How to grow a kidney and change the world
Turning a lifelong question into a breakthrough answer.
From a Brisbane lab bench to global scientific acclaim, Professor Melissa Little, AC, has spent more than three decades asking one question, how can we better treat kidney disease? Her answer was to do something only seen in science fiction, to grow a kidney in a dish.
A UQ alumni and pioneer in stem cell biology, Melissa’s work at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) from its inception until 2014. It was here that she laid the foundation for what would become one of the most significant developments in regenerative medicine.
“The question I started asking at IMB was, could basic science truly change patient outcomes?”
Back in the early 2000s, Melissa and her team were working to decode how kidneys form in the human body at the level of the genes and cells. What they discovered would change the trajectory of kidney research worldwide. Drawing on that deep understanding of organ development, Melissa led the team that recreated a miniature human kidney from stem cells - a model containing up to 12 different cell types and mirroring the complexity of a developing human kidney.
It was a breakthrough that made headlines around the world, and it all started at IMB with a determined and brilliant researcher.
“Being at IMB meant I was surrounded by people who believed in going big,” Melissa reflects. “It was a place where you were encouraged to ask bold questions and chase ambitious answers.”
Importantly, the method Melissa developed allowed these mini kidneys, known as organoids, to be created from a patient’s own skin or blood cells. That opened the door to personalised kidney research, where scientists could model disease outside the body, test new treatments, and one day even grow replacement tissue.
While the science was cutting-edge, the impact was deeply human. For patients with chronic kidney disease, Melissa’s vision offered a future where dialysis or organ rejection might no longer be the only options. In 2014, she signed a landmark partnership with US-based 3D bio-printing company Organovo to develop artificial kidneys using bioprinting and robotics. Her intellectual property, which is owned by Uniquest, has now been licensed to Novo Nordisk A/S for the development of replacement kidney tissue.
Now, almost a decade since this initial breakthrough, Melissa’s approach is being applied in laboratories around the globe. Now based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Melissa continues to lead the field, having applied kidney organoids to model genetic kidney disease, drug screening and tissue engineering. Using robotic liquid handling, she is generating large numbers of kidney organoids to screen for potential new treatments. Using both bioreactor culture or cellular bioprinting, she has been able to generate larger and larger kidneys, focusing on one day being able to generate a replacement tissue for kidney failure patients.
“This work isn't about curiosity alone—it’s about lives. It’s about reimagining what we can offer people with no other options.”
Her work has gone far beyond her own lab. During the COVID pandemic, Melissa led a national stem cell initiative investigating the effects of COVID-19 on multiple organs using stem cell models. Collaborating with virologists at the Doherty Institute and stem cell biologists modelling brain, blood, kidney, heart and placenta, this identified how the virus would cause specific injury to different tissues.
Melissa is also a fierce advocate for research translation, policy reform, and mentoring women in science. She’s played key advisory roles in major national reviews of biomedical research and science more broadly, served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, and led organisations including the Australian Stem Cell Centre and Stem Cells Australia. Previously President of both the Australian Society for Stem Cell Research and the International Society for Stem Cell Research, she is now the CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine, an international consortium of stem cell research excellence led from Denmark and including the Netherlands and Australia.
Her list of accolades is staggering, UQ Alumnus of the Year, the Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowship, the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, the Homer Smith Award—one of the highest honours in nephrology, and one rarely awarded to women. In 2024, her contributions to science in this country were recognised by a Companion of the Order of Australia. She is an EMBO Fellow, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2025, she was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society, acknowledging her global contributions to developmental biology and regenerative medicine.
Melissa is a mentor and a role model. Committed to shaping the next generation, supervising more than 30 PhD and honours students, many of whom now work in the world’s leading research institutions. She is also a mother and now a grandmother, clearly showing that women can succeed in their careers and raise a family. Her story is a testament to what happens when curiosity and creativity meets courage, and when science is supported not only to explore, but to change lives.