Professor Sharon Ricardo

Professor Sharon Ricardo is a Research Group Leader in the Monash Biomedical Discovery Institute at Monash University. She has an established reputation in stem cells and organ development applied to development of novel therapies to prevent and reverse kidney disease.  As head of the Kidney Regeneration and Stem Cell Laboratory her lab is producing high-impact research aimed at developing new stem cell-based therapies in combination with repair and growth factors that may offer alternatives to renal replacement. Her discoveries, that have led to the first induced pluripotent stem cell lines from human kidneys and novel patented proteins aimed at kidney regeneration, have resulted in translational research evidenced by seven granted international patents.

Using state-of-the-art platform technology she has published >85 publications that have been cited >4,100 times. In addition to providing fundamental data, her research outputs have identified future cellular targets for drug intervention and modulation of the immune system with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life and on-going assessment of those with chronic kidney disease. Sharon obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in the field of experimental nephrology. She was awarded a US National Kidney Foundation Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral studies at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine where she was appointed an Assistant Professor in 1996. In 2000 she returned to Australia as an NHMRC Howard Florey Fellow and commenced studies at Monash University.

She has won many wards including the TJ Neale Award (2016) from the Australia and New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN), the Judy S. Finkelstein Award from Pennsylvania State University; and the Marion Merrell Dow Excellence in Renal Research Award from the American Physiological Society. Sharon is elected to the Royal Society of Victoria and was a Kidney Health Australia Bootle Scholar. Sharon has always been involved in mentorship, particularly for PhD students and junior female academics. This has led to her current University position as Academic Director, Graduate Research, Office of the Vice-Provost (Graduate Education).

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