Professor Andrew Zannettino

Professor Andrew Zannettino is the Pro Vice Chancellor (Health Partnerships) and Professor of Experimental Haematology in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide. He is also the Executive Director of Research Strategy for the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, and a founding member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group of the Myeloma Foundation of Australia.

Professor Zannettino heads the Myeloma Research Laboratory (MRL) within the Cancer Theme at SAHMRI, with efforts centred on identifying the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for myeloma disease progression and myeloma-associated bone loss.

From 2007 to 2012, he was co-head of the Regenerative Medicine Program at SA Pathology/Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences. The RMP stems from collaborative studies in association with Prof Stan Gronthos (Mesenchymal Stem Cell Laboratory, University of Adelaide) and Prof Paul Simmons (Mesoblast Ltd), which led to the patenting of technologies covering the identification and isolation of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPC), a rare cell population present in many post-natal tissues.

The family of 8 patents surrounding this technology underpin the world’s largest cell therapy company, Mesoblast Ltd.