The National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research (NCASCR) was established by the Australian Government to investigate the biology of adult stem cells and their application in cell transplantation therapies, disease biology and drug discovery.

Our goal is to understand the biology of adult stem cells and their clinical application for people with spinal cord injury and with brain disorders and diseases such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease and multiple sclerosis. Our novel technology uses stem cells from patients to better understand disease aetiology for new diagnostics and new therapies.

Our ultimate goal is regenerative medicine using the patient's own stem cells for autologous therapies, avoiding technical and ethical complications of other stem cells sources, including immune rejection.

We recently completed the world’s first clinical trial using autologous olfactory cell transplantation in human spinal cord injury – Professor Alan Mackay-Sim

• Our researchers are specialists in neurobiology, with expertise in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and behavioural neuroscience, and their application in cell transplantation therapies.
• Our collaborations bring together expertise across the disciplines from stem cell biology to drug discovery, from molecular and structural biology to systems biology and bioinformatics, from fundamental to clinical sciences.