Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
The focus of the stem cell laboratory is to find new treatments for patients with epilepsy that are not adequately treated with currently available anti-seizure medications. To do this, we take patient's own cells and turn them into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) – which can then be directed to become any cell in the body. To study epilepsy, we instruct iPSCs to become brain cells or neurons – the cells which are affected in epilepsy. This allows us create a personalised ‘epilepsy-in-a-dish’ model for each patient, on which we can then test a variety of existing or new anti-seizure medications. Importantly, this personalised model allows testing without any risk to the patient and can be scaled up to allow high-throughput screening of thousands of potential life-changing drugs.
Supervision interests
Currently accepting keen PhD students for an exciting project:
Consulting
Ben Rollo has developed a rapid method for functional readout of compounds with anti-seizure properties. This method was developed using multielectrode array (MEA) technology which is used to detect the electrical activity of iPSC-derived neural cultures. Compounds can be tested for thier ability to reduce spontaneous and epileptiform activity of neural cultures. These methods have been used to screen pre-clinical lead compounds for industry partners and drug libraries.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Epilepsy
- Personalised medicine
- Stem Cells
- Disease model development
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Gene-STEPS: Rapid diagnosis and tailored management for infantile epilepsies
Howell, K. B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Stephenson, S. E. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ansell, B. R. E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Christodoulou, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Goranitis, I. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Grobler, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hock, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Howden, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Vlahos, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rollo, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bozaoglu, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McTague, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Costain, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Poduri, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Attard, C. (Chief Investigator (CI))
9/01/23 → 31/05/27
Project: Research
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Pre-clinical evaluation of selective adenosine A1 receptor positive allosteric modulators for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy
Kwan, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), May, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rollo, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Brien, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Casillas-Espinosa, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Howden, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Christopoulos, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Gregory, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Scammells, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Baltos, J.-A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Elliott, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), TN Nguyen, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Langmead, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Antonic-Baker, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sumer, H. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Javaid, S. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Gu, J. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/06/22 → 31/05/27
Project: Research
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Positive allosteric modulation of anti-convulsant G protein-coupled receptor signalling to treat drug-resistant epilepsy
May, L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Webb, G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Carlsson, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Baltos, J.-A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), TN Nguyen, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Christopoulos, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Miao, Y. (Associate Investigator (AI)), O'Brien, T. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Rollo, B. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Casillas-Espinosa, P. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Gregory, K. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Scammells, P. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Nguyen, T. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/01/22 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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Drug screening using Homer1 patient’s iPSCs-derived neurons for clinical trials of precision medicine
Javaid, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Rollo, B. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Antonic-Baker, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Kwan, P. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & O'Brien, T. (Associate Investigator (AI))
17/04/23 → 30/09/24
Project: Research
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Human high-throughput in-vitro phenotypic screening for new epilepsy drugs
Rollo, B. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Kwan, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Brien, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Langmead, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Baell, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Casillas-Espinosa, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), May, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ayers, K. L. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Sumer, H. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/06/22 → 1/01/23
Project: Research
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An integrated in vitro human iPSCs-derived neuron and in vivo animal approach for preclinical screening of anti-seizure compounds
Zhao, C. (Leading Author), Rollo, B. (Leading Author), Shahid Javaid, M., Huang, Z., He, W., Xu, H., Kwan, P. & Zhang, C., Oct 2024, In: Journal of Advanced Research. 64, p. 249-262 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access6 Citations (Scopus) -
Correction to: Novel CDKL5 targets identified in human iPSC-derived neurons (Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, (2024), 81, 1, (347), 10.1007/s00018-024-05389-8)
Massey, S., Ang, C. S., Davidson, N. M., Quigley, A., Rollo, B., Harris, A. R., Kapsa, R. M. I., Christodoulou, J. & Van Bergen, N. J., Dec 2024, In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 81, 1, 392.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
Distinctive In Vitro Phenotypes in iPSC-Derived Neurons From Patients With Gain- and Loss-of-Function SCN2A Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy
Mao, M. (Leading Author), Mattei, C. (Leading Author), Rollo, B. (Leading Author), Byars, S., Cuddy, C., Berecki, G., Heighway, J., Pachernegg, S., Menheniott, T., Apted, D., Jia, L., Dalby, K., Nemiroff, A., Mullen, S., Reid, C. A., Maljevic, S. & Petrou, S., 21 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 44, 8, 16 p., e0692232023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
7 Citations (Scopus) -
Generation of a stably transfected mouse embryonic stem cell line for inducible differentiation to excitatory neurons
Gu, J., Rollo, B., Geza, B., Petrou, S., Kwan, P., Sumer, H. & Cromer, B., 1 Feb 2024, In: Experimental Cell Research. 435, 1, 8 p., 113902.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
3 Citations (Scopus) -
Novel CDKL5 targets identified in human iPSC-derived neurons
Massey, S., Ang, C. S., Davidson, N. M., Quigley, A., Rollo, B., Harris, A. R., Kapsa, R. M. I., Christodoulou, J. & J. Van Bergen, N., Dec 2024, In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 81, 1, 22 p., 347.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access