Lecturer Dr. Michael O'Connor

Michael OConnor

Research Lecturer in Regenerative Medicine

Biography

Michael is interested in using human stem cells to better understand normal human development and disease progression. His current research activity makes use of human pluripotent stem cells (i.e. cells that can produce any cell type of the body) to learn more about cataract, a variety of conditions that involve degradation of the ocular lens leading to blindness.

Michael obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2005, creating an animal-based culture system that can regenerate functional ocular lenses in the laboratory. Upon completing his PhD Michael undertook postdoctoral studies in Vancouver (Canada), where he identified new genes and mechanisms that help maintain the developmental potential of human pluripotent stem cells. Michael has received numerous awards for his work in both the lens and human pluripotent stem cell fields, and together these diverse areas of expertise provide a unique opportunity to understand lens and cataract development using human cells.

Throughout his career, Michael has also maintained an interest in translating academic research findings into biotechnology or clinical applications, through interactions with both Australian and Canadian biotechnology companies.

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells
  • Lens Development
  • Cataract

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Current Projects

  • Mechanisms of pluripotency
  • Lens and cataract development
  • Retinal development and macular degeneration

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Grants

  • $11,580 International Research Initiatives Scheme, UWS, “Chitosan conjugation for bioadhesives and stem cell culture”, Nov 2011-Mar 2012
  • $22,000 Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, “Use of human pluripotent stem cells to investigate eye diseases”, M. O’Connor. Nov 2010-Nov 2011
  • $242,417 UWS College of Health and Science: “Establishment of a zebrafish housing and microinjection research facility”, O’Connor, et al. Oct 2010
  • $30,000 The MAWA Trust: “Establishment of animal product-free differentiation conditions for generating in vitro human lens epithelial cells from hPSCs”, M. O’Connor. Sep 2010-Aug 2011
  • Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to ocular lens epithelium.
    University of Western Sydney establishment grant. 2010
  • CND$150,000 Investigation of human embryonic stem cell culture conditions using gene expression profiling analysis. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Industry Fellowship, 2006
  • $63,000 Reconstruction of the mammalian lens. NHMRC Dora Lush Biomedical Scholarship, 2001

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Awards and Recognition

  • Elected Secretary, Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research, 2010-2012
  • Elected Vice-President, Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research, 2013-2014
  • Canadian Stem Cell Network Travel Award, 2009
  • International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks Travel Award, 2009
  • Invited Finalist, 10th Annual Royan Institute Award, 2009
  • Invited Finalist, STEM CELLS Journal, 3rd Annual Young Investigator Award, 2008
  • International Society for Cellular Therapy Special Travel Award, 2005
  • Santos Travel Grant, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference, 2004
  • 1st Prize, 6th International Conference on Cellular Engineering, 2003
  • John Irvine Hunter Research Prize, University of Sydney, Australia, 2003

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Selected Publications

O’Connor, MD. The 3R principle: advancing clinical application of human pluripotent stem cells. Accepted, Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2013.

O’Connor, MD. Ooi, L. Sidhu, K. Poljak, A. Sutherland, G. O’Connor, MD. Sachdev, P. Muench, G. Induced pluripotent stem cells as tools for disease modelling anddrug discovery in Alzheimer’s disease. Accepted, J of Neural Transmission (I.F. 2.597; B)

O’Connor, MD. Stem cells: a glimpse of the future. Australian Optometry. Invited editorial, March 2012 issue.

O’Connor, MD. Novel ocular therapies from new cell sources. Australian Optometry Pharma. Invited review, March 2012 issue.

O’Connor, MD. et al. Retinoblastoma-binding proteins 4 and 9 are important for human pluripotent stem cell maintenance. Exp. Hematol. 2011. 39(8):866-79. (I.F. 3.147; ERA: A).  

O'Connor, MD. Kardel, M. Eaves, CJ. Functional assays for human embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Methods in Molecular Biology: "Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy for Osteodegenerative Diseases". In Press.

O’Connor, MD. Kardel, M. Iosfina, I. Youssef, D. Lu, M. Li, MM. Vercauteren, S. Nagy, A. Eaves, CJ. Alkaline phosphatase-positive colony formation is a sensitive, specific and quantitative indicator of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells. 2008. 26:1109-16.

Morin, R. O’Connor, MD. Griffith, M. Kuchenbauer, F. Delaney, A. Prabhu, A-L. Zhao, Y. McDonald, H. Zeng, T. Hirst, M. Eaves, CJ. Marra, MA. Application of massively parallel sequencing to microRNA profiling and discovery in human embryonic stem cells. Genome Res. 2008. 18:610-21.

Ungrin, M. O’Connor, MD. Eaves, CJ. Zandstra, P. Phenotypic analysis of human embryonic stem cells. In: Current Protocols in Stem Cells. 2007. 2:1B.3.1-1B.3.25.

Hirst, M. Delaney, A. Rogers, SA. Schnerch, A. Persaud, DR. O'Connor, MD. et. al. LongSAGE profiling of nine human embryonic stem cell lines. Genome Biol. 2007. 8(6):R113.

O’Connor, MD. Wederell, ED. de Iongh, R. Lovicu, FJ. McAvoy, JW. Generation of Transparency and Cellular Organization in Lens Explants. Exp. Eye Res. 2008. 86(5):734-45.

O’Connor, MD. McAvoy JW. In vitro generation of functional lens-like structures with relevance to age-related nuclear cataract. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2007. 48(3):1245-52.

Wederell, ED. Brown, H. O’Connor, MD. Chamberlain, CG. McAvoy, JW. de Iongh, RU. Laminin-binding integrins in rat lens morphogenesis and their regulation during fibre differentiation. Exp. Eye Res. 2005. 81(3):326-39.

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Memberships

  • Canadian Stem Cell Network Policy Development Committee Inaugural Member, 2006-2008
  • Organizing Committee, Human embryonic stem cell workshop, International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks, Cairns, Australia, 2007
  • Member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2005-ongoing

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