SEMINAR: �Analysis of human endoderm development using lineage specific reporter hESCs�

Ed Stanley completed his PhD under the supervision of Ashley Dunn at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, where he worked on hematopoietic growth factors and gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Following his PhD, Ed undertook post-doctoral studies in developmental biology at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London. On his return to Australia, Ed joined Richard Harvey’s cardiac developmental biology laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne. Together with Professor Andrew Elefanty, he is currently joint head of the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Laboratory at Monash University. The laboratory focuses on human embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation along mesodermal (blood, endothelium and heart) and endodermal (pancreas) lineages. As part of this effort, their group has developed methods for genetic modification and serum free differentiation of ESCs, facilitating analysis of cells as they differentiate to towards specific mesodermal and endodermal derivatives. A major goal of the work is to regulate hESC differentiation in order to understand human development, to generate tools for drug discovery, and eventually to provide a source of cells for therapy.