Doctor Michael O'Connor
RESEARCH LECTURER,
School of Medicine
Personal
Qualifications
- PhD University of Sydney
- BSc University of Melbourne
UWS Organisational Unit (School / Division)
- School of Medicine
Contact
| Email: | M.O'Connor@uws.edu.au |
|---|---|
| Extension: | 3902 |
| Mobile: | |
| Location: | 30.2.18 Campbelltown |
| Website: |
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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.
This information has been contributed by Doctor O'Connor.
Publications
Chapters in Books
- O'Connor, M., Kardel, M. and Eaves, C. (2011), 'Functional assays for human embryonic stem cell pluripotency', Methods in Molecular Biology: Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy for Osteodegenerative Diseases, Humana Press/Springer 9781607619611.
Journal Articles
- O'Connor, M. and Muench, G. (2013), 'Induced pluripotent stem cells as tools for disease modelling and drug discovery in Alzheimer?s disease', Journal of Neural Transmission, 9.
- O'Connor, M., McDonald, H., Zeng, T., Hirst, M., Marra, M., Aparicio, S., Eaves, C., Wederell, E., Robertson, G., Delaney, A., Morozova, O., Poon, S., Yap, D., Fee, J. and Zhao, Y. (2011), 'Retinoblastoma-binding proteins 4 and 9 are important for human pluripotent stem cell maintenance', Experimental Hematology, 7925.
- Lu, M., Kardel, M., O'Connor, M. and Eaves, C. (2009), 'Enhanced generation of hematopoietic cells from human hepatocarcinoma-cell stimulated human embryonic stem cells', Experimental Hematology, 13.
- O'Connor, M., Kardel, M., Iosfina, M., Youssef, D., Lu, M., Li, M., Vercauteren, S., Nagy, A. and Eaves, C. (2008), 'Alkaline phosphatase-positive colony formation is a sensitive, specific and quantitative indicator of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells', Stem Cells, 8.
- Morin, R., Hirst, M., Eaves, C., Marra, M., O'Connor, M., Griffith, M., Kuchenbauer, F., Delaney, A., Prabhu, A., Zhao, Y., McDonald, H. and Zeng, T. (2008), 'Application of massively parallel sequencing to microRNA profiling and discovery in human embryonic stem cells', Genome Research, 12.
- Banuelos, C., Banath, J., MacPhail, S., Zhao, J., O'Connor, M., Eaves, C., Lansdorp, P. and Olive, P. (2008), 'Mouse but not human embryonic stem cells are deficient in repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation', DNA Repair, 13.
- O'Connor, M., Wederell, E., De Longh, R., Lovicu, F. and McAvoy, J. (2008), 'Generation of transparency and cellular organization in lens explants', Experimental Eye Research, 12.
- Hirst, M., Mah, D., Go, A., Morin, R., Baross, A., Zhao, A., Khattra, J., Prabhu, A., Pandoh, P., McDonald, H., Asano, J., Delanley, A., Dhalla, N., Ma, K., Lee, S., Ally, A., Chahal, N., Menzies, S., Siddiqui, A., Holt, R., Jones, S., Gerhard, D., Rogers, S., Thomson, J., Eaves, C., Marra, M., Schnerch, A., Persaud, D., O'Connor, M., Zeng, T., Moksa, M. and Fichter, K. (2007), 'LongSAGE profiling of nine human embryonic stem cell lines', Genome Biology, 1.
- Ungrin, M., O'Connor, M., Eaves, C. and Zandstra, P. (2007), 'Phenotypic analysis of human embryonic stem cells', Current Protocols in Stem Cells, .
- O'Connor, M. and McAvoy, J. (2007), 'In vitro generation of functional lens-like structures with relevance to age-related nuclear cataract', Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 8.
- Wederell, E., Brown, H., O'Connor, M., Chamberlain, C., McAvoy, J. and De Longh, R. (2005), 'Laminin-binding integrins in rat lens morphogenesis and their regulation during fibre differentiation.', Experimental Eye Research, 4.
Conference Papers
- O'Connor, M., Eaves, C., Yap, D., Fee, J., Zhao, Y., McDonald, H., Zeng, T., Hirst, M., Marra, M. and Aparicio, S. (2009), 'High-throughput siRNA screening of human embryonal carcinoma cells reveals novel genes required for maintenance of the stem cell state of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells', International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks Postdoctoral Symposium, Canada.
- O'Connor, M., Aparicio, S., Eaves, C., Wederell, E., Yap, D., Fee, F., Zhao, Y., McDonald, H., Zeng, T., Hirst, M. and Marra, M. (2009), 'Concurrent bioinformatic and biological investigations of gene expression datasets reveals novel genes that maintain human pluripotent stem cells', Stem Cells and Bioinformatics, Scotland.
- O'Connor, M., Li, M., Iosfina, I., Zhao, Y., McDonald, H., Zeng, T., Hirst, M., Marra, M. and Eaves, C. (2008), 'High resolution mRNA expression profiling of undifferentiated and early differentiating human embryonic stem cells using Illumina massively parallel sequencing', International Society for Stem Cell Research, Deerfield, Illinois, USA.
- O'Connor, M., Iosfina, I., Kardel, M., Youssef, D., Lu, M. and Eaves, C. (2007), 'Development, validation and specificity of a quantitative colony-forming cell assay for undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells', International Society for Stem Cell Research, Deerfield, Illinois, USA.
- O'Connor, M. and McAvoy, J. (2005), 'Reconstruction of the mammalian lens', International Society for Cellular Therapy, Vancouver, Canada.
- O'Connor, M., Schnerch, A., Khattra, J., Asano, J., Chan, S., Thomson, J., Marra, M. and Eaves, C. (2005), 'Gene expression profiling of human embryonic stem cells', International Society for Stem Cell Research, Deerfield, Illinois, USA.
- O'Connor, M. and McAvoy, J. (2003), 'Reconstruction of the mammalian lens', 6th International Conference on Cellular Engineering, .
Research
Previous Projects
| Title: | Establishment of animal product-free differentiation conditions for generating in vitro human lens epithelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells |
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| Years: | 2010-09-01 - 2011-08-31 |
| ID: | P00019196 |
| UWS Researchers: | Michael O'Connor |
| Funding: |
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| Title: | Chitosan conjugation for bioadhesives and stem cell culture |
| Years: | 2011-11-09 - 2012-11-08 |
| ID: | P00020495 |
| UWS Researchers: | Marion Gaborieau, Antonio Lauto and Michael O'Connor |
| Funding: |
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| Title: | Use of human pluripotent stem cells to investigate eye diseases |
| Years: | 2011-01-01 - 2011-12-31 |
| ID: | P00020307 |
| UWS Researchers: | Michael O'Connor |
| Funding: |
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