Celebrating excellence in gene and cell therapy research across Australasia.
The AGCTS Executive Committee has established the category of AGCTS Lifetime Member Award to recognise an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of gene therapy (or related technologies) and/or has provided outstanding long-term service to the AGCTS.
This named New Investigator Award was established in 2005 to celebrate the life, commitment and passion of Professor Panos Ioannou (1951-2005). Panos was a founding member of the AGCTS who dedicated his career to developing novel therapies for thalassaemia and other inherited diseases. The award is announced at the biennial AGCTS Conference. PhD candidates and Postdoctoral fellows within 6 years of PhD graduation who are presenting an abstract and hold current AGCTS membership are eligible to apply.
The Esteemed Member Award was established in 2017 by AGCTS and BSGCT. It provides up to AUS$3,000 to support an AGCTS member with international credentials to attend the BSGCT meeting, strengthen ties between societies, and promote AGCTS research. Applicants must have at least 6 years of post-doctoral experience.
The Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society offers two travel awards of $1,000 each for researchers presenting at biennial meetings. One award is open to all AGCTS members at any career stage, and one is designated for Early Career Researchers or student AGCTS members.
Best paper prizes are awarded twice each year to first or corresponding member authors for original research papers. Members are invited to monitor email communications for submission rounds.
Optimal SpCas9- and SaCas9-mediated gene editing by enhancing gRNA transcript levels through scaffold poly-T tract reduction. (2025). BMC Genomics 26: 138.
Read paperHigh-throughput Evaluation of Cardiac-specific Promoters for Adeno-Associated Virus Mediated Cardiac Gene Therapy. (2025). Gene Therapy.
Read paperSleeping Beauty mRNA-LNP enables stable rAAV transgene expression in mouse and NHP hepatocytes and improves vector potency. (2024). Molecular Therapy 32(10): 3356-3371.
Read paperDevelopment of new adeno-associated virus capsid variants for targeted gene delivery to human cardiomyocytes. (2023). Molecular Therapy Methods and Clinical Development 30: 459-473.
Read paperStructural and functional characterization of capsid binding by anti-AAV9 monoclonal antibodies from infants after SMA gene therapy. (2023). Molecular Therapy 31(7).
Read paperAAV-p40 Bioengineering Platform for Variant Selection Based on Transgene Expression. (2022). Human Gene Therapy 33(11-12).
Read paperOptogenetic restoration of high sensitivity vision with bReaChES, a red-shifted channelrhodopsin. (2022). Scientific Reports 12: 19312.
Read paperCoordinated β-globin expression and α2-globin reduction in a multiplex lentiviral gene therapy vector for β-thalassemia. (2021). Molecular Therapy 29(9): 2841-2853.
Read paperInduction of cryptic pre-mRNA splice-switching by antisense oligonucleotides. (2021). Scientific Reports 11: 15137.
Read paperEfficient in vivo editing of OTC-deficient patient-derived primary human hepatocytes. (2020). JHEP Reports.
Read paperRestoring the natural tropism of AAV2 vectors for human liver. (2020). Science Translational Medicine 12, eaba3312.
Read paperUse of a Hybrid Adeno-Associated Viral Vector Transposon System to Deliver the Insulin Gene to Diabetic NOD Mice. (2020). Cells 9, 2227.
Read paperEx vivo expansion of murine MSC impairs transcription factor-induced differentiation into pancreatic β-cells. (2019). Stem Cells International.
Read paperLiver-Targeted Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 Therapy Inhibits Chronic Biliary Fibrosis in Multiple Drug-Resistant Gene 2-Knockout Mice. (2019). Hepatology Communications.
Read paperReduction of integrin alpha 4 activity through splice modulating antisense oligonucleotides. (2019). Scientific Reports.
Read paperSynthetic adeno-associated viral vector efficiently targets mouse and nonhuman primate retina in vivo. (2018). Human Gene Therapy 29(7): 771-784.
Read paperUncoupling N-acetylaspartate from brain pathology: implications for Canavan disease gene therapy. (2018). Acta Neuropathologica 135(1).
Read paperLimiting Thymic Precursor Supply Increases the Risk of Lymphoid Malignancy in Murine X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. (2017). Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids 6: 1-14.
Read paperIdentification of liver-specific enhancer-promoter activity in the 3’ untranslated regions of the wild-type AAV2 genome. (2017). Nature Genetics 49(8).
Read paperGFP to BFP Conversion: A Versatile Assay for the Quantification of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genome Editing. (2016). Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids 5(7): e334.
Read paperSmad7 gene delivery prevents muscle wasting associated with cancer cachexia in mice. (2016). Science Translational Medicine 8(348): 348ra98.
Read paperGermline viral “fossils” guide in silico reconstruction of a mid-Cenozoic era marsupial adeno-associated virus. (2016). Scientific Reports 6: 28965.
Read paperGene therapy with recombinant adeno-associated vectors for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: 1 year follow-up of a phase 1 randomised clinical trial. (2015). Lancet 386(10011): 2395-2403.
