Milan Fernando

Milan graduated in Biomedical Sciences in 2002 from University of Aberdeen. After working in Bryan Tuner’s group in University of Birmingham, characterising the chromosomal distribution of epigenetic markers, he joined the IPSC core facility in Ludovic Vallier’s lab in the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Cambridge. There he specialised in reprogramming fibroblasts and blood mononuclear cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) using retroviral and Sendai virus methods and developed a GMP differentiation protocol to produce hepatocytes from human stem cells. After Cambridge, Milan worked at UCL, Institute of Ophthalmology, in Robin Ali’s group where he established an episomal protocol to derive IPSCs from blood samples for disease modelling using retinal organoids.

In April 2019, Milan joined the Stem Cell Medicine group, at CMRI, to assist Dr Anai Gonzalez Cordero with the establishment of a Stem Cell & Organoid Facility. Our aim is to provide services to researchers that include the derivation of IPSCs and their differentiation into various human cell types of organoids.

When he’s not thinking about stem cells, Milan is usually thinking about food and enjoying the sunny weather of Sydney.