https://www.s2n.bio/about daily 0.75 2026-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1596603677177-8S034Z52BHRPIPH9S2M7/HFN%252Bdiff%252Btransition.jpg About S2N was spun out of the University of Sydney in 2019 based on a biomedical discovery by Prof Valenzuela and his team. Their key insight was the remarkable degree of shared biology between stem cells in the brain and stem cells in skin. It turns out that a specialised niche within the human hair follicle possesses exceptionally strong neurogenic potential. S2N has developed a proprietary method for isolating, enriching and expanding these cells - termed hair follicle-derived neuroprecursors (HFNs). Unlike induced pluripotential stem cells, HFN require no genetic modification and are unipotent - they only develop into neurons. This is why we are so excited about the potential for S2N technology. S2N is currently at the preclinical stage of testing HFN cell therapy in different Alzheimer’s models, and developing protocols for the supply of customizable neuronal cultures for scientific and industry use. We have also successfully characterized the Critical Quality Attributes of HFNs, a key milestone on the road to regulatory approval and therapeutic use. To receive news about this, as well as research announcements and other developments, please get in touch or sign up to our Newsletter here. About the image: human hair follicle-derived neuronal precursor cells at different stages of S2N in vitro differentiation. https://www.s2n.bio/contact daily 0.75 2025-05-14 https://www.s2n.bio/home daily 1.0 2026-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618497259178-6XJGK9GR6YAVBQL5L519/20140301_Trade-151_012-2.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1607694583486-2PQT0LQ193RL7MCB6DX4/20140228_Trade+151_0046.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1596511867114-ESTUQ5BGZEGICO8VLC1R/static1.squarespace-2.jpg Home - Therapeutics https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1596511684649-FC45OX7QZB4HPLVFASI7/Timmy%2BX100%2Bsynapses.jpg Home - Basic Science https://www.s2n.bio/our-team daily 0.75 2026-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/ed3856d9-6b44-431f-81d0-8c626ca23d22/Adam+Johnson+2+headshot.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/59d502c0-d040-4d23-91a0-1f4402a89fe6/Linah+Alsaif+headshot.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/2740ee44-b0e1-43cf-9a7f-54096dd23440/Sarah+Houston.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1711f834-4311-4857-ab9c-3cc002258adb/IMG_4547.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/31099e17-7021-453a-8615-34ed8e2ddd70/Alyona+Mylovanova.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/ed532d61-dd8a-4cd2-9507-a445aa9d06ba/Dario+Gerace+Headshot.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1598248354175-XBMDRK8851SW870IA7TV/MV+headshot.jpg Our Team - Professor Michael Valenzuela Visiting Professor at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, University of NSW, and former Professor of Regenerative Medicine at University of Sydney, Michael is one of Australia’s most distinguished researchers. Accolades include the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Medical Research and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Excellence Award, and others. He is amongst <1% worldwide with research impact across stem cells, neuroimaging, clinical trials & cognition. Michael has led four clinical trials to completion, attracted >$16M in research funds and published 100+ papers with more than 10,000 citations, as well as a popular science book (Maintain Your Brain). Michael is primary inventor of the HFN technology, Co-Founder of S2N and Chief Executive Officer. He is an expert panel member of the Australian Dementia Network Memory Clinics initiative, a senior advisor to the International Federation on Ageing, and an advisor to the World Health Organization on healthy ageing and cognition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/fd49961d-8b67-45ed-bbb9-36e985654264/Brendon+Boot+Head+Shot+2024+small.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1633927276787-FH3ULOG50F9SXWO6Q8ZU/HWRAY_Photo-2.jpg Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1600808488094-XSO8QKVBZP4VRX0T9XGS/Tim-Oldham-1-500x500.jpg Our Team - Tim Oldham Tim is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of AdAlta Ltd. Prior to this he was Executive Leader at Tijan Ventures and CEO/MD of Cell Therapies Pty Ltd, a company specializing in the manufacturing and distribution services for cell therapeutics. Previous executive roles span more than 15 years of life sciences business development, alliance management and sales and marketing experience in Europe, Asia and Australia. He has been President of Asia Pacific for Hospira Inc. and held various European business development, strategic marketing and regional leadership roles with Mayne Pharma (injectable generics, biosimilars and infusion management systems). After gaining his PhD (Chemistry) at Imperial College, London he was an engagement manager with McKinsey & Company. Current Non-executive Director roles include Acrux Ltd and Imunexus Ltd and he is a former Non-Executive Director of Respiri Ltd. Other industry advocacy roles include current membership of AusBiotech’s Regenerative Medicine Advisory Group, and past chair of the European Generic Medicines Association’s Biosimilars and Biotechnology Committee, Director of the Generic Medicines Industry Association and the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. Tim serves Skin2Neuron as an expert consultant on cell manufacture and biotech commercialization. