded in the past go from strength to strength.

Kind regards,
 
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?
• Building a blood cancer treatment; how we and our stem cells age—meet last year’s Metcalf Prize winners
• Stem cell news from around the world

Do you know a rising star in stem cell research?

Applications for $50,000 prizes for stem cell research now open

Two up-and-coming leaders in stem cell science will be awarded $50,000 each to boost their career to the next level. If you know a promising stem cell researcher, encourage them to apply.

The 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research are open to mid-career researchers who are five to 10 years past their PhD or MD (research-based) and working in stem cell research in Australia. They could be working in medicine or agriculture, government or academia.

The winners will be chosen for their scientific excellence, proven leadership ability and the potential to have a continuing influence on stem cell research in Australia.

Past Metcalf Prize winners include:

Melbourne haematologist Mark Dawson,

Brisbane computational biologist Jessica Mar,

Sydney heart clinician and researcher James Chong (pictured), who shared his insights as a cardiologist and scientist with the audience at our recent public forum,

• Melbourne immunologist Tracy Heng,
• bioinformatician Christine Wells, who has moved from Brisbane to the university of Melbourne to establish the Centre for Stem Cell Systems,
• Perth geneticist Ryan Lister,
• Tasmanian neural stem cell researcher Kaylene Young, and
• Monash University reprogramming legend Jose Polo, who presented at last month’s global stem cell science meeting in Melbourne.

The Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research recognise and honour the exceptional contribution made to stem cell research by the late Professor Donald Metcalf. Over his 50-year career, Don helped transform cancer treatment and transplantation medicine, and paved the way for potential stem cell therapy in the treatment of many other conditions.
 
The Metcalf Prizes support the Foundation’s mission to promote the study and use of stem cells in the prevention or control of disease in human beings and to enhance stem cell public education.
 
Applications close Monday 6 August. We encourage last year’s unsuccessful applicants to apply again this year if they are still eligible.
 
To apply online, and for a full list of criteria and conditions, head to the Foundation’s website: www.stemcellfoundation.net.au/metcalf_prizes
 
If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process, please contact Tanya Ha at Science in Public, who are administering the awards for the Foundation: [email protected].

Building a blood cancer treatment; how we and our stem cells age—meet last year’s Metcalf Prize winners

Melbourne clinician-scientist takes leukaemia discoveries from bench to bedside  

Photo credit: Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Mark Dawson has helped to build a new drug to fight an aggressive form of blood cancer. He discovered the basic science of gene expression in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), helped develop a drug to block that action and is leading an international clinical trial to test it.

Mark first explored how genes function in leukaemia, then identified molecules that interrupt the key genetic instructions that perpetuate cancer cells. The drug subsequently developed to treat AML is now the subject of more than 50 clinical trials around the world.

“Each year, more than 1,000 Australians are diagnosed with AML, and more than 70 per cent of these people will die within five years,” says Mark.

“By studying the differences and commonalities between healthy blood stem cells and leukaemia stem cells, I hope to help develop less toxic, more targeted drug treatments that will see more of my patients live longer and healthier lives.”

Professor Mark Dawson is a clinician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is the program head of the Translational Haematology Program, Group leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory and Consultant Haematologist in the Department of Haematology.

Read Mark’s full profile online

Brisbane researcher reveals how some stem cells get forgetful while others get set in their ways

Jessica Mar (Photo credit: AIBN at UQ)

Jessica Mar is analysing stem cells to discover the changes that influence ageing.

We all started life as a stem cell. Throughout our lives, stem cells repair and replace our tissues, but as we age they stop working as well. Understanding how this decline occurs is fundamental to understanding—and influencing—how we age.

Jessica is studying ageing stem cell models with collaborators around Australia to answer these questions. She is also collaborating on longevity research internationally, and will work with two study populations, ‘super-centenarians’ in Japan who live to 110 years or more, and a group of Ashkenazi Jews who are aged 95 years and older.

“There are two schools of thought,” she says. “Some researchers believe that errors creep into the translation of our genes into proteins causing genetic noise and disease. Others are adamant that the noise decreases and that the stem cells become less able to adapt to circumstance. My research has shown that it’s actually a bit of both.”

In 2011, Jessica demonstrated for the first time that both can be true. Working with 2017 Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim and his collection of nasal stem cells from patients, she showed increased genetic noise is linked with Parkinson’s disease. Then she showed the opposite in schizophrenia.

