Dr Steve Dingwall

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Overview

I am working as part of an academic team on a project aimed at completing a Phase 1 Clinical Trial using pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for the treatment of “no-option” end stage heart failure. My primary role in the team is the development of a scalable bioreactor based process for the produciton of pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. This process has been developed to meet GMP and local regulatory requirements. Ancilliary to this, I have been wokring on the development and validation of safety assays in line with ICH guidelines for the clinical trial.

Research Impacts

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia, representing one in five deaths and accounting for approximately 443 hospitalizations per day. Heart failure costs Australia approximately $1 billion per annum. Following myocardial infarction (a heart attack) it is estimated that approximately 1 billion heart cells are lost. The loss of this heart muscle results in a decreased capacity for the heart to effectively pump blood through the body. Several clinical trials internationally have attempted to restore heart function using non cardiac cell types including skeletal myoblasts, bone marrow derived cells and mesenchymal stem cells. However, these clinical trials have yielded minimal improvements. Our team aims to be the first in Australia to try to replace this lost tissue with the very cell type that is lost following a heart attack (cardiomyocytes). These cardiomyocytes are produced from induced pluripotent stem cells, through a process with the potential to yield the high number of cells required to replace the lost tissue. Preclinical data from our team and others internationally indicates a strong potential for this therapy.

Publications

  • Selvakumar, Dinesh, Clayton, Zoe E., Prowse, Andrew, Dingwall, Steve, Kim, Sul Ki, Reyes, Leila, George, Jacob, Shah, Haisam, Chen, Siqi, Leung, Halina H. L., Hume, Robert D., Tjahjadi, Laurentius, Igoor, Sindhu, Skelton, Rhys J. P., Hing, Alfred, Paterson, Hugh, Foster, Sheryl L., Pearson, Lachlan, Wilkie, Emma, Marcus, Alan D., Jeyaprakash, Prajith, Wu, Zhixuan, Chiu, Han Shen, Ongtengco, Cherica Felize J., Mulay, Onkar, McArthur, Jeffrey R., Barry, Tony, Lu, Juntang, Tran, Vu ... Chong, James J. H. (2024). Cellular heterogeneity of pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte grafts is mechanistically linked to treatable arrhythmias. Nature Cardiovascular Research, 1-21. doi: 10.1038/s44161-023-00419-3

  • Selvakumar, D., Clayton, Z., Prowse, A., Dingwall, S., George, J., Shah, H., Paterson, H., Jeyaprakesh, P., Wu, Z., Campbell, T., Kotake, Y., Turnbull, S., Nguyen, Q., Grieve, S., Palpant, N., Pathan, F., Kizana, E., Kumar, S., Gray, P. and Chong, J. (2022). Cellular heterogeneity of pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocyte grafts is mechanistically linked to treatable arrhythmias. 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 11-14 August 2022. Chatswood, NSW Australia: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2022.06.004

  • Quek, Hazel, Luff, John, Cheung, KaGeen, Kozlov, Sergei, Gatei, Magtouf, Lee, C. Soon, Bellingham, Mark C., Noakes, Peter G., Lim, Yi Chieh, Barnett, Nigel L., Dingwall, Steven, Wolvetang, Ernst, Mashimo, Tomoji, Roberts, Tara L. and Lavin, Martin F. (2016). Rats with a missense mutation in Atm display neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration subsequent to accumulation of cytosolic DNA following unrepaired DNA damage. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 101 (4), 927-947. doi: 10.1189/jlb.4VMA0716-316R

View all Publications

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Selvakumar, D., Clayton, Z., Prowse, A., Dingwall, S., George, J., Shah, H., Paterson, H., Jeyaprakesh, P., Wu, Z., Campbell, T., Kotake, Y., Turnbull, S., Nguyen, Q., Grieve, S., Palpant, N., Pathan, F., Kizana, E., Kumar, S., Gray, P. and Chong, J. (2022). Cellular heterogeneity of pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocyte grafts is mechanistically linked to treatable arrhythmias. 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 11-14 August 2022. Chatswood, NSW Australia: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2022.06.004

  • Quek, H., Luff, J., Cheung, K., Kozlov, S., Gatei, M., Lee, C. S., Bellingham, M., Noakes, P., Lim, Y. C., Barnett, N., Dingwall, S., Wolvetang, E., Mashimo, T., Roberts, T. and Lavin, M. (2016). Neuroinflammation drives the neuronal degenerative phenotype in a rat model of Ataxia-telangiectasia. International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Melbourne, Australia, Aug 21-26, 2016. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley - V C H Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. doi: 10.1002/eji.201670200

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)