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Board
of
Directors

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StemCore Board of Directors is comprised of individuals with decades of successful academic research, translation, and commercial experience driving stem cell technology translation to clinical outcomes

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EMERITUS PROFESSOR GRAHAM MACDONALD
AM, MD, BS, BSc (MED), FRACP, FRCP, FANZCC

Chairman of the Board

Professor Macdonald brings his valuable experience in clinical medicine and basic biomedical science. He spent 28 years in academic nephrology before moving into the pharmaceutical industry with Merck Sharp and Dohme (Australia). Since his retirement in 2007, Professor Macdonald has been engaged in biotechnology consulting projects and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Australian Stem Cell Centre, Chairman of Vectus Biosciences Limited and non-executive Deputy Chairman of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. In June 2012, Professor Macdonald received an Australian Queen’s Birthday Honour in the General Division of the Order of Australia for ‘service to the biomedical research in the areas of hypertension and renal disease, to medical education, to the promotion and awareness raising of organ donation, and as a mentor’.

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STEPHEN DENARO
B.BUS., CA MAICD, GradDipAppCorpGov

Company Secretary

Stephen has a wealth of expertise in accountancy and Board corporate governance. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Stephen has held positions as Company Secretary or Chief Financial Officer of various start-up technology and public companies and major chartered accountancy firms both in Australia and the UK.

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PROFESSOR CAROLINE GARGETT
B Appl Sci, M Appl Sci, PhD

Director

Professor Caroline Gargett is a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Fellow, Theme Leader of Women’s Health and heads the Endometrial Stem Cell Biology Group at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. She is also an Adjunct Professor in Monash University Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She is a Director of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and Chairs its Science and Ethics Committee, and is a Scientific Advisory Board Member of the Centre for Commercialisation of Regenerative Medicine, Australia. Professor Gargett discovered and has characterised adult stem/progenitor cells in the highly regenerative lining of the uterus (endometrium) and investigates their role in endometriosis. She also leads an interdisciplinary research program investigating a cell-based therapy for Pelvic Organ Prolapse using endometrial MSCs and novel biomaterials.

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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR NGAIRE ELWOOD
PhD

Director

Associate Professor Ngaire Elwood AM PhD is the Director of the BMDI Cord Blood Bank in Melbourne, a TGA-licensed, FACT-accredited GMP cell manufacturing facility, and is a member of the TGA Advisory Committee on Biologicals. Ngaire also heads the Cord Blood Advanced Therapies Research Laboratory in the Stem Cell Medicine Theme at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She is passionate about exploiting the full therapeutic potential of cord blood, creating Australia’s first GMP-compliant iPSC Master Cell Bank from cord blood, and is a collaborator on several clinical trials using cord blood for regenerative therapies. Ngaire holds a diverse Board portfolio, including board member of the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. Ngaire was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in October 2022 and was made a Member of the Order of Australia AM in the 2024 Australia Day Honours awards for significant service to medicine, particularly through stem cell research.

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PROFESSOR JAMES HUDSON
PhD

Director

James completed a Bachelor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, a PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Queensland followed by a postdoc in Goettingen, Germany. Subsequently, he ran a lab together with Enzo Porrello at UQ, before relocating to QIMR Berghofer. James’ lab has brought together engineering and cell biology disciplines to develop human cardiac organoid screening platforms. He is now generating a ‘Cardiopedia’ aiming to provide a comprehensive map of the molecular processes governing cardiac function. From this basic biology his lab is working on translation of some key therapeutic candidates for heart failure and precisely targeting those to the patients that will benefit most. James regularly publishes in top journals in his field and is an inaugural recipient of the Snow Medical Fellowship in 2021.

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