Jessica will use her Metcalf Prize to expand her research and introduce the next generation of stem cell researchers to the power of ‘centenarian studies’. It’s all based on big data, and powerful computer analysis of the genomes of millions of individual cells from hundreds of people.

Associate Professor Jessica Mar is a Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland.

Read Jessica’s full profile online

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
 
Particle: Could this creature hold the future of regenerative medicine? (featuring Metcalf Prize winner Ryan Lister)
 
Knoepfler Lab Blog: Too much carrot and not enough stick on stem cell oversight
 
Wisconsin State Journal: Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics says it will make brain cells that can boost research on Alzheimer's
 
USC News: Perfectly punctual or fashionably late, it takes all kinds of cells to build a kidney. Paper.
 
Therapeutics Education Collaboration: Talking about stem cell therapies with Tim Caulfield (podcast)
 
Cosmos magazine: Artists join the ARMI
 
News Medical: Study shows blood stem cells compensate for immune cell deficiencies
 
Futurism: We can now treat sick babies with stem cells before they’re even born
 
CBS News: Woman says experimental stem cell procedure for eye disease was “too good to be true”
 
Eureka Alert: First 3D-printed human corneas

Gene and stem cell therapies restoring eyesight, saving skin, and more

• Two people who had vision loss can now read again, thanks to a stem cell ‘eye patch’ treatment trial.
• A Syrian refugee boy’s life was saved when Italian researchers grew new GM skin from stem cells to replace his fragile ‘butterfly skin’.
• A gene therapy that cures an inherited form of blindness has been approved by the FDA.
• A therapy for haemophilia A and B is showing long-term protection and a dramatic drop in bleeds in clinical trials.
• A commercial factory-made stem cell treatment for a life-threatening complication of bone marrow transplants has dramatically improved children’s survival rates in a US-based trial.

After years of promise, stem cell treatments are now starting to move out of the lab and changing lives.

This was one of the take-home messages from last week’s gathering of leading gene therapy and stem cell scientists and physicians from around the world. They were in Melbourne for the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting.

We’ve included highlights from Australian and visiting speakers below.

Delegates also heard about CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing from its co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, the huge progress in developing mini-organs from stem cells, and the potential to use stem cells for drug screening to help with personalised medicine.

And they discussed the challenges of unproven treatments and the moves by Australian and US regulators to tighten the rules.

We sponsored a public forum in the lead up to the meeting so that patients could bring their questions directly to the experts. We will share highlights and a link to a video recording of the event in a future bulletin.

Melissa Little, chair of the meetings scientific program committee and a stem cell researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, shares her insights from the event in this newsletter.

Next week the 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Science will open for applications, offering two $50,000 prizes for Australia’s emerging leaders in stem cell research. Think about the rising stem cell scientists you know, and encourage them to enter.

Kind regards,
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• What we learnt when 2,800+ stem cell scientists invaded Melbourne
• Saving skin, restoring eyesight, treating diabetes, and taking treatments to the clinic
• Stem cell news from around the world

What we learnt when 2,800+ stem cell scientists invaded Melbourne

An overview of ISSCR 2018 from Melissa Little 

2,832 delegates from 53 countries heard from 150+ speakers at last week’s International Society for Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Professor Melissa Little

Melissa Little, who led the development of the scientific program, says there were moving stories of successful treatments, unusually strong involvement from the business and industry sector, and scientific presentations showing awe-inspiring progress.

Roger Barker, chair of the ISSCR’s Clinical Translation Committee gave a great overview of the progress of treatments to the clinic, telling delegates what we’ve tried, where we’ve failed and why; what we’ve learnt and where we’re going. Steven Goldman showed you can repopulate the brain from stem cells,” says Melissa, a mini-kidney ‘organoid’ pioneer based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

“And the patient address from Daniel Fuller, the father of seven-year-old Harry who has a genetic deaf-blindness condition, was very moving.

“The science presented showed we’ve moved so far towards translation in the last decade. The promise is getting closer. Three years ago, at the Stockholm meeting, there was one presentation on using iPS cells in clinical trials. This year there were several. It’s no longer if, but when we will try treatments with this relatively new source of stem cell.”

