Alan O. Trounson

Who is Alan O. Trounson?

Alan Trounson, Ph.D., is a biologist and President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine California's $3 billion stem cell agency. He was previously Professor of Stem Cell Sciences and the Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University, and retains the title of Emeritus Professor.

He introduced two world-first procedures which greatly improved the success rate of in-vitro fertilization. They were the use of a fertility drug to induce multiple ova and the freezing of embryos for future use. These procedures enabled more than 300,000 women worldwide to conceive successfully.

Professor Trounson made headlines in 1980 with the first IVF birth in Australia and afterwards set up the Monash team of Wood, Trounson, Leeton, Talbot and Kovacs. In 2000, he again made international headlines when he led the team which discovered that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells. This announcement led to a dramatic increase in interest in the potential of stem cells to cure a range of currently incurable diseases.

He was the Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of the National Biotechnology Centre of Excellence – ‘Australian Stem Cell Centre’, as well as Global Scientific Strategy Advisor.