Senior Scientific Faculty

Professor Andrew Elefanty (Deputy Chair)
Professor Andrew Elefanty is the Joint Laboratory Head of the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Laboratory of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories.

The laboratory has focused on human embryonic stem cell differentiation along mesodermal (blood, endothelium and heart) and endodermal (pancreas) lineages. The group has made significant contributions to the field in the culture of human embryonic stem cells, and they have developed a robust system for the efficient differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, complemented by the development of a safe animal product free medium in which human embryonic stem cell differentiation can be reproducibly directed to different lineages by the inclusion of specific growth factors. The group has generated genetically modified human embryonic stem cells lines in which fluorescent reporters have been introduced into key gene loci that allow objective monitoring of in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells in a logical, step-wise fashion.

A major goal of their work is to regulate human embryonic stem cell differentiation in order to understand human development, to generate tools for drug discovery, and eventually to provide a source of cells for therapy.

Professor Peter Gray
Professor Peter Gray was appointed in 2003 as the inaugural Director of the Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland. Professor Gray is Professor of Biotechnology at the University of New South Wales, and was Director of the Bioengineering Centre, UNSW and Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. He has held academic positions at University College London and at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Gray has had commercial experience in the USA working for Eli Lilly and Co and the Cetus Corporation.

Professor Gray is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Institution of Engineers Australia. He was one of the founders and is a past President of the Australian Biotechnology Association (AusBiotech). Professor Gray serves on the Boards of Biopharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd, ACYTE Biotechnology Pty Ltd and the Advanced Water Management Centre, and on a number of government committees in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and education. He is a regular reviewer and consultant for public and private sector research initiatives in Australia and overseas.

Professor Richard Harvey
Professor Richard Harvey, PhD, FAA (Australia), received his PhD in 1982 under supervision of the late JRE Wells from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Adelaide. After further training at Harvard University for 3 years and spending 10 years at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, he joined the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) in 1998, where he is currently Co-Deputy Director and Head of the Developmental Biology Division.

Professor Harvey’s research interests include cardiac developmental biology and stem cells and he is a Research Project Director of the Australian Stem Cell Centre. In 2001, he received the Hazel Croke Research Award from the NHF; in 2004, the RT Hall Prize, the highest senior investigator award of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand; in 2005, the Julian Wells Medal and Oration, conferred by the Executive Committee of the Lorne Genome Meeting; and in 2007 the Evelyn Hall Award of the National Heart Foundation. In 2007 he was elected member of the Australian Academy of Science. He is on the editorial boards of Developmental Cell, Developmental Biology, Developmental Dynamics, Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine and Stem Cell Research.

Dr Andrew Laslett
Andrew and his team joined CSIRO Molecular Health Technologies in August 2009 and they remain based at the ASCC in Clayton. Prior to this he was a Senior Scientist and Group Leader of the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Technology Laboratory at the ASCC. Dr Laslett’s research compares human embryonic stem cells to human induced pluripotent stem cells and is focused on exploiting the basic biology of these cell types to create novel tools that enhance pluripotent cell research translation. He leads an independent program as well as having significant national and international collaborations.

In September 2007, Dr Laslett was elected as a Board Member and Director of the Australian Society of Medical Research (ASMR). Dr Laslett’s research is supported by the Australian Stem Cell Centre, the NHMRC, the Victoria California Stem Cell Alliance (Victorian Government and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) and the NSW / Victorian Government Stem Cell Research Grant Program.

Professor Melissa Little
Professor Little is Group Leader of the Renal Development and Disease Laboratory at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), The University of Queensland (UQ). Her research focuses on the molecular genetics of kidney development and the causes of renal disease, with the aim of developing stem cell technology for use in kidney regeneration. She has published over 80 articles in this area. Professor Little established the Renal Regeneration Consortium, a panel of national experts that works towards developing novel strategies for kidney regeneration. A direct outcome of this initiative was the incorporation of Nephrogenix Pty Ltd, which is developing cell-based therapies for renal disease.

Throughout her career, Professor Little’s achievements have been recognised by awards such as the Australian Academy of Sciences Gottschalk Medal in Medical Sciences (2004), the GlaxoSmithKline Award for Research Excellence (2005), and the Smart State Smart Women Award (2006). In 2006, she was awarded a prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, which recognised her contribution to both the commercial and academic sectors.

Associate Professor Susie Nilsson
In July 2009 Associate Professor Susie Nilsson (nee Begg) joined CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies but along with her team remains based in the ASCC laboratories. Prior to this, Associate Professor Nilsson was the head of the Niche Laboratory at the Australian Stem Cell Centre having moved from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre at the end of 2005, where she was head of the Microenvironment Laboratory within the Stem Cell Program.

Associate Professor Nilsson’s underpinning scientific objective has been to characterise the haemopoietic stem cell niche. She developed an in vivo cell tracking model to identify haemopoietic stem cells (HSC) in situ and was one of the first investigators to provide convincing evidence that HSC preferentially seek and reside within the endosteal region of the bone marrow.

Associate Professor Nilsson is the author of 45 publications, including 32 in the past 10 years. During this time she has been invited to submit five peer reviewed papers and five book chapters. 

In the past decade, she been awarded six patents, all of which are at various stages from provisional applications to national phase. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Experimental Haematology and a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

Associate Professor Ernst Wolvetang
Associate Professor Wolvetang leads the human embryonic stem cell engineering group within the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland. Previously, he was head of the Basic Human Embryonic Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC) and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Monash University. Between 1997 and 2006, Associate Professor Wolvetang was located at the Centre for Early Human Development in the Institute for Reproduction and Development, Monash University, initially looking at the role that ETS2 plays a role in immune cell destruction, neuronal apoptosis and transcriptional regulation of the amyloid precursor gene.