Professor Ernst J. Wolvetang
Senior Group Leader, Stem Cell Engineering group
The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN),
University of Queensland
Professor Ernst Wolvetang uses human induced pluripotent stem cells to model brain and ageing diseases, to perform functional genomics and develop novel regenerative medicine approaches.
Prof. Wolvetang heads up the Stem Cell Engineering Laboratory at the AIBN at the University of Queensland (UQ) and co-directs the UQ Centre in Stem Cell Ageing and Regenerative Engineering.
He is a leader in the derivation, genome editing and disease modelling with human induced pluripotent stem cells, is the inaugural director of “Cell Reprogramming Australia”, and is a principal investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence “Stem Cells Australia”. He was awarded the 2014 LSQ regenerative medicine prize.
Professor David Coman (MBBS MPhil FRACP)
Clinical Geneticist, Metabolic Physician and
Consultant Paediatrician,
Griffith University
Prof. Coman’s area of expertise is in the diagnosis and management of children with rare diseases. David is a passionate rare disease advocate and engages with multiple rare disease support groups.
As well as involvement in Our Moon’s Mission: Cure SPG 56, Prof. Coman is currently involved in multiple research projects aimed at novel disease discovery, improved diagnostic testing and treatments for children with inherited genetic disorders.
He is director of a national clinic for Ataxia Telangiectasia and is an active research member of the Australian Genomic Health Alliance www.australiangenomics.org.au.
Professor Vicky Avery
Principal Research Leader & Head,
Discovery Biology,
Griffith University
Professor Avery is a world-recognised expert in drug discovery. Her team develops innovative approaches for high throughput screening, Hit-to-Lead and Lead Optimisation, with a focus on imaging. She gained significant industry experience at both AstraZeneca and Active Biotech AB, Sweden, where she contributed to the development of RhuDex® for rheumatoid arthritis and identified the molecular target of Laquinimod, a novel drug for multiple sclerosis, licensed.
Returning to academia, she established high-throughput high-content phenotypic screening at Griffith University (2007), and pioneered image-based drug discovery for parasitic diseases, contributing to 7 clinical candidates. As Head of the Griffith Drug Discovery Programme for Cancer Therapeutics, she contributed to new cancer treatments and landmark commercial deals with Merck (AUD$700M) and Pfizer (AUD$650M), further exemplifying her significant translational outcomes and impact.
Neil Hackett PhD
Independent Consultant, Genetic Medicine
Neil Hackett PhD, is an independent consultant based in Santa Monica, CA with extensive experience in pre-clinical and translational programs for gene therapy.
He currently works with research groups and foundations to navigate stem cell and gene therapy projects through pre-IND to IND. This includes project management, advising on proof-of-concept and toxicology studies, vector manufacturing and regulatory writing.
His background includes professorial appointments at Vanderbilt University and Weill-Cornell Medical College resulting in over 100 academic publications.
Dr Alex Cristino
Research Leader | Functional Genomics and Systems Biology Lab,
Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD),
Griffith University
Dr Alex Cristino is a molecular and computational biologist with extensive experience in interdisciplinary research using systems-based approaches to survey gene networks and pathways underpinning neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. These disease-associated genes and pathways are then further used as primary targets for drug discoveryand novel RNA-based therapies.
Dr Cristino is the Research Leader at Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD – Griffith University). His research has led to relevant contributions in the fields of genomics, neurological disorders, viral infection, and cancers. The over-arching goal is to develop an integrated platform to help design gene and cellular therapies for precision medicine.
Dr Hannah Leeson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology,
University of Queensland
Dr Leeson is an early career researcher focused on the fields of adult stem cell and neurobiology. During her PhD, she studied how calcium signalling pathways modulate neuronal survival and maturation in adult neural stem cell populations, particularly in the presence of inflammation and ischemic injury.
In her postdoctoral position at AIBN she derives stem cells from patient samples, and uses these stem cells to generate 2D and 3D neuronal models to study the biological and molecular mechanisms that cause neurological diseases.
She is currently studying the contributions of oxidative stress to the neuronal degeneration experienced by patients with Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T), and is heavily involved in using neuronal models to develop personalised medicine for drug resistant epilepsy
Dr. Jamila Iqbal
Research Fellow and Cell Biologist
Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD),
Griffith University
Jamila Iqbal is an early career researcher in Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD). She is an experienced cell biologist and her research focusses mainly on using olfactory stem cells derived from patients as a model to investigate the underlying mechanisms of neurological disease and screen for treatments to reverse the disease phenotype. She is working on developing image-based assays which can identify disease-relevant phenotypes in patient-derived cells to be used as biomarkers for drug screening.
In her PhD, she worked on small molecules probes which can inform about the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease. She used cytological profiling to investigate the cellular and subcellular phenotypes which can distinguish the idiopathic and genetic forms of Parkinson’s disease from healthy individuals. Currently, she is investigating cellular biomarkers for schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia.
Dr Elke Kaemmerer
Postdoctoral Researcher,
Discovery Biology,
Griffith University
Dr Kaemmerer is a cell biologist with strong expertise in assay development, high content imaging and high throughput screening. Throughout her career her focus was on different aspects of drug discovery and target identification.
During her PhD project, she established representative 3D cell culture models for ovarian cancer and high-resolution imaging. She then focused on the role of calcium signalling in breast cancer, to identify new therapeutic targets and to understand underlying mechanisms of drug-resistance before joining Prof Avery’s group.
In her current role as part of the Discovery Biology team she works on cell-based screening and lead-optimisation assays for various academic and commercial drug discovery programs. As part of this role, she is developing a high content imaging-assay to classify phenotypic cell features and changes thereof to be used as read-out for compound screening.
Dr Bilal Zulfiqar
Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
Discovery Biology,
Griffith University
Dr Bilal Zulfiqar is an early career researcher at Discovery Biology. During his PhD degree, Bilal identified and biologically characterized novel pharmacologically active compounds against Leishmaniasis using high-throughput, high-content screening assays.
After the completion of his degree, he joined the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) lead consortium team within Discovery Biology, where he utilized complex image-based high content assays for Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease to biologically profile lead molecules for progression through the drug discovery pipelines.
Currently, Bilal is actively involved in a variety of commercial projects focused on the development of multiplexed image-based assays used for cytological and phenotypic profiling to develop novel therapeutics.
In memory of those now passed
Vale Professor Alan Mackay-Sim AM
Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD)
2017 Australian of the Year
Griffith University
Professor Mackay-Sim is a neuroscientist using stem cells for two purposes: for understanding the biological causes of neurological and psychiatric diseases and for drug discovery. There is a great need for new treatments for brain diseases because the few drugs available treat only symptoms,not causes.
In his novel research Professor Mackay-Sim uses patient-derived stem cells, initially, to investigate the cellular and genetic causes of brain diseases, and then, to look for potential drugs that reverse the disease deficits in patient cells. Drugs that treat the “disease-in-a-dish” are then candidates for clinical trials in patients
