Andrew Elefanty

Andrew Elefanty trained as a physician in medical oncology and completed a PhD in leukaemogenesis under the supervision of Prof Suzanne Cory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. The Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Laboratory at Monash University is headed jointly by Prof Elefanty and Prof Ed Stanley. Prof Elefanty's work has focused on hESC differentiation along mesodermal (blood, endothelium and heart) and endodermal (pancreas) lineages. The group has made significant contributions to the field in the culture of hESC, and they have developed a robust system for hESC differentiation. They have generated genetically modified human ESC lines in which fluorescent reporters have been introduced into key gene loci that allow objective monitoring of in vitro differentiation of hESC. A major goal of Prof Elefanty's work is to utilise hESC differentiation in order to understand human development, to generate tools for drug discovery, and eventually to provide a source of cells for therapy.