news – Stephen Sanig Research Institute

SSRI Celebrates its 15th Anniversary

This year, 2020, SSRI celebrated its 15th anniversary! Though the decade and a half seems to have flown by, over these years from our humble beginnings we have attained a range important results and achieved several landmarks. In late 2004, Dr. Mahaworasilpa and Dr. Kaseko – then at the Biophysics department of The University of New South Wales – founded the Institute with seed funding and assistance from the Stephen Sanig Foundation. Their vision for the Institute was to create [...]

Cherrybrook Technology High School visits SSRI

19 May 2015 SSRI was visited by year 10 and 11 students from Cherrybrook Technology High School as part of 2realise’s industry bites program. Combining a tour of our facilities with demonstrations of our technologies, the students had opportunity to quiz our staff about the various aspects of working in biotechnology that interested them. A rewarding day for students and staff alike, we trust that the students gained a satisfying glimpse into the fascinating world that is our industry.

Turramurra High School visits SSRI

10 March 2015 SSRI had the pleasure of hosting senior students from Turramurra High School, who visited as part of 2realise’s industry bites program. With a view to inspiring the students towards a career in biotechnology, we gave them a tour of our facilities and explained what we do. We also took the opportunity to demonstrate some of our unique technologies to them. The day was enjoyable for staff and students alike, the students leaving us with an increased understanding of our very [...]

Drs Kaseko and Mahaworasilpa meet Nobel Prize laureates

11 February 2014 at the 3rd Biotechnology World Congress in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Drs Kaseko and Mahaworasilpa had opportunity to meet Nobel Prize laureates Jean-Marie Lehn, Robert Huber, Edmond H. Fischer, and Ferid Murad. It was both a pleasure and an honour to speak with these beacons of Medicine, Physiology, and Chemistry. Jean-Marie Lehn Together with Donald J. Cram and Charles J. Pedersen, Jean-Marie Lehn won the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development and use of molecules [...]

Dr. Kaseko speaks at FIMSA 2012 Conference

14-17 March 2012 saw our Drs Galina Kaseko and Tohsak Mahaworasilpa attending the 5th Congress of the Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia Oceania in New Delhi, India. On this occasion Dr Kaseko had opportunity to address the audience with her presentation on immortalising human tumour infiltrating B lymphocytes. As well as taking this opportunity to share the more general work we have been doing at SSRI with the broader scientific community, the particular focus of her presentation touched [...]

Thai Consul visits SSRI

On Tuesday 10 January 2012, SSRI received the honour of a visit from Ms Kesanee Palanuwongse, Deputy Consul General, and Mr Jeerasak Pomsuwan, Consul, from the Royal Thai Consulate General. Our Dr Mahaworasipa having maintained a longstanding relationship with the Thai Consulate over the past decade, the newly appointed Deputy Consul General has expressed her interest in our work and took this opportunity to acquaint herself more closely with our present state of progress. During their visit we had opportunity [...]

Dr. Mahaworasilpa presents our latest findings at the 10th PEACe Conference on Protein Expression in Animal Cells

This year’s PEACe Conference on Protein Expression in Animal Cells presented an irresistible opportunity to Drs. Mahaworasilpa and Kaseko, who headed to Portugal for the conference 25-29 September 2011. At the conference Dr. Mahaworasilpa presented our latest results in the field. His talk was received with puzzling looks expressed on some participants’ faces when he demonstrated our unique cell manipulation tool by a video taken in our lab. Though the available time for his presentation was limited, many of the other guests at [...]

Foundations Organise Australia’s first National Meningococcal Day

Friday 2 September 2011 saw the inauguration of Australia’s first National Meningococcal Day. We thank Western Australia’s Amanda Young Foundation, Victoria’s Caleb Thorburn Foundation, and New South Wales’s Troy Pocock and Violet Foundations for their efforts in organising and bringing this day to fruition. The day’s events included a number of activities around the country raising awareness of meningococcal disease with particular focus on teenagers and their parents, adolescents generally being exposed to greater risk of infection. The focus of the awareness campaign was on prevention [...]

Dr. Kaseko is honoured with an award at the 2nd International Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy & Immunomonitoring

During 2 to 5 May 2011, the 2nd International Conference on Cancer Immunotherapy & Immunomonitoring brought together an international cohort of scientists, clinicians, medical practitioners and students to discuss the latest therapeutic, preventative and diagnostic developments in the field. As SSRI’s submission to the conference, Dr. Kaseko together with the Institute’s scientific team prepared a poster on an efficient method of immortalising rare tumour B lymphocytes for identification of natural tumour specific antibodies. The Institute’s findings in this field open new avenues [...]

Head of Israeli Blood Bank Services visits SSRI

SSRI had occasion to welcome Prof. Eliat Shinar, head of Israeli Blood Bank Services, to our facility on 23 August 2010. Whilst on-site Prof. Shinar had opportunity to personally tour our laboratories and discuss potential applications of our research to the work of her organisation. The visit was prompted by Prof. Shinar’s interest in the stem cell work undertaken by SSRI, in particular relation to emergency blood bank services. The Institute’s work on the differentiation and trans-differentiation of haematopoietic stem [...]