Repairing brains: The power of stem cells

UQ’s Professor Ernst Wolvetang works with stem cells, genetically manipulating them into ‘organoids’ – small mimics of organs that capture both their cellular diversity and function – with brain organoids enabling transformative new insights into human brain development and disease.

Join Professor Wolvetang at our next BrisScience, where he’ll highlight the current state and the future directions of stem-cell-based technologies, and discuss the ethical implications and opportunities for improved healthcare solutions.

Watch the recording

Meet the presenter

Professor Ernst Wolvetang is a senior group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and directs the Australian Organoid facility at The University of Queensland. He leads a research team that employs human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain organoids as in vitro disease models for monogenic and complex neurological diseases. Leveraging these “human brain in a dish” models and advanced genome engineering approaches he aims to understand how genetic mutations cause diseases that affect the brain during development and during the ageing process, and to identify and test therapeutic approaches that can improve patient health outcomes.