PUBLIC TALK: Applications of iPS Cells in Science and Art

Dr. Michael Edel is an Australian with European nationality and is currently a tenure track Group Leader funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain. He completed his Bachelor of Science with honors in Anatomy and Human Biology and Physiology, his Post-Graduate Diploma in Education and his PhD in Pathology on the role of angiogenesis in breast cancer metastasis at the University of Western Australia (UWA). He is now group leader of the Control of Pluripotency Laboratory at the University of Barcelona, Faculty of Medicine.

His team works with adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) at a clinical grade level for research into new cell based treatments for heart disease, eye disease, neuronal disorders and spinal cord injury. The research seeks to define the role of cell cycle genes in pluripotency and cancer leading to a number of high impact publications (Nature Biotechnology 2008, Genes and Development, 2010; Stem Cells and Development, 2012). In collaboration with hospitals, he also models human disease using iPS cells, such as Retts syndrome and Atrial fibrillation to identify new directions to treat these diseases. Consequently, he is recognized as a Senior Research Fellow at University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine, Children's Hospital, Westmead, and NSW, AUSTRALIA.

Please refer to his group’s web page for more information: http://pluripotencylaboratory.wordpress.com/