Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

https://supervisorconnect.med.monash.edu/research-projects?combine=Associate%20Professor%20Tracy%20Heng

20052024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Associate Professor Tracy Heng is a Laboratory Head in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, and Deputy Head of the Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Tracy obtained her PhD at Monash University, developing strategies to improve immune function in ageing and disease. She undertook postdoctoral training with Profs Harald von Boehmer, Christophe Benoist and Diane Mathis at Harvard Medical School in Boston to establish the Immunological Genome Project (immgen.org), a widely utilised resource for immunological gene expression profiling. Tracy is a recipient of the 2015 Young Tall Poppy Science Award (Australian Institute of Policy and Science), the 2016 Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research (National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia), an ARC Postdoctoral (Industry) Fellowship and an NHMRC R.D. Wright Biomedical Career Development Fellowship. She currently leads a research program focussed on overcoming immunological barriers to stem cell therapies.

Research interests

Our research aims to understand the immune response to stem cell transplantation and cell therapy, with a view to overcome immunological barriers and other challenges for effective translation of such treatments.

Supervision interests

PhD projects available: 

  • Apoptosis in mesenchymal stromal cell therapy
  • Therapeutic applications of apoptotic cell secretome
  • Ageing and mesenchymal stem cells in lymphoid organs
  • Surface coatings for directed differentiation of iPSCs to T cells
  • Biological considerations in stem cell manufacturing

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):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Research area keywords

  • mesenchymal stem cells
  • stromal cells
  • T cells
  • thymus
  • immune ageing
  • cell therapy
  • immunomodulation
  • haematopoietic stem cell transplantation
  • bone marrow transplantation
  • immune tolerance
  • stem cells
  • stem cell therapy
  • immune function
  • apoptosis
  • cell death
  • macrophages

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