Melissa, who is also President of Meeting co-host, the Australasian Society for Stem cell Research, was particularly proud of the contribution from Australian plenary and keynote speakers.

“Jane Visvader’s [Walter and Eliza Hall Institute] presentation was a tour-de-force, not only detailing where all breast cells come from but how they can develop into cancers,” says Melissa.

“Patrick Tam’s [Children's Medical Research Institute] lecture elegantly described how his lab created the raw data for a whole genome ‘satellite navigation’ map of early mouse development, showing Australia is still leading in fundamental research. And Clare Parish’s work developing cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease is truly world-leading.”

See social media highlights from the meeting via the hashtag #ISSCR2018, and look out for Australian content via #GDayStemCells.

Saving skin, restoring eyesight, treating diabetes, and taking treatments to the clinic

Our round-up of the life-changing scientific highlights from ISSCR 2018.

How new skin from genetically-modified stem cells saved a refugee boy’s life

Michele De Luca and Graziella Pellegrini (Italy) led the team that developed genetically-engineered stem cells to produce sheets of disease-free skin cells to save the life of a seven-year-old Syrian refugee. The patient suffered from ‘butterfly skin’, the genetic disease Epidermolysis Bullosa that made his skin as fragile as a butterfly’s wings. Now living with his family in Germany, Hassan is able to attend school, play soccer and live a full life.

Fighting type one diabetes with stem cells

Doug Melton (USA) reported on a way to use stem cells to produce the massive quantities of insulin-producing beta cells needed to treat people with diabetes, including life-threatening type 1 diabetes, which his two children have. Doug shared his lab’s work towards providing human islet cells for diabetics which have found ways to thwart immune rejection so that patients no longer require blood checks and insulin injections.

Michele De Luca and Doug Melton joined Foundation director and Hudson Institute stem cell scientist Caroline Gargett in a special episode of The Conversation Hour, talking about stem cell science with Jon Faine and science communicator Tanya Ha on ABC Radio Melbourne. Listen online.

(Left to right) Michele De Luca, Doug Melton, Caroline Gargett, Tanya Ha and Jon Faine at ABC Studios Southbank.

Stem cell eye patch cures blindness in two trial patients

Two patients with a common type of blindness are recovering their vision, thanks to a new stem cell ‘eye patch’ treatment.

The two patients, both with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), were the first to have diseased eye cells replaced with stem cell-derived retinal eye patches, which restored vision to both patients. They’re both now able to read again.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Peter Coffey, who led the trial, hopes it will lead to an affordable ‘off-the-shelf’ therapy that could be made available to patients within the next five years.

This is in stark contrast with the cases of three US women with AMD whose eyesight worsened after paying for experimental and unproven stem cell treatment.

New cell therapy a life-saving peacemaker between warring patient and donor cells

A new factory-made stem cell product has been shown to dramatically increase the 100-day survival rates of children with an often-fatal complication of bone marrow transplants—acute graft versus host disease (GVHD).

Australian stem cell scientist and Mesoblast CEO Silviu Itescu announced the results of a Phase 3 clinical trial treating 55 children suffering from the most severe form of GVHD, a condition in which the patient’s white blood cells attack the transplanted donor cells.

The treatment involves mesenchymal stem cells, which have an anti-inflammatory and immune system-calming effect. 75 per cent of patients had survived 100 days after treatment, compared with a survival rate as low as 30 per cent in patients who fail to respond to the standard initial steroid therapy.

Mesoblast, an Australian biotech company, expects this will lead to the treatment becoming the first FDA approved ‘off the shelf’ commercially-manufactured stem cell product.

Treating haemophilia and eye disease with gene therapy

Katherine High (USA) reported on an FDA approved gene therapy for a form of blindness, and on a clinical trial in people with haemophilia.

She’s the head of research and development for Spark Therapeutics, a spin-out from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Last year, the US FDA announced the approval of the first directly administered gene therapy targeting a rare inherited form of blindness caused by mutations in a specific gene. The therapy uses a modified virus to deliver a normal copy of a defective gene directly into retinal cells in the eye. The corrected code makes the eyes’ cells function normally, producing the proteins they need to restore vision.

In May, Spark Therapeutics also announced progress in clinical trials of gene therapies for bleeding disorders haemophilia B and A.

