Dr Abbas Shafiee
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Dr Abbas Shafiee is a tissue engineering & regenerative medicine scientist interested in translational cell-based and tissue engineering strategies to treat human diseases.
Dr Shafiee completed his PhD in Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani’s laboratory on stem cell biology. His research career during his PhD had key contributions to delineating endothelial niche and vascular stem cells in the human placental tissues, including the seminal discovery of an entirely new stem cell population, coined as ‘Meso-Endothelial Bipotent Progenitor’ and the identification of key driver signatures for endothelial and bipotential progenitor function (Stem Cell Reports 2018; The FASEB Journal 2017; Stem Cells 2016; Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2015).
In 2016, he joined Professor Dietmar Hutmacher’s team and conducted multiple projects on cancer and bone tissue engineering. Dr Shafiee has developed innovative tissue engineered models intersecting concepts from stem cell biology, cancer, and tissue engineering to study species-specific cancer bone metastasis at an unprecedented level of detail. The results of his research have been published in: International Journal of Cancer 2018; Cancers 2018; Biomaterials 2018; Bone Research 2019; Biomaterials 2019; Applied Materials Today 2020; Biomaterials 2020; and Advanced Therapeutics 2020. Utilizing the tissue engineering concept, he was able to better understand the mechanisms of cancer bone metastasis. Additionally, he was successful in obtaining project grants, including a project grants from Cooperative Research Centers (CRC), and developed a biomimetically designed scaffolds and investigated the interactions of multipotent mesenchymal stem/stromal cell and skin progenitors with 3D printed scaffolds. Additionally, application of 3D printed constructs in acute wound models decreased wound contracture and led to a significantly improved skin regeneration.
Dr Shafiee joined Herston Biofabrication Institute (HBI, MNHHS) in 2020 and started a research program to develop, implement, and evaluate the applications of 3D printing, scanning, cell therapies, and biofabrication technologies in skin wound settings. Using 3D printing and stem/progenitor cell delivery he could develop new approaches to enhances physiological wound closure with reduced scar tissue formation (Biomaterials 2021, Small 2021, Advanced Healthcare Materials 2021). Dr Shafiee is part of a national program, in collaboration with scientists from Curtin University, UWA and UOW, aiming to develop 3D bioprinting technology to treat skin wounds (funded by MRFF, NHMRC). Dr Shafiee has supervised several master and PhD students. Honours, Masters and PhD projects are available, please feel free to contact him.
Dr Shafiee completed his PhD in Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani’s laboratory on stem cell biology. His research career during his PhD had key contributions to delineating endothelial niche and vascular stem cells in the human placental tissues, including the seminal discovery of an entirely new stem cell population, coined as ‘Meso-Endothelial Bipotent Progenitor’ and the identification of key driver signatures for endothelial and bipotential progenitor function (Stem Cell Reports 2018; The FASEB Journal 2017; Stem Cells 2016; Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2015).
In 2016, he joined Professor Dietmar Hutmacher’s team and conducted multiple projects on cancer and bone tissue engineering. Dr Shafiee has developed innovative tissue engineered models intersecting concepts from stem cell biology, cancer, and tissue engineering to study species-specific cancer bone metastasis at an unprecedented level of detail. The results of his research have been published in: International Journal of Cancer 2018; Cancers 2018; Biomaterials 2018; Bone Research 2019; Biomaterials 2019; Applied Materials Today 2020; Biomaterials 2020; and Advanced Therapeutics 2020. Utilizing the tissue engineering concept, he was able to better understand the mechanisms of cancer bone metastasis. Additionally, he was successful in obtaining project grants, including a project grants from Cooperative Research Centers (CRC), and developed a biomimetically designed scaffolds and investigated the interactions of multipotent mesenchymal stem/stromal cell and skin progenitors with 3D printed scaffolds. Additionally, application of 3D printed constructs in acute wound models decreased wound contracture and led to a significantly improved skin regeneration.
Dr Shafiee joined Herston Biofabrication Institute (HBI, MNHHS) in 2020 and started a research program to develop, implement, and evaluate the applications of 3D printing, scanning, cell therapies, and biofabrication technologies in skin wound settings. Using 3D printing and stem/progenitor cell delivery he could develop new approaches to enhances physiological wound closure with reduced scar tissue formation (Biomaterials 2021, Small 2021, Advanced Healthcare Materials 2021). Dr Shafiee is part of a national program, in collaboration with scientists from Curtin University, UWA and UOW, aiming to develop 3D bioprinting technology to treat skin wounds (funded by MRFF, NHMRC). Dr Shafiee has supervised several master and PhD students. Honours, Masters and PhD projects are available, please feel free to contact him.
