BSc (Hons), PhD
Contact details for Dr Stephen Wood
Biography
Dr Wood has long been interested in the molecular mechanisms determining the fate of stem cells, in both the embryo and adult. During the course of his studies he has acquired expertise in many aspects of molecular, cell and developmental biology. During his PhD studies at the University of Sydney, he generated transgenic mouse models to investigate the role of oncogenes in lymphomas. Then followed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany, where he genetically manipulated mouse embryonic stem cells to identify genes regulating gastrulation (the generation of the three germ layers) and neurulation (initiation of the nervous system). During a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Queensland and later as a lab head at the University of Adelaide he has continued his study of genes regulating the self-renewal of stem cells, including neural stem cells. He is extending these studies at the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research as Group leader for Stem Cell Biology.
Research Expertise
- Culture and manipulation of mouse embryonic stem cells
- Culture and manipulation of human neural stem cells
- Directed differentiation of stem cells
- Cell and molecular biology of neural stem cells
- Early post-implantation mouse embryogenesis
- Development of mammalian central nervous system