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Alan Truonson. Picture Courtesy of Leigh Dayton.

Top 10 Facts about Alan Truonson

Alan Osborne Truonson  (born 16 February 1946) is an Australian embryologist with expertise in stem cell research.

Trounson was the President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine between 2007 and 2014, a former Professor of Stem Cell Sciences, and the Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at  Monash University, and retains the title of Emeritus Professor.

Trounson’s areas of interest include cloning, stem cells, biotechnology, cloning for the agricultural industry, gene storage, and in- Vitro fertilization.

Here are some facts about Alan Truonson;

1. Alan graduated from the University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney. Picture by Sardaka

Trounson graduated from the  University of New South Wales in 1971 with a Master of Science in Wool and Pastoral Sciences.

In 1974 he was awarded his Ph.D. in animal embryology by the  University of Sydney. Between 1971 and 1976 Trounson was the Dalgety Research Fellow at the Australian Research Council Institute of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry at Cambridge University. 

Returning to Australia in 1977, he was appointed Senior Research Fellow at Monash University.

2. He was the Pioneer of in-vitro fertilization

The process of IVF is explained step by step. By zealthy

As a young agricultural scientist Professor Alan Trounson helped pioneer human IVF techniques.

He discovered it while researching sheep fertility in the 1960s in a woolshed near Carrathool, in southern New South Wales.

For the first time in 50 years, he has returned to the shed that helped make Australian scientific history.  He recalled the shock of moving from the city to what seemed to him to be little more than a barren plain.

3. Trounson was appointed to serve in various Departments

He was appointed a Reader in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, in 1984 and the following year the Director of the Centre for Early Human Development.

In 1991 he was appointed a Personal Chair in Obstetrics and Gynaecology/Paediatrics at Monash University and was awarded the  Wellcome(Australia) medal.

Further awards followed in 1994 and 1994 when he received the Patrick Steptoe Memorial Medal from the British Fertility Society, and the  Benjamin Henry Medal from the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, Singapore.

4.  He led the team which discovered that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells

In 2000, he again made international headlines when he led the team which discovered that nerve stem cells could be derived from embryonic stem cells.

This announcement led to a dramatic increase in interest in the potential of stem cells to cure a range of currently incurable diseases.

In 2002, Truonson apologized for misleading members of the  Australian Parliament by attributing the recovery of a crippled rat to embryonic stem cells, when in fact the cells were germ cells from a fetal rat.

5. He was awarded a Doctor honorary degree by different faculties

Monash University, where Alan became a Professor of stem cell sciences. By Canley.

In 2003 he was appointed a Personal Chair as Professor of Stem Cell Sciences at Monash University.

He was awarded a Doctor  Honoris Causa by the Faculties of Medical Sciences and Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, and was named Australian Humanist of the Year.

Trounson was the founder and executive vice-chairman of the National Biotechnology Centre of Excellence, Australian Stem Cell Centre, as well as Global Scientific Strategy Advisor.

6. Alan has served on the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine headquarters. By Blackguard SF

He serves on the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute. He was the founder of the Australian Stem Cell Centre.

In 2007 he was appointed President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a position he held until his return to Australia in 2014.

In 2008 Trounson was inducted as an Honorary Member of the Monash University Golden Key Society.

Trounson was appointed an Officer of the of Australia for “distinguished service to medical science, and to in vitro fertilization and stem cell technologies” in the  2021 Queens Birthday Honors.

7. Alan is the founder of Cartherics Pty Limited

From his early days in cattle IVF, then human IVF 鈥� as part of Australia鈥檚 first IVF team with Monash University鈥檚 Carl Wood 鈥� to his advances in embryonic stem cell research and regulation.

The leadership of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and now head of innovative immunotherapy company Cartherics. Alan Trounson has made an 鈥渙utstanding鈥� and 鈥渕eritorious鈥� contribution to Australia 鈥� the criteria for the honors list.

In recognizing his service, today Governor-General David Hurley appointed Emeritus Professor Alan Osbourne Trounson an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia (General Division) within the Australian honors system.

He is presently the founding CEO/President of the start-up company Cartherics Pty Limited. Developing immune stem cell therapies for treating ovarian and gastric cancer.

8. He has Been looked up to as a motivation for other scientists.

Even with all honors and achievements, Alan has gone ahead to ensure that students are facilitated with all it takes to be a great scientists.

He offered advice where; First of all, academic scientists can get educated in the critical industrial processes. Processes that enable private investment and commercialization of potential products.

Business management courses might help. However, there is no better experience than working together with a team that is working in this space.

They will see first-hand the issues faced in translation and early development that are quite different from the ones that academic departments anticipate, issues that involve helping projects move into and through translation and into the commercialization process.

9. Alan Joined with others to write a medicine Article

In 1983, researchers  Alan Trounson, John Leeton, Carl Wood, Mandy Besanko, and Angelo Conti published the article 鈥淧regnancy Established in an Infertile Patient After Transfer of a Donated Embryo Fertilized In Vitro鈥� in The British Medical Journal.

In the article, the authors discuss one of the first successful experiments using in vitro fertilization, or IVF. with the use of a human donor embryo at Monash University and Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne, Australia.

Before the article鈥檚 publication, it was uncertain whether scientists could successfully use human donor embryos in IVF techniques.

10. Alan helped in the fertilization of eggs to get twins or triplets  

Trounson ended up solving the problem of women鈥檚 fertility after his ambitions were hijacked. Like many Australian agricultural scientists of the 1970s, he was primarily concerned with the fertility of merino sheep.

Their fine wool drove the nation鈥檚 economy. But while other breeds often gave birth to two lambs or more, merinos delivered only one. Trounson discovered that was because they ovulated a single egg.

So he developed hormone treatments that increased the number of eggs released. He also learned to fertilize eggs in the culture dish. He split them, and reimplant them into the sheep’s uterus to create twins or triplets.