Stem cell news from around the world

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few media stories we’ve shared recently from the meeting:

Herald Sun: (Subscriber only) Two patients cured of blindness with new stem cell treatment

ABC Radio National: The hope (and hype) of stem cells

ABC TV 7.30: 'Buying hope': Unproven stem cell treatments facing tighter regulation

ABC Radio Melbourne: The Conversation Hour: Stem cell pioneers Doug Melton, Michele De Luca, and Caroline Gargett

The Age: Watch this fish regrow its spinal cord—in real-time

Eyes, heart, skin, kidneys & blood: what’s the state of play with stem cell research?

World leaders in stem cell research will be in Melbourne later this month for the international stem cell conference. We’ll be there tweeting highlights, and also supporting a public forum separating stem cell facts from fiction.

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.

Nearly 3,000 delegates are headed to Australia for the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting (ISSCR 2018), in Melbourne from 20 to 23 June. 

They will share the latest science, present fundamental stem cell and disease research, provide updates on the progress of new treatments towards the clinic, and discuss the challenges of managing patients’ hopes and unethical treatment marketing. 

ISSCR 2018 comes at a time when governments around the world are cracking down on rogue clinics, and Australia is bringing in new regulations to protect patients.

We want to help people sort the facts from the fiction. We’re supporting a free public forum in the lead up to ISSCR 2018 to bring the scientists to the people. Come to the event and bring your questions. More below.

Congratulations to the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research, the Melbourne Convention Bureau and a coalition of medical research organisations on the success of their campaign over the past six years to win this influential event for Melbourne and Australia.  

We will be tweeting highlights from ISSCR 2018. You can follow us on Twitter at @AusStemCell and the meeting organiser at @ISSCR. Follow the conversation through the hashtag #ISSCR2018. 

If you’re presenting some exciting science at ISSCR 2018, let us know—email [email protected].

Our next bulletin will be a special edition at the end of the month, sharing some of the highlights from ISSCR 2018. Then, in early July, the 2018 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Science will open for applications, offering two $50,000 prizes for Australia’s emerging leaders in stem cell research.

The Metcalf Prizes, our travel grants for young researchers attending conferences, and our public education events are all made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. With the end of financial year around the corner, we invite you to make a tax-deductible donation to help us continue this work. Visit our website to donate securely online.

Kind regards,

Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Ask your questions at a free public forum
• A life in science: student Q&A with 2017 Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim
• Stem cell news from around the world

What will stem cell research offer for treating eye, heart, skin, kidney and blood disorders?

Ask your questions at a free public forum

Melbourne event: Stem Cell Research - Now and in the Future
When: 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, Monday 18 June
Where: Deakin Edge at Federation Square, Swanston Street, Melbourne

Can stem cells cure blindness? Could they heal broken hearts after heart attacks? Why do clinical trials matter? What treatments can we have confidence in and which are over-hyped? And what will regenerative medicine deliver in the next few years?
 
The Foundation is supporting a free public forum in conjunction with ISSCR 2018 so that people can have their stem cell medicine questions answered by qualified experts.
 
“This is an opportunity for people to ask the those working at the coalface of stem cell research what they do and why,” says forum organiser and moderator Megan Munsie, a stem cell researcher at the University of Melbourne and head of the Education, Ethics, Law and Community Awareness Unit at Stem Cells Australia
 
Cardiologist and researcher James Chong, who was one of our 2016 Metcalf Prize winners, is one of the forum’s speakers. As a physician, he is very familiar with the hopes, fears and questions his patients often have. He’s looking forward to sharing his passion for stem cell science at the forum.
 
“I hope to inform people about this wonderful technology. I want to help them understand how it may benefit patients with heart disease and the hope this brings, but also that there are many steps we need to take to bring about a realistic, safe and enduring treatment,” says James.
 
The panellists cover five areas of the human body where stem cells have great potential to help researchers or treat diseases—blood and bone marrow, skin, eyes, heart and kidney:

• Susie Nilsson (CSIRO and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University) will discuss how blood stem cells are already saving lives, and where improvements are being made.
• Pritinder Kaur (Curtin University) will explore skin stem cells, optimising their use in wound healing and how they are used to study skin conditions.
• Michael O'Connor (Western Sydney University) will talk about eye diseases and the potential for stem cell therapies for cataracts, damaged corneas and macular degeneration.
• James Chong (The Westmead Institute and University of Sydney) will talk about how stem cells become medicine and his work exploring the potential to regrow cardiac cells after a heart attack.
• Melissa Little (Murdoch Children's Research Institute and University of Melbourne) will talk about growing kidney tissue in the lab to study kidney conditions and improve diagnosis and treatments.

