I completed my PhD studies in stem cells and hematopoiesis at the Australian National University. In 2009, I moved to Kyoto University under a Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship to specialise in artificial lymphoid tissue development. In 2011, I was awarded a 4 year NHMRC CJ Martin Biomedical Fellowship to continue research in both Japan and Australia. In 2015, I received NHMRC New Investigator Project Grant funding, and moved to Bond University where I am continuing research in spleen regeneration.

I am now head of the Lymphoid Tissue Regeneration Lab at the Clem Jones Centre for Regenerative Medicine. My research team focuses on spleen as a secondary lymphoid organ, and it’s ability to regenerate and support extramedullary hematopoiesis. Research in this area involves the use of spleen tissue grafting and regeneration models, isolating and transplanting hematopoietic stem cells, single cell sorting, and transcriptome profiling.

A range of student projects aiming to dissect the mechanisms of spleen regeneration are available in our lab. The projects combine cell sorting, graft transplantation, immunofluorescence microscopy and reporter/knockout mouse models to investigate three central questions:

• What is the lineage origin and potential of stromal organiser cells that induce spleen tissue regeneration?
• What are the minimal cell requirements for spleen development
• Which genes and ligand/receptor interactions confer tissue organising capacity to stromal cells?