EMBL Australia group leaders pioneer groundbreaking technologies to tackle longstanding scientific challenges.
Dr William Roman is growing human muscles on a chip to understand how skeletal muscle cells – the largest in the human body – connect with neurons and tendons to create functioning muscles.
His research also explores how communication between neurons and muscle cells deteriorates with age and in degenerative diseases, like motor neuron disease.
By using ‘mini-muscles’, Dr Roman aims to uncover fundamental principles of intercellular communication, advancing organ-mimicking technologies.
Dr William Roman was awarded a 2024 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia for his work growing human muscles on a chip to better understand intracellular communication.
His team at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) integrates diverse approaches – including optogenetics for cell manipulation, advanced microscopy and spatial genomics – to push the boundaries of stem cell research for disease modelling, drug screening, cellular agriculture, and biorobotics.
Dr Roman moved from Stanford University to join Monash University as an EMBL Australia group leader in 2023.