Doors open from 4:00pm. People can come early and explore the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research Stem Cell Stories photography exhibition and meet the researchers.
 
For more information and to register, visit the forum’s Eventbrite page.

A life in science: student Q&A with 2017 Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim 

Science legend meets the toughest audience—kids and teenagers—at the World Science Festival Brisbane

Alan Mackay-Sim answers questions

Award winning stem cell scientist Alan Mackay-Sim has had a life filled with curiosity, science, a variety of hobbies, and occasional swearing!
 
In March this year, Alan talked with students at the World Science Festival Brisbane. Here are some of the highlights.
 
Sanchit (Year 8) How was your school and university life? What were your aspirations and interests as a student?
 
Alan: I love to learn. From a very early age I wondered how the body works, and how the brain controls the hands to do this, that and the other, and so on. That’s what I did on the academic side. Outside that, I played football, sang in the choir, acted in plays, ran in the athletics carnivals and lapped it all up.
 
When I got to university I still studied hard, but also danced a lot and listened to a lot of music and enjoyed university life.
 
Host: If we could interview 5-year-old Alan and ask what he wanted to be when he grew up, what would he have said?

Alan Mackay-Sim with students at the 2018 World Science Festival Brisbane

Alan: A fireman. It was when I was 8 or ten that I got interested in the body.

Towards the end of school, I was heavily interested in the brain and I wanted to contribute to people’s health. So, I chose science as a career.

Host: Tell us about the nose cells you’re interested in.

Alan: In the nose we have stem cells. As we breath in, we’re breathing in nasty chemicals, viruses and bacteria. The sensory cells die, partly as a response to protect ourselves, because we have a direct line from the nose to the brain. So, the cells die, and the stem cells are there to replace them.

Olfactory ensheathing cells are made from the stem cells in the nose, and they are the support cells for the nerves. Someone had the idea that maybe those cells could help the nerve cells regrow after being cut in the spinal cord. This turned out to be true.

Read the full story with more student questions and answers online.

Stem cells addressing silent epidemics; top scientists head to Melbourne

Welcome to the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s bulletin on stem cell medicine and research in Australia.

This year, about 3,500 delegates from the global stem cell field will head to Melbourne for the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2018 Annual Meeting.

Hosting an international conference lifts the local profile of a scientific field. ISSCR 2018 will help to shine the spotlight on stem cell science in Australia—important at a time when new treatments are being tested and nearing the clinic and unproven treatments are being unethically marketed.

This is a rare opportunity for Australian doctors, patient advocacy groups, politicians and policy makers, and the broader public to hear sound science directly from leading stem cell scientists.

More than 180 speakers are on the program, discussing the field’s emerging science and hot topics, from stem cells in salamanders to gene editing to therapeutic eye patches. In this newsletter, we’ve included a preview of the conference program.

Each year, we provide grants for student and early-career researchers to attend Australia’s regional conference. With this year’s event doubling as the international scientific meeting, the 68 young grant recipients will get to hear from, and network with, the world’s best and brightest stem cell scientists. Read on for details.

One potential new therapy that’s been in the media this year is a stem cell treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, which affects an estimated one-in-four women, and around half of all women over 50 who have had children. This research is led by one of our board members Professor Caroline Gargett.

Professor Melissa Little and her colleagues have also been in the news, demonstrating in a pre-clinical trial that transplanted ‘mini-kidneys’ grown from stem cells can mature and filter blood. This work may lead to new treatment options for chronic kidney disease. Read on for more about Caroline and Melissa’s discoveries.

And Megan Munsie has won an international award for her work on public education and advocacy for better regulation of regenerative medicine. More below.

Work like that mentioned above, along with that of other stem cell pioneers such as Alan Trounson and the late Don Metcalf, demonstrate Melbourne’s leadership in stem cell science and why it’s a great city to host the international conference.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia

In this bulletin:

• Melbourne stem cell science versus silent epidemics
• Local junior researchers and global stem cell experts converge in Melbourne
• Australian stem cell researcher wins international public service award
• Stem cell news from around the world

Melbourne stem cell science versus silent epidemics: pelvic organ prolapse, endometriosis, and kidney disease

Could stem cells plus ‘nanobiomaterials’ replace risky vaginal mesh implants?
 

