Rate My Professor Steven Petratos

Dr Steven Petratos is a Senior Lecturer of Pathology in the Department of Medicine, School of Translational Medicine, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University, Australia. He earned his PhD in Neuropathology from the University of Melbourne between 1993 and 1999, during which he held the Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants Postgraduate Scholarship from 1993 to 1996. Early in his career, Petratos received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Monash University's Faculty of Medicine in 2004 and a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2005. Since January 2023, he has served as a Visiting Professor at the Aristotle University School of Medicine in Thessaloniki, Greece. As the head of the Regenerative Neuroscience and Development Group, he leads investigations into stem cell therapies for brain disorders, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

Petratos specializes as a neurobiologist in defining the molecular mechanisms that govern neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis, with research keywords encompassing stem cell therapies, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, brain disorders, and drug development. His ongoing projects include the preclinical development of the thyroid hormone analogue DITPA to enhance brain repair during MS-like disease by protecting cells and promoting nerve fiber repair; utilizing genetically modified haematopoietic stem cells as a therapeutic delivery system to minimize and reverse MS progression; and developing small molecules to promote remyelination in multiple sclerosis. He supervises PhD students on projects such as overcoming MCT8-dependent oligodendrocyte dystrophy for neuroprotection and neurorepair. Key publications include "Nogo receptor-Fc delivered by haematopoietic cells enhances neurorepair in a multiple sclerosis model" (Brain Communications, 2023), "The iron maiden: Oligodendroglial metabolic dysfunction in multiple sclerosis and mitochondrial signaling" (Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2024), "How does Nogo-A signalling influence mitochondrial function during multiple sclerosis pathogenesis?" (Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2024), "How does Nogo receptor influence demyelination and remyelination in the context of multiple sclerosis?" (Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2023), "Limiting neuronal Nogo receptor 1 signaling during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) preserves axonal transport and abrogates inflammatory demyelination" (Journal of Neuroscience, 2019), and "Overcoming monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8)-deficiency to promote human oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination" (EBioMedicine, 2017). His research contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being.