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 Professor Patrick Tam (Chair)
Professor and NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, Medicine and Head of
Embryology Research Unit and Acting Director, Children's Medical Research Institute,
University of Sydney
Professor Patrick Tam is a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and heads the Embryology Research Unit and is the Acting Deputy Director of the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI). He holds a conjoint appointment as Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney and an Honorary Professorship at the University of Hong Kong.
Professor Tam's research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of body patterning during mouse development. He pioneered the application of micromanipulation and embryo culture for analysing mouse embryos and examining the development of the head and embryonic gut. The embryological analysis undertaken by his team at CMRI has enabled the construction of a series of fate-maps revealing the organisation of the basic body plan of the early embryo. His other current research is on X-linked diseases and the genetics of eye development. In recognition of his research achievement, Professor Tam was awarded the President’s Medal of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Cell and Developmental Biology in 2007.
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 Professor Bryan Williams
Director, Monash Institute of Medical Research
Professor Bryan Williams was appointed as the Director of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) from January 1 2006 and heads the Centre for Cancer Research at MIMR. Prior to this appointment, Professor Williams was the Chairman of the Department of Cancer Biology at the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, a position he had held since 1991. He was also an Associate Director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Cleveland.
Professor Williams has a distinguished history in cancer research. He has previously worked in New Zealand, England, Canada and America, specialising in the molecular biology of tumour suppression, and focusing on the role tumour suppressor genes may play in regulating cell growth, maturation and apoptosis (programmed cell death). He is internationally recognised for his contributions to research on Wilms Tumour, a cancer of the kidney that primarily affects children, for studies on protein kinase R, an important cellular signalling molecule and for work on innate immunity.
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 Professor Nicos Nicola
Head of Division of Cancer and Haematology and Assistant Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Professor Nicos Nicola is head of the Division of Cancer and Haematology and Assistant Director at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. He obtained his PhD as a protein chemist in the Biochemistry Department at Melbourne University and for the last 25 years has studied the molecular control of blood formation at the Hall Institute. He and his associates purified the cytokine G-CSF in 1983. This cytokine is currently extensively used in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. They also cloned one of the first cytokine receptors (that for GM-CSF) in 1989 and a novel family of negative regulators of cytokine signalling (the SOCS proteins) in 1997.
Professor Nicola is a member of the Australian Academy of Science and has received several awards including the Gottschalk, Wellcome, AMGEN Australia and LKB-Pharmacia Biotechnology (ASBMB) medals. He is an ISI Australian citation laureate and has authored 187 primary research papers, four books and is an inventor on 17 patents. His main current focus is in understanding the molecular regulation of cytokine signalling pathways in a physiological context.
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 Dr Kirsten Herbert
Clinical Haematologist and Clinician Researcher, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Dr Kirsten Herbert's association with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre began in 1999 as a third year Hospital Medical Officer in the Haematology Unit. Since then, her involvement in haematology research at the centre has evolved considerably, culminating in her promotion to Haematology Fellow in July 2007 upon achievement of a Doctorate in Philosophy. Dr. Kirsten Herbert was recently awarded the Cancer Council of Victoria Early Career Clinician Researcher Fellowship for 2008 – 2011.
Dr Herbert's research has focused on the investigating of retinoids and their role in human and murine haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) mobilisation. Initial preclinical studies were performed using murine models to clarify the effect of specific retinoids on HSC mobilisation, and assessing for response to treatment. This research progressed on to the design and execution of phase I and II clinical trials involving the use of a novel retinoid to synergise with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in HSC mobilisation in human patients.
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 Professor George Yeoh
Associate Dean for Research, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences,
University of Western Australia and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
School of Biomedical & Chemical Sciences, University of Western Australia
Professor George Yeoh received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 1972. Shortly after he was awarded the CJ Martin Overseas Research Fellow (NHMRC) and studied at the University of Pennsylvania USA and the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, Scotland. He filled many roles as Visiting Scientist at a number of prestigious universities in the USA and in Europe.
Following his return to Australia Professor Yeoh was successful in obtaining an NHMRC Fellowship and achieved successive renewals to the level of Principal Research Fellow. He is currently the Associate Dean for Research in the UWA Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, as well as a Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. His current research focus is on investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying liver development. His work has centred upon three distinct areas, the regulation of liver specific genes during development; liver carcinogenesis and the changes in gene expression accompanying the transformation of normal liver cells to cancer; and liver stem cells and their potential use in cell and gene therapy to treat liver disease.
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 Professor Norio Nakatsuji DSc.
Director and Professor, Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences and Professor,
Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Professor Norio Nakatsuji is a graduate of Kyoto University (Biology) and obtained his Doctor of Science in Developmental Biology from Faculty of Science, Kyoto University in 1977. He then spent several years of postdoctoral training abroad at Umea University in Sweden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and George Washington University in USA, and MRC Mammalian Development Unit in London. He returned to Japan to join Meiji Institute of Health Science in 1984 and became a professor at National Institute of Genetics in 1991.
In 1999, Professor Nakatsuji moved to the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University, which aims at both basic and application research for regenerative medicine with special emphasis on the stem cell biology and medicine. His laboratory established ES cell lines from monkey blastocysts in 2000 and working on manipulation and utilisation of primate ES cells. Recently, he has been appointed as the founding director of the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), which is aiming at cross-disciplinary research and technological innovation based on cell biology, chemistry and physics, with special emphasis on meso-scale-control and stem cells.
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 Professor Martin Pera
Professor and Foundation Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative
Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of Southern California
Professor Martin Pera received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature from the College of William and Mary, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in pharmacology from George Washington University. Professor Pera carried out postdoctoral research at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, and was a research fellow at the Department of Zoology at Oxford University. Thereafter he moved to Australia where he became a research professor at the Monash Institute of Medical Research at Monash University, and the director of embryonic stem cell research at the Australian Stem Cell Centre.
He has provided extensive advice to state, national and international regulatory authorities on the scientific background to human embryonic stem cell research. Pera serves on the steering group of the International Stem Cell Initiative and is on the advisory board of the National Stem Cell Bank (United States) and ESTOOLS (European Union) and is a member of the standards committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. He is author of about 100 research publications and 14 issued patents and published patent applications.
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 Professor William M. Miller
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Professor Miller received a BS in chemical engineering from Lehigh University and an MS from MIT. After eight years in industry, he obtained a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Miller joined Northwestern in 1987; he was department chair from 2000-2005 and directs the Master of Biotechnology Program.
Professor Miller received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the US National Science Foundation. He chaired Cell Culture Engineering VII and the AIChE Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division. Professor Miller served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Stem Cell Network of Canada and the US National Research Council Task Group to evaluate NASA's Biotechnology Facility for the International Space Station. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers. Professor Miller has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. His research is focused on the ex vivo expansion and controlled differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for use in transplantation therapies. He is Editor of the Biochemical Engineering Journal and serves on editorial boards for Biotechnology Progress and Biotechnology and Bioengineering. |