Stem cells—combined with a biomaterial growing environment they need—may offer an alternative treatment for the one-in-four women affected by pelvic organ prolapse.

Pelvic organ prolapse is a lifelong and potentially debilitating ‘silent epidemic’, mainly caused by the tissue damage experienced by mothers during childbirth and worsened by ageing. It was previously treated using transvaginal mesh implants, which were banned last year because of the risks to patients.

Caroline Gargett and her colleagues at Hudson Institute of Medical Research hope that stem cells from a woman’s own uterus combined with nanobiomaterials (biodegradable materials engineered on the nanoscale) will provide a safer, more effective treatment for pelvic organ prolapse as well as a non-surgical therapy soon after childbirth to prevent future prolapse.

The new approach is currently being trialled in animals. The research team hopes to start clinical trials in three to five years.

Read more:

• Hudson Institute of Medical Research: Bioengineering: the new approach for treating pelvic organ prolapse
• ABC News: Researchers trial new pelvic prolapse treatment using stem cells, bioengineering

Unlocking the secrets of endometriosis

Caroline and her team have also had success researching another ‘silent epidemic’ affecting girls and women—endometriosis. This common and painful condition occurs when the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or bowel, causing them stick to each other forming adhesions, causing severe pelvic pain, difficult periods, and infertility.

The researchers have found a unique marker that identifies the adult stem cells involved in the condition. Now they can find them, they can isolate them and study them further, which will help improve understanding of the disease and hopefully lead to better treatments.

The research was published in the journal, Human Reproduction.

Mini-kidneys for chronic kidney disease research

A team of Australian and Dutch researchers have successfully built a mini-kidney from stem cells and transplanted it into a mouse where it has matured into tissue with blood vessels, which is capable of filtering blood.

The findings—recently published in the journal Stem Cell Reports—represent a step further on the long road towards making functioning tissue for the treatment of  chronic kidney disease.

“The fact that we can make kidney tissue from human stem cells and have this develop into mature kidney tissue after transplantation is a very promising step towards developing this further for treatment,” says Melissa Little from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Untreated, chronic kidney disease leads to kidney failure, and is often called a ‘silent killer’. One in 10 Australians are expected to show signs of the condition by 2020, but only 25 per cent of patients will receive a kidney transplant.

Melissa and her colleagues have pioneered kidney ‘organoid’ research. Not only have they developed ways to coax stem cells into developing into the different types of kidney cells, they’ve also succeeded in getting the cells to self-organise into the structures and systems needed to function.

These functioning mini-kidneys are useful in the lab for studying kidney function, kidney diseases, and testing therapies.

It’s important research, given that chronic kidney disease cases are rising in number by six per cent per annum, and the treatment options—dialysis and/or a kidney transplant—are a heavy burden.
 
Read more:

• SBS News: Stem cell kidney gives hope to sufferers
• Herald Sun: Lab-grown kidneys a step closer after Melbourne-Dutch researchers’ breakthrough [subscriber only]

Local junior researchers and global stem cell experts converge in Melbourne

Stem cells in plants, the axolotl genome, disease research, and therapeutic eye patches are on the agenda when the ISSCR 2018 Annual Meeting heads to Australia

Rebecca Lee is a young researcherexploring how the build-up of sugar affects stem cell development in the brain in people with the debilitating Sanfilippo syndrome—a genetic disorder that causes progressive mental and physical deterioration in children.

The PhD candidate from the University of Adelaide will be joined by international experts in gene editing, skin regeneration, the axolotl genome, and more when the annual scientific meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is held in Melbourne this June.

“I work with multiple cell types, so an international conference is a really good opportunity to talk to a wide range of researchers,” says Rebecca.

Liver stem cell researcher Ken Woo is looking forward to hearing from American biochemist Jennifer Doudna who was a major player in developing the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tool, which has revolutionised and simplified gene editing.

Rebecca and Ken are two of 68 students and early-career researchers from around Australia who have received travel grants to attend the ISSCR conference through the Foundation’s Young Investigator Awards program, run in partnership with the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research. The Foundation provides funds to contribute to flights and registration costs. Many of the grant recipients would not be able to attend the conference without this support.

