Stem cells under the microscope

Having headed the Eli and Edythe Broad Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of Southern California for the past five years, Professor Pera has recently come back to Australia to take up the role of Head of the Stem Cell Research Centre at the Melbourne Brain Centre.

He is excited about this opportunity to work with his new team to focus on the use of stem cells to study how the human brain develops.

“We know that many important neurological disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy may have their origins in early brain development. For the first time we have the potential to study this process in man. Stem cells therefore provide powerful research tools to neuroscientists,” Professor Pera explains.

Professor Pera first became interested in stem cell research while he was studying a rare type of cancer.

“I was looking at a testicular germ cell tumour called teratocarcinoma, that occurs in young men. The question that interested me was what controls whether the cancer stem cells continue to grow as primitive unspecialised malignant cells, or turn into benign mature body tissues,” he says.

Professor Pera explains that the experience of researching a fascinating disease in humans in a clinical academic setting inspired him to become involved in stem cell research.

This interest took him to California, which had a world leading stem cell program with a unique funding model.

“I was Founding Director of the Broad Center at USC, and I was attracted by the challenge of building a new research institute and providing opportunities for a great group of young scientists,” he says.

Attracting bright, young scientists will be one integral part of Professor Pera’s new position as Director of the $21 million Stem Cells Australia project, an initiative which will position Australia as a major world player in stem cell research.

Professor Pera will head the nationwide consortium that includes the University of Melbourne, Monash University, Victor Chang Institute, University of Queensland, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, The Howard Florey Institute and CSIRO.

“The Stem Cells Australia (SCA) project will focus on pluripotent stem cell biology, regeneration and repair in the heart and the brain, and blood stem cells. I am very excited about the synergies this group can achieve, and about the possibility of using SCA as the framework on which to build a broadly based, world-class research program in stem cells and regenerative medicine in Australia,” he explains.

One of the important areas that Professor Pera is currently working on is pluripotent stem cell technology, which is revolutionising the way we study human biology and disease.

Research on human pluripotent stem cells began only about 13 years ago, but already there are clinical trials of stem cell products based on this technology, including a very promising approach to the treatment of macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness, being developed at the Broad Center in Los Angeles.

“The ability to create pluripotent stem cell lines with many of the properties of embryonic stem cells directly from patient tissue, through reprogramming of adult cells, has opened up vast possibilities for research and therapy,” he says.

Situated within a world-class facility and with an expert new team, Professor Pera will be able to advance his groundbreaking stem cell research and ensure that Australia continues to play a major role in an area that will have profound effects on health into the future.