Associate Professor Zee Upton is Co-Leader of the Tissue BioRegeneration Program within the QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and is also technical founder and Consulting Chief Scientific Officer for Tissue Therapies Limited. She obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Adelaide in 1994, has published 40 manuscripts on growth factor structure and function in leading international journal and is an inventor of 4 new IP opportunities within the tissue regeneration field. Her diverse expertise in growth factor protein, molecular and cellular technologies underpinned her discovery of VitroGro?, a growth factor/extracellular matrix protein complex that stimulates cells to grow and migrate. The VitroGro? technology is being commercialised by Tissue Therapies Limited for use in a number of applications including serum-free cell culture (academic and industrial sectors), wound healing and tissue engineering. Her research has been underpinned by more than $5 million of funding that she has obtained over the last 7 years as Principal Investigator from the QCF, Red Cross Society, DART, QUT, CRC for Tissue Growth and Repair, as well as from AusIndustry and rural research-funding bodies. She has made numerous oral presentations at diverse national and international scientific forums and in the last 12 months has been sponsored to attend and present as an invited speaker at 3 international and 4 national meetings. In recognition of her recent significant achievements in translating research outcomes, Dr Upton won the 2004 Smart Women - Smart State Award in the category of Research Scientist.
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