The Developmental and Regenerative Biology (DRB) Thematic Research Program covers three specific, but complimentary, research areas listed below. Members are interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how embryos, tissues and stem cells are formed, develop, function and degenerate, and also how factors such as signalling molecules, hormones, growth factors and cytokines control these important processes. Research in these areas will help how we understand what is needed to recreate tissue and organs, including new drugs that could be used in regenerative medicine.
Developmental Biology
- Embryonic and fetal development and reproductive tract environment in health and diseases including prematurity, Hirschprung’s disease, neural crest defects, cardiac diseases and diabetic pregnancies.
- Development and regeneration of peripheral nerves, craniofacial development, deafness and eye diseases.
- Genetic and molecular basis of skeletal disorders
- Cell signaling in development and disease
Endocrinology
- Regulatory mechanisms of stem cell differentiation (microRNA, ion channels, long non-coding RNAs) and stem cell therapy in tissue regeneration.
- Generation, biological, genetic and genomic characterization, and clinical application of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, embryonic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC).
- Application of iPS cells as disease models including neurological diseases and cancers and as tools for drug discoveries.
- Stem cell biology and cell-based therapies
- Stem cell-based tissue engineering, biomaterials, artificial intelligence, deep learning, label-free cell tracking, musculoskeletal regeneration, orthopaedic research, small molecules and 3D microphysiological tissue models for regenerative medicine.
- Molecular regulation of stem cells in aging and age-related diseases
Stem Cells and Regenerative biology
- Investigating fundamental biological and mechanical factors that regulate stem cell proliferation, differentiation and developmental fate
- Use of stem cells and 3D scaffold-printing to generate tissues and organs for regeneration such bone fracture healing, cardiovascular and neural tissue repair etc.
- Reprograming normal and genetically abnormal somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) and using them as models to study human diseases and developmental processes
- Germline stem cell transdifferentiation for tissue regeneration
主题研究组