Read paperPancreatic Transdifferentiation and Glucose-Regulated Production of Human Insulin in the H4IIE Rat Liver Cell Line. (2016). International Journal of Molecular Sciences 17(4): 534.
Read paperDevelopment of Novel Activin-Targeted Therapeutics. (2015). Molecular Therapy 23(3): 434–444.
Read paperReversal of diabetes following transplantation of an insulin-secreting human liver cell line: Melligen cells. (2015). Molecular Therapy — Methods & Clinical Development 2: 15011.
Read paperGene therapy delivery of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) via hematopoietic stem cell transfer induces MOG-specific B cell deletion. (2014). Journal of Immunology 192(6): 2593-2601.
Read paperImpact of next-generation sequencing error on analysis of barcoded plasmid libraries of known complexity and sequence. (2014). Nucleic Acids Research 42(16): e129.
Read paperTargeted Exon Skipping to Correct Exon Duplications in the Dystrophin Gene. (2014). Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids 3: e155.
Read paperGlial Promoter Selectivity following AAV-Delivery to the Immature Brain. (2013). PLoS One 8(6): e65646.
Read paperRestoring expression of miR-16: a novel approach to therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. (2013). Annals of Oncology 24(12): 3128-3135.
Read paperLong-term reversal of diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice by liver-directed gene therapy. (2013). Journal of Gene Medicine 15(1): 28-41.
Read paperPre-clinical Safety and Efficacy of an Anti-HIV-1 Lentiviral Vector Containing a Short Hairpin RNA to CCR5 and the C46 Fusion Inhibitor. (2014). Molecular Therapy — Methods & Clinical Development 1: 11.
Read paperNonmyeloablative Conditioning Generates Autoantigen-Encoding Bone Marrow That Prevents and Cures an Experimental Autoimmune Disease. (2012). American Journal of Transplantation 12(8): 2062-2071.
Read paperTargeted Exon Skipping to Address “Leaky” Mutations in the Dystrophin Gene. (2012). Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids 1: e48.
Read paperMicroRNAs regulate tumor angiogenesis modulated by endothelial progenitor cells. (2013). Cancer Research 73(1): 341-352.
Read paperThymic Gene Transfer of Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Ameliorates the Onset but Not the Progression of Autoimmune Demyelination. (2012). Molecular Therapy 20(7): 1349-1359.
Read paperInduction and Prevention of Severe Hyperammonemia in the spfash Mouse Model of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency Using shRNA and rAAV-mediated Gene Delivery. (2011). Molecular Therapy 19(5): 854–859.
Read paperAnalysis of microRNA turnover in mammalian cells following Dicer1 ablation. (2011). Nucleic Acids Research 39(13): 5692-703.
Read paperEnhanced Extravasation, Stability and in Vivo Cardiac Gene Silencing via in Situ siRNA−Albumin Conjugation. (2012). Molecular Pharmaceutics 9(1): 71-80.
Read paperLymphomagenesis in SCID-X1 Mice Following Lentivirus-mediated Phenotype Correction Independent of Insertional Mutagenesis and γc Overexpression. (2010). Molecular Therapy 18(5): 965-976.
Read paperUsing the Transcription Factor Inhibitor of DNA Binding 1 to Selectively Target Endothelial Progenitor Cells Offers Novel Strategies to Inhibit Tumor Angiogenesis and Growth. (2010). Cancer Research 70(18): 7273-7282.
Read paperrAAV.sFlt-1 Gene Therapy Achieves Lasting Reversal of Retinal Neovascularization in the Absence of a Strong Immune Response to the Viral Vector. (2010). Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 50(9): 4279-4287.
Read paperPersonalized exon skipping strategies to address clustered non-deletion dystrophin mutations. (2010). Neuromuscular Disorders 20(12): 810-816.
Read paperAAV2/8-mediated Correction of OTC Deficiency Is Robust in Adult but Not Neonatal Spfash Mice. (2009). Molecular Therapy 17(8): 1340-1346.
Read paperSexually Dimorphic Patterns of Episomal rAAV Genome Persistence in the Adult Mouse Liver and Correlation with Hepatocellular Proliferation. (2009). Molecular Therapy 17(9): 1548-1554.
Read paperCytosine Deaminase-Uracil Phosphoribosyltransferase and Interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-18: A Multimodal Anticancer Interface Marked by Specific Modulation in Serum Cytokines. (2009). Clinical Cancer Research 15(7): 2323-2334.
Read paperAntigen-specific humoral tolerance or immune augmentation induced by intramuscular delivery of adeno-associated viruses encoding CTLA4-Ig-antigen fusion molecules. (2009). Gene Therapy 16(2): 200-210.
Read paperAwards presented at the Biennial Meeting can include Best Student Poster, Best Member Poster, Best Student Oral Presentation, Best Member Oral Presentation, People's Choice Best Student Oral Presentation Award.
