Ben Rollo

Ben Rollo is a Research Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine. He is actively involved in pioneering research on epilepsy using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to develop personalized 'epilepsy-in-a-dish' models for drug screening. He is accepting PhD students and leads multiple research projects focused on drug-resistant epilepsy and precision medicine.

Research Interests: His work centers on epilepsy, personalized medicine, stem cell-based disease modeling, and high-throughput drug screening. He utilizes multielectrode array (MEA) technology to assess the functional impact of anti-seizure compounds on neural cultures, enabling rapid preclinical evaluation.

The most recent publications (2024) reveal a strong focus on iPSC-derived neuron models for epilepsy, including SCN2A and CDKL5-related disorders, integration of in vitro and in vivo screening, and development of novel stem cell tools. These studies span journals in neuroscience, molecular biology, and pharmacology, indicating a multidisciplinary approach to drug discovery.

Scientific Projects:

• Gene-STEPS: Rapid diagnosis and tailored management for infantile epilepsies (Chief Investigator)
• Pre-clinical evaluation of adenosine A1 receptor modulators for drug-resistant epilepsy (Chief Investigator)
• Human high-throughput in-vitro phenotypic screening for new epilepsy drugs (Primary Chief Investigator)
• Drug screening using Homer1 patient’s iPSCs for precision medicine trials (Associate Investigator)

Advising and Grants: Ben Rollo is currently accepting PhD students for projects on 'Epilepsy in a Dish'. He has secured significant research funding as a Primary or Chief Investigator on multiple grants, including industry collaborations, demonstrating strong leadership in translational neuroscience research.

Laboratory and Team: He is part of the Kwan Group at Monash University, a leading team in epilepsy and stem cell research. His lab focuses on functional phenotyping using MEA platforms and collaborates extensively with clinicians and pharmaceutical partners to accelerate drug discovery.