Cellular Reprogramming Unit

The Cellular Reprogramming Unit uses cell reprogramming, stem cell and genetic technologies to better understand and develop treatments for eye diseases, with the goal of regenerating cells in the eye.

We are located at the Centre for Eye Research Australia and Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Australia.

Research

The Cellular Reprogramming Unit is devoted to developing regenerative therapies and gene therapies to treat retinal degeneration. In our research, we work with advanced techniques such as direct reprogramming, human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and single cell transcriptomics. Our goal is to better understand and control cell fate decisions in the eye. This allows us to develop new ways to generate human retinal cells in the lab, which can be used to study the mechanism underlying retinal diseases, tissue engineering and transplantation.

New book: Advances in using stem cells to treat neural diseases

New publication: Cell therapy to treat blindness caused by corneal damages

Research impact highlighted by Retina Australia: Gene therapy using cell reprogramming to treat blindness

Preprints

Cell counting and cell cycle analysis of Simple Non-Cultured Endothelial Cell Injection (SNEC-I) therapy: Characterization toward clinical translation

Ting D, Peh G, Neo D, Ng X, Tan B, Wong R, Ong H, Mehta J (2025) Cell counting and cell cycle analysis of Simple Non-Cultured Endothelial Cell Injection (SNEC-I) therapy: Characterization toward clinical translation. Cells, accepted 2025.06.27 (IF=5.1)