Role
The Stem Cell Therapies Mission Expert Advisory Panel EAP was appointed in May 2019 to provide the Minister for Health with advice on the strategic priorities for research investment through this mission. Its role was to define evidence and knowledge gaps that required addressing through mission research funding to assist in transforming health care and health outcomes for individuals and communities. This role included the definition of key research questions that, if answered, would deliver meaningful change to patients through the translation of research.
EAP members consulted and engaged with other researchers, industry and consumer/patient groups and participated in media and public activities to build awareness of and facilitate interaction with the mission and with other MRFF-funded research.
Further information on the roles and responsibilities of MRFF EAPs can be found in the MRFF Mission Governance resource.
Members
The EAP was independently chaired by 2 co-chairs and included members appointed for their expertise in research, clinical, commercial or community aspects of stem cell medicine. It ceased in September 2021. The following information, including declarations of interest, was current until the EAP ceased.
|
Member |
Background and experience |
Declarations of interest |
|
Professor Melissa Little (Co-Chair) |
Professor Little is Theme Director of Cell Biology at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. |
Member of the Board, Research Australia. President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (2021-2022). ARC, NHMRC and MMRF grant funding recipient. |
|
Professor Mark Kendall (Co-Chair) |
Professor Kendall is Entrepreneurial Fellow Professor at the Australian National University and Chief Executive Officer at WearoptimoTM Enterprise. |
Founder of WearoptimoTM. MRFF grant funding recipient. |
|
Dr Dan Grant |
Dr Dan Grant was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MTPConnect (MedTech and Pharma Growth Centre). |
Employed by MTPConnect. |
|
Associate Professor Pritinder Kaur |
Associate Professor Kaur is a Group Leader/Lab Head in the Curtin Medical School at Curtin University. |
Member of the Board, Australasian Society for Dermatology Research. MRFF grant funding recipient. |
|
Professor Maria Kavallaris AM |
Professor Kavallaris is Head of the Tumour Biology and Targeting Program at Children’s Cancer Institute and Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW Sydney. |
Member of Australian Institute of Policy and Science and the Australian Society of Medical Research. Consultant to Inventia Pty Ltd. ARC, NHMRC and MRFF grant funding recipient. |
|
Professor Simon Koblar |
Professor Koblar is a professor at the Adelaide Medical School within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide. |
Lead of a program of research and clinical trials in stroke and regenerative medicine at the University of Adelaide. |
|
Professor Megan Munsie |
Professor Munsie is an Academic Specialist in the Anatomy and Neuroscience Department of the University of Melbourne. |
Member of the Australian Academy of Science, Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research and International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy. Lead of a program of research exploring the societal, ethical and regulatory issues of stem cell and regenerative medicine at the University of Melbourne. Member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Non-executive director of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. ARC and MRFF grant funding recipient. |
|
Professor Iona Novak |
Professor Novak is Head of Research at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute, University of Sydney. |
Member of Cerebral Palsy Alliance. |
|
Dr Siok Tey |
Dr Tey is the Team Head of Translational Cancer Immunotherapy at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. |
Employed by QIMR Berghofer as the Medical Director of Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics. Lead of a program of research in cell and gene therapy at QIMR Berghofer. NHMRC funding recipient. |
|
Dr Christine Walker
|
Dr Walker is a Senior Fellow at the Department of Medicine at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne. |
Member of numerous consumer organisation boards including epilepsy, genomics and healthcare reform. Member of Commonwealth Department of Health Advisory Committees. Employed by the Chronic Illness Alliance Inc. |
|
Professor Stephanie Watson |
Professor Watson is a professor at the Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney. |
Chair of The Opthalmic Research Institute of Australia (2021). Chair of Australian Vision Research (2021). Lead of a program of research in stem cell treatment for corneas. Advisor to Okogen Pty Ltd. ARC, NHMRC and philanthropic grant funding recipient. |
|
Members declarations were accurate at the time of the panel cessation. No conflicts of interest required action beyond ‘register’ as defined in the MRFF Declaration of Interest Policy Statement. |
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Related committees and groups
The Stem Cell Therapies Mission EAP reported to the Minister for Health.
The Health and Medical Research Office provided secretariat support to the EAP.
