Stem cell pioneer joins science exodus
(wz) Australia has lost another of its leading scientists, with the appointment of stem cell and IVF pioneer Alan Trounson to a position in the US.
Professor Trounson, 61, who helped derive some of the earliest human embryonic stem cell colonies in the late-1990s, is widely regarded as the country’s top stem cell scientist.
The internationally respected director of Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories is the latest in a growing list of senior medical researchers who have joined the brain drain overseas for better wages and greater opportunities.
He will take up the role of president of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine later this year. With a $US3 billion budget, the program is the largest research effort in the world devoted to human embryonic stem cells, which many scientists believe can help develop therapies for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
“It doesn’t get bigger than this,” Professor Trounson told The Sunday Age yesterday. “This is the biggest job in stem cells in the world. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to help … make stem cell therapies a reality.” more…
From: »The Age« (Australia)