Personal details
Positions
- Visiting Fellow
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Keywords
Stem cells, Biomaterial, Modelomics, Humanized animal model, Cancer metastasis, Vascular development, Regenerative medicine, Tissue engineering, Placenta
Discipline
Biomedical Engineering, Other Physical Sciences
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE) Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) International Federation for Placental Association (IFPA) Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) American Heart Association (AHA)
Teaching
Cellular and Molecular Biology; Advanced Biotechnology; Drug Discovery and Design
Selected publications
- Shafiee A, Patel J, Hutmacher D, Fisk N, Khosrotehrani K, (2018) Meso-endothelial bipotent progenitors from human placenta display distinct molecular and cellular identity, Stem Cell Reports, 10 (3), pp. 890-904.
- Hutmacher D, Shafiee A, McGovern J, Lahr C, Meinert C, Moi D, Wagner F, Landgraf M, Juan Pardo E, Mazzieri R, (2018) Immune system augmentation via humanization using stem/progenitor cells and bioengineering in a breast cancer model study, International Journal of Cancer, 143 (6), pp. 1470-1482.
- Wagner F, Holzapfel B, McGovern J, Shafiee A, Baldwin J, Martine L, Lahr C, Wunner F, Friis T, Bas O, Boxberg M, Prodinger P, Shokoohmand A, Moi D, Mazzieri R, Loessner D, Hutmacher D, (2018) Humanization of bone and bone marrow in an orthotopic site reveals new potential therapeutic targets in osteosarcoma, Biomaterials, 171, pp. 230-246.
- Shafiee A, Hutmacher D, (2018) Modelomics to investigate cancer bone metastasis, Current Molecular Biology Reports, 4 (2), pp. 88-100.
- Sardesai V, Shafiee A, Fisk N, Pelekanos R, (2017) Avoidance of maternal cell contamination and overgrowth in isolating fetal chorionic villi mesenchymal stem cells from human term placenta, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 6 (4), pp. 1070-1084.
- Shafiee A, Baldwin J, Patel J, Holzapfel B, Fisk N, Khosrotehrani K, Hutmacher D, (2017) Fetal bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells enhance humanization and bone formation of BMP7 loaded scaffolds, Biotechnology Journal, 12 (12), pp. 1-7.
- Shafiee A, Patel J, Wong H, Donovan P, Hutmacher D, Fisk N, Khosrotehrani K, (2017) Priming of endothelial colony-forming cells in a mesenchymal niche improves engraftment and vasculogenic potential by initiating mesenchymal transition orchestrated by NOTCH signaling, FASEB Journal, 31 (2), pp. 610-624.
- Patel J, Wong H, Wang W, Alexis J, Shafiee A, Stevenson A, Gabrielli B, Fisk N, Khosrotehrani K, (2016) Self-renewal and high proliferative colony forming capacity of late-outgrowth endothelial progenitors is regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors driven by notch signaling, Stem Cells, 34 (4), pp. 902-912.
- Shafiee A, Fisk N, Hutmacher D, Khosrotehrani K, Patel J, (2015) Fetal endothelial and mesenchymal progenitors from the human term placenta: Potency and clinical potential, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 4 (5), pp. 419-423.
- Shafiee A, Seyedjafari E, Taherzadeh E, Dinarvand P, Soleimani M, Ai J, (2014) Enhanced chondrogenesis of human nasal septum derived progenitors on nanofibrous scaffolds, Materials Science and Engineering C: Materials for Biological Applications, 40, pp. 445-454.
QUT ePrints
To find publications by Abbas, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.
Awards
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- CRC for Cell Therapy Manufacturing Grant
- Type
- Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- National Health and Medical Research Council grant reviewer
- Type
- Membership of Review Panels on Prestigious Grant Applications
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Grant assessor for Australian Research Council (ARC)
- Type
- Membership of Review Panels on Prestigious Grant Applications
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Research grant assessor for National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD).
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- ECR grant
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Frontiers in Materials provides the most comprehensive thematic open-access collection of outstanding research across materials science and technology.