Dr Samuel (Sam) Crossman is a Research Fellow at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University, where his work sits at the intersection of developmental biology, neural regeneration and advanced bioengineering approaches. His research focuses on understanding how tissues grow, repair and regenerate, with the long‑term goal of informing new regenerative and therapeutic strategies for neurological disease and injury.

A central theme of Dr Crossman’s work is uncovering the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern regeneration in the nervous system. Using powerful model systems including zebrafish and axolotl, his research explores how the spinal cord responds to injury and how dormant stem cells in the nervous system can be stimulated to drive repair. He combines live imaging, genetic tools and experimental injury models to precisely dissect how cells behave during regeneration.
Dr Crossman is also recognised for his contributions to optogenetics and synthetic biology, including the development and application of light‑activated signalling systems to control cell behaviour. These approaches have been applied to models of neurodegenerative disease, including Parkinson’s disease, providing new ways to probe and potentially manipulate neuronal survival pathways

Through this innovative and multidisciplinary research, Dr Crossman is helping ARMI advance fundamental discoveries toward future regenerative medicine solutions.