2010 Annual Report - Institute for Molecular Bioscience - University ...

imb annual report 2010
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consideration. This is a very powerful
approach to biology which enables
gene function to be elucidated based
upon the high-throughput analysis of
phenotypes (“phenomics”).
AUSTRALIAN STEM CELL CENTRE
The Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC)
is a national research and funding
facility set up by the ARC, the Victorian
Department of Industry, Innovation and
Regional Development, and the Federal
Department of Education, Science and
Training. The ASCC is primarily based
at Monash University, but through the
guidance of the Scientific Management
Advisory Committee (SMAC) and a
process of due diligence, the ASCC
funds research which falls within its
core expertise platform areas or its
therapeutic focus areas. The IMB
has very close links with the ASCC.
Professor Brandon Wainwright served
on the Board from April 2009 until
October 2010. Professor Melissa Little
spent a period as Chief Scientific Officer,
responsible for developing strategy,
scientific review and management, and
developed a Queensland division of the
ASCC based at UQ. She is a member
of the Centre’s Senior Scientific Faculty,
a group of eminent and internationally
regarded Australian researchers who
monitor scientific progress, provide
advice to the ASCC and act as the
key public scientific spokespeople.
The Centre distributes its funds to
collaborative groups of researchers in
four key areas, known as streams, of
stem cell research. Professor Little is
Deputy Leader of Collaborative Stream
4: Adult Stem Cell Program. She is also
leader of a module within this stream
that aims to further characterise the
origin and properties of endogenous
renal MSCs and investigate their role in
responding to renal damage. Professor
Little is leader of another module,
“Regenerative Therapies for Renal
Repair”. This module is in Stream 3:
Pluripotent Stem Cell Differentiation.
Professor Little is screening for novel
chemical compounds that can direct
stem cells to form a kidney. One of
Professor Little’s PhD students, Caroline
Hopkins, won an International Travel
Award from the ASCC, designed to
allow junior researchers to attend
international stem cell meetings.
Professor Sean Grimmond is also funded
by the ASCC. He is leader of a module
in Stream 2. This stream focuses on
understanding reprogramming of cells
and the introduction of pluripotency.
Professor Grimmond’s module is
defining the underlying genetics of
these processes. He is also a Chief
Investigator on a project supported
by the ASCC’s Strategic Development
Fund. He, along with Dr Christine Wells
from Griffith University and Professor
Doug Hilton from the Walter and Eliza
Hall Institute, is developing a database
containing multiple datasets of genetic
information across stem cell lines to help
Australian scientists to better compare
the chracteristics of different types of
stem cells.
NETWORK FOR PANCREATIC
ORGAN DONORS WITH DIABETES
(NPOD)
nPOD is an initiative of the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation
International (JDRF) and brings together
organ procurement organisations,
academic institutions and leading
diabetes researchers from Europe and
America. IMB’s Dr Brad Marsh is an
investigator in the Pathology category.
Dr Marsh studies the 3D characterisation
of islet cell function and dysfunction.
nPod aims to improve the procurement
of pancreatic tissue specifically from
patients and donors at high risk of
developing type 1 diabetes. It is the first
trial of its kind anywhere in the world
and it is hoped that it will improve our
understanding of the onset and progress
of type 1 diabetes. Together with
Professors Thomas Kay at St Vincent’s
Institute and Peter Colman at the Royal
Melbourne Hospital, one goal of the
nPOD program is to establish a similar
initiative among groups leading type 1
diabetes research within Australia.
QUEENSLAND FACILITY FOR
ADVANCED BIOINFORMATICS
(QFAB)
QFAB is based at the IMB and was
established in 2006 with a $1.9 million
Queensland State Government grant
that has been leveraged to provide $9
million worth of resources available
for client projects. It supports the
bioinformatics requirements of the
biotechnology, pharmaceutical,
clinical and research communities by
providing broad expertise and access
to large databases, high-performance
computing and storage, and to specialist
software and services. Since beginning
operations, it has completed over 50
projects with another 15 underway. IMB
projects on which QFAB has worked
include helping to find the basis for
childhood obesity (KOALA), building a
database for spider venom research and
analysis of a transposon-based forward
genetic screen. QFAB has helped
researchers attract $52.7 million in grant
funding to Queensland.
RIKEN/FANTOM
RIKEN is the Institute for Physical and
Chemical Sciences of the Japanese
Science and Technology Agency, and
a major site of genomics research in
Japan. The RIKEN Genome Sciences
Centre is based at Yokohama, Japan’s
second-largest city, and Wako, both
in the Tokyo area. In the late 1990s,
RIKEN established a program aimed at
elucidating the complete transcriptional
output of the mouse. More recently,
the program has shifted focus towards
the elucidation of transcriptional control
networks. Both activities have involved
the establishment of large international
consortia, firstly the FANTOM consortium
(Functional Annotation of Mouse), and
more recently the Genome Network
consortium. The consortium has
previously published a comprehensive
analysis of the human and mouse
transcriptome and a series of papers
on gene control in mammals. IMB
researchers were involved as authors
and senior authors on these papers.