Dr Huseyin Sumer

Biography

Dr Huseyin Sumer attended the University of Melbourne for his undergraduate studies. He obtained his PhD at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute from the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne in Prof KH Andy Choo’s laboratory working on centromere biology. Following the successful completion of his PhD on the chromatin organisation of mammalian centromeres in 2004, he was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Peter Doherty Biomedical training fellowship and undertook stem cell research in Prof Paul Verma’s laboratory at the Centre for Reproduction and Development at the Monash Institute of Medical Research. There he worked in the area of stem cells with a research interest in cellular reprogramming. He also explored genome editing techniques and the use of stem cell technology in agricultural species such as dairy cattle.

Huseyin joined Swinburne University of Technology in 2014, where his current research activities are focused on building stem cell capacity at the university through collaborative projects. This includes research relating to cellular reprogramming, disease models, mesenchymal stem cells,  bioengineering and neuronal cell differentiation. He has current collaborative student projects on; Aerosol printing for bioengineering, culturing stem cells on nano-surface structures, neuronal differentiation, as well as utilising biotechnology for the prevention of restenosis. He also currently has collaborations with industry partners such as Magellan Stem Cells, at the Melbourne Stem Cell Centre, investigating mesenchymal stem cells used for regenerative medicine and Me& Biotech PTY LTD and Cellular Agriculture Australia to explore vascularisation of organoids. He is also part of an MRFF program using stem cell models for drug discovery for epilepsy as well as a collaborative team investigating novel approaches for prevention of restenosis.

Huseyin is currently the Course Director of the Bachelor of Science Honours degree. His passion for science education is highlighted by a Vice Chancellor’s Community Engagement Award in 2019 as part of the SHINE team and a Vice-Chancellor’s Empowered Team Award in 2022 as part of Empowering the Next Gen via Space Station Experimentation.

Summary of Research Outputs/Publications (Mar 2024):  
1) Number of refereed publications (career) > 50
2) 10 book chapters
3) 2 books edited
4) Total number of citations = 1963
5) H-index = 23
6) i10-Index  = 39