O'Brien Institute

Dr Alice Pébay joined the O’Brien Institute as a Senior Scientist in early 2010. She will be leading the Cardiac Differentiation Program of the Stem Cell Medicine Group. Dr Pébay completed her PhD in Neurosciences at the Collège de France – University of Paris, in the laboratory of Prof. Jacques Glowinski. She studied the roles of inflammatory lipids in the interactions between neurons and glial cells. After obtaining her PhD with highest distinction in 2001, she joined Prof. Martin Pera at Monash University in the first Australian research institute to undertake  research on human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Alice established the first animal-free and chemically defined culture medium for the growth of hESC. This work was translated into an international patent and has since generated further research papers and another international patent to generate matrices for hESC suitable for human applications. This work opened a new field of research for hESC biology and attracted international interest. In 2007, Alice joined the University of Melbourne to establish and co-head the Stem Cell Lab, focused on stem cells’ neural differentiation and on the role of inflammatory lipids. She has also developed a strong interest in the genetic disease Friedreich ataxia, and is currently co-heading a project aimed at obtaining inducedpluripotent stem (iPS) cells from Friedreich ataxia patients in order to study their neural and cardiac differentiation.