Spinal Cord Society of Australia

A/Prof Paul Simmons (Chairman)

Director of Stem Cell Biology, Browns Foundation, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center. Houston.

Prof. Stephen Livesey

CEO, Australian Stem Cell Centre.

Professor Stephen Livesey is a world leader in tissue regeneration. He has both the scientific and commercial experience to ensure that the highest quality strategic research is performed at the ASCC. After completing a medical degree and PhD at Melbourne University, Professor Livesey moved to Houston in the United States where he was a director of the Cryobiology Research Center and a Research Assistant Professor in the Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center. In 1986 he co-founded LifeCell Corporation, a leading company in regenerative medicine in the United States. In June 2003, the Australian Stem Cell Centre successfully repatriated Professor Livesey back to Australia as the Chief Scientific Officer. In July 2006, the Centre announced Professor Livesey's appointment as Chief Executive Officer.

A/Prof Jesse Owens

Biomedical Programme University of Alaska. Anchorage.

Dr. Jesse Owens is a professor at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska where he teaches Cell Physiology to medical students and maintains a research laboratory. His scientific training is in neuroscience with a strong emphasis on the development of synaptic function during nervous system formation and spinal cord injury repair. He directed the American Spinal Cord Society’s research laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado and established the foundations for the upcoming human trials that this group is currently setting up. He has been an advisor for the scientific program that is being developed by the Australian Spinal Cord society in collaboration with the National Stem Cell Center in Melbourne. Dr. Owens had more than a passing interest in this work; he sustained a spinal cord injury over 28 years ago and has been paraplegic since then. In addition to his scientific work he has invented and developed a number of original devices that allow people with mobility impairments to access wilderness or travel in countries where wheelchair accommodation is lacking.

Dr. Kathy Traianedes

Senior Scientist ASCC.

Dr Kathy Traianedes (Ph.D) has a research background in the molecular biology and cell biology of matrix, specifically in the bone field from the University of Melbourne, St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. Dr. Traianedes spent over seven years in the USA initially as a CJ Martin Fellow with post-doctoral positions at Harvard University, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio. This was followed by three years in industry at Osteotech Inc., one of the largest bone processing companies in the USA, as the Allograft Scientist undertaking collaborative research studies in bone matrix and a product development role. Prior to the PhD, Dr. Traianedes obtained a Masters Degree in Biochemistry working in Diabetes research.

Prof. Loane Skene

President of Academic Board, Melbourne Law School. Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Melbourne.

Professor Loane Skene is a Professor of Law in the Law Faculty, an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and a Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

She is Deputy Director of the Centre of Law and Genetics (University of Tasmania and University of Melbourne) and Director of the Medical Ethics Program of the Centre of Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) (Charles Sturt University and University of Melbourne).

Her publications include the widely used text, Law and Medical Practice: Rights, Duties, Claims and Defences, (Butterworths, 1st ed. 1998; LexisNexis, 2nd ed. 2004, 3rd ed. 2007, in preparation). She has served on many federal and state advisory committees, especially in relation to the legal regulation of genetic testing. She was Deputy Chair of the Committee established in 2005 by the Australian Government to review the federal legislation on human cloning and research involving human embryos (the Lockhart Committee). In 2003, she was awarded a Centenary Medal for 'Service to Australian Society through the Exploration of Legal and Ethical Issues of Health Care'.

Dr. Giles Plant

Director, Red's Spinal Cord Laboratory, University of Western Australia.

Dr Giles Plant currently is the Director of Red’s Spinal Cord Research Laboratory, Senior Lecturer and NHMRC RD Wright Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Perth. His postgraduate training (Ph.D., UWA) was in central nervous system injuries particularly looking at cell transplantation within the visual system. Dr Plant postdoctoral work was at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis (1996-1999) looking into the use of Schwann cell transplants to promote repair in the injured spinal cord. While in Miami he was also a member of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Research Consortium, a collection of 8 world leading laboratories collaborating in projects to repair the spinal cord. Dr Plant returned to Perth in 1999 to head the new Red’s spinal cord research laboratory. Current research topics being undertaken in the laboratory involve the transplantation of olfactory ensheathing glia, Schwann cells, and human bone marrow stromal cells to the injured spinal cord. This work is also complimented by the ongoing basic science work in the olfactory system (particularly olfactory glia) and their potential to myelinate axons, promote axonal growth and control neurogenesis.