Junior and senior researchers alike will share the latest stem cell science, with conference sessions on tissue engineering, organ regeneration, gene regulation, brain development and neurological diseases, epigenetics, ageing, and more.

Ken, who is based at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, says that grants to attend this and past conferences have helped overcome the challenge of Perth’s distance from Australia’s other research centres.

“The awards have enabled me to get a good overview of the different stem cell research that is happening in the country and network with the researchers attending,” he says.

Rebecca is particularly excited to attend the conference, as she’s in the final year of her PhD.

“I’m thinking about the next stage of my career, so the opportunity to talk to a wide range of researchers and make connections is hugely important.”

International guest speakers include:

• Jennifer Doudna from the University of California, Berkeley, speaking about her research on gene regulation and editing.
• Elly Tanaka of the Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, who will talk about her work decoding and analysing the complete axolotl genome, helping to identify stem cells for limb and spinal cord regeneration.
• Peter Coffey from University College London, who will share how his lab engineered retinal cells and created an eye patch for transplantation to treat age-related macular degeneration, a common form of vision loss.

ISSCR 2018 also includes a special session at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for doctors and other health professionals, discussing current therapies and those moving toward the clinic.

Visit the ISSCR 2018 conference website.

Australian stem cell researcher Megan Munsie wins 2018 Public Service Award from ISSCR

Recognition for public education, policy and advocacy work

Megan Munsie at Science meets Parliament 2018. Photo by Mark Graham, courtesy of Science & Technology Australia.

Associate Professor Megan Munsie has been recognised for her work promoting public understanding of stem cell science and regenerative medicine and advocating for better public policy and regulation of its use.

Megan, a researcher at the University of Melbourne and Stem Cells Australia, will formally receive her award at the ISSCR 2018 Annual Meeting.

Late last year, Megan was among 20 people nominated for the Knoepfler Lab 2017 Stem Cell Person of the Year, in part for her advocacy for the responsible use of stem cells and regenerative medicine technologies. She was voted by stem cell science enthusiasts into the top ten.

In February, she was a panellist at Science meets Parliament in Canberra, where she shared her experiences of talking to the media and policy makers with 240 fellow scientists.

Megan is a frequent media commentator on stem cell issues. For example, she was interviewed on Life Matters on ABC Radio National about the lure and pitfalls of stem cell tourism, and talked about stem cell therapies on the ‘GP Show’ podcast to help educate doctors and other health professionals on regenerative medicine’s current state-of-play.

Congratulations Megan on this well-deserved recognition. Read the ISSCR’s media release online.

Stem cell news from around the world 

Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:

• friend us on Facebook
• follow us on Twitter

Here are a few of the stories we’ve shared recently:
 
Brisbane Times: Professor's work in repairing spinal cord injuries nothing to sniff at.

Scroll.in: Lab notes: How stem cells in the gums accelerate healing. Paper.

The Guardian: Doctors hope for blindness cure after restoring patients' sight. Paper.

CBC: ‘Science-ploitation’: stem cells being used to market dubious therapies, prof says.

Forbes: ‘I work with stem cells. Here's why I won't be injecting them into myself.’

Herald Sun: Stroke victims may be given stem cell infusion to help heal brain. Paper.

Science Daily: Adult endothelial stem cells can make fully functional blood vessels. Paper.

Futurism: “Intestine-Chip” could help patients with diseases like Crohn’s. Paper.

Cosmos magazine: Stem cancer vax offers strong promise.

The Guardian: Breakthrough as scientists grow sheep embryos containing human cells.

Futurism: We can now use stem cells to grow functioning kidney tissue. Paper.

The Boar: Is alcohol causing cancer?

Scientific American: Instead of filling cavities, dentists may soon regenerate teeth.

ABC The Science Show: Why stem cells decline as we age.

NPR: (USA) Will state voters continue to pour money into stem cell research?

New Scientist: How ‘stem cell’ clinics became a Wild West for dodgy treatments.

Vancouver Sun: Stem-cell-based treatment aims to reverse Type 1 diabetes.

The Conversation (USA): How rejuvenation of stem cells could lead to healthier aging.

Mehr News Agency: Iranian researchers make eye drop to improve corneal stem cell growth.

New Atlas: Working human muscle tissue grown from skin-derived stem cells.