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DR ROBIN HOBBS

GROUP LEADER, AUSTRALIAN REGENERATIVE MEDICINE INSTITUTE, DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Robin Hobbs established his research group at Monash University in 2012 with the support of a Larkin’s Fellowship and is currently an ARC Future Fellow. He has a joint appointment with the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) and the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology. The primary focus of his laboratory is to define critical mechanisms underlying adult stem cell fate decisions, whether to self-renew or differentiate, using germline stem cells from the testis as a model.

Prior to establishing his group at Monash, Robin performed PhD studies with Prof. Fiona Watt at Cancer Research UK, London and postdoctoral work with Prof. Pier Paolo Pandolfi associated with Harvard Medical School, Boston.

During his postdoctoral studies, he characterized a key and unexpected role for the transcription factor and tumour suppressor gene Plzf in self-renewal of male germline stem cells (spermatogonial stem/progenitor cells; SSPCs). PLZF has since become a well-established marker for SSPCs and his subsequent work has focused on identifying novel regulators of SSPC function and fertility.