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1634088261234-AYWUZ0U92QFZD2IYAI53/Lonngren.png Our Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1600902230044-BE847JHIUSE9ZSTVEYCH/Rob%2B2%2Bcasual%2Bfull%2Bsize.jpg Our Team - Rob McInnes Rob is principal at Rob McInnes IP Advisory. He specializes in the structure and negotiation of patent licences and contracts for the commercialization of technologies. He also advises founders of, and investors in, technology ventures. He is one of the few Australian lawyers to have met Certified Licensing Professional requirements. He is recognised as an 'IP Star' by Managing Intellectual Property, and since 2010 has been ranked as Australia's highest recommended IP licensing lawyer. Having gained experience both as a lawyer in private practice and as an in-house manager of IP and technology transfer, Rob’s preferred role is close adviser to management in research organizations and technology-based ventures. He likes to help managers make business decisions and negotiate assertively to achieve favourable outcomes. He is not an arm's length technical adviser. Rob serves Skin2Neuron as an expert consultant on IP strategy and commercial deal making. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1598328302264-NWDXOE32AGLXOEA2WLGF/BM%2Bheadshot_MG_4203.jpg Our Team - Bill Manos Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://www.s2n.bio/science daily 0.75 2026-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1601262096134-POOUZBJ4JQ291SPZDCDZ/SKN%2Bin%2Bsitu%2Blamin%2B%252B%2BB2T.jpg Science - Alzheimer dementia Our flagship R&D program aims to develop an all-new HFN cell therapy for Alzheimer dementia based on synaptic regeneration. For a detailed scientific background, see Chief Scientific Officer Prof Valenzuela’s highly-cited review article here. S2N side-steps the amyloid hypothesis that has produced controversial outcomes over the years. Our approach is entirely different. Our target is the ultimate cause of dementia: lost neurons and synapses. We do this by microinjecting a patient’s own HFN cells directly into the hippocampus, the memory centre of the brain and first area to be devastated by Alzheimer’s. We have completed two rodent studies showing that skin-derived neuroprecursors can reverse age-related memory deficits, rescue depleted synapses and restore network function. Donor cells survive well in the rodent brain, differentiating into anatomically correct neurons that integrate into host memory circuits. Over the past 8-years, we have also pioneered a world-first Phase I/II veterinary trial of skin-derived neural precursor cell therapy for older pet dogs with Canine Dementia. Prof Valenzuela’s team helped define the syndrome and is a leader in this field. For the first time, dogs with dementia were successfully treated, with the majority returning to normal. At the same time, synapses in the hippocampus increased several-fold, a stunning outcome despite the confirmed presence of amyloid and tau pathology. This work has now been published. S2N is also interested in partnering with leading research groups to trial HFN cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease models and other models of neurodegenerative disease. About the image: Skin from a dog was processed in our lab to produce neuronal precursor cells and then transplanted into the hippocampus of an old rat. Image show a microscope scan of the rat’s brain tissue 10 weeks later. There are many donor skin-derived neurons in green (nuclei), shooting off anatomically correct dendrites (red) to connect with the host brain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1596538436534-KRL90WCIGD57JAGEAIHE/GAD67%2BHFN%2Bpost%2Bdiff.jpg Science - Made to order neurons A major advantage of HFN technology is that they only produce neurons. That’s right: no glia, no oligos… nothing else except wonderfully pure neurons. Neuronal cell cultures can be used for all sorts of purposes, including drug discovery and toxicity testing, disease modelling and basic science. Wouldn’t it be great if you could order your own customized neuronal line? That is one of the aims of S2N cell technology and our first commercial product under development is gabergic HFN-derived neurons. Gabergic neuronal dysfunction is considered central to many psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia, and so we look forward to working together with researchers in this field. About the image: Human hair follicle-derived GAD67+ (green) neurons following S2N gabergic differentiation protocol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f28c726429bd0767376456e/1600672549279-PDWVHH76S6LFDM0YUTMK/human%2Bbrain%252Bcanine%2Bbrain.jpg Science - Canine Dementia: the missing link The canine brain (image upper) is a beautiful thing. The dog’s thinking neocortex is remarkably similar to the human brain (image lower), layered with hills and valleys (gyri and sulci) that rodents just don’t have (the rodent brain is smooth). The canine brain’s hippocampus (memory centre) is also remarkable - it has a dorsal (upper) part very much like the rodent hippocampus (denoted by the crosshairs), and a ventral (lower) part very much like the human hippocampus. So the canine brain really is a bridge between rodents and humans, and that is what has been missing in Alzheimer and dementia research for so long. Scientists have have “cured” Alzheimer’s disease in mice more than 50-times over but none of those treatments have succeeded in human trials. About 15% of older companion dogs also develop a dementia syndrome very similar to human dementia. They become forgetful, irritable, lost, stuck, wandering around aimlessly, often over and over. Their sleep patterns become disrupted and in later stages they fail to recognise their carers and soil in the house. Canine dementia is devastating to the human-animal bond and almost always leads to euthanasia when quality of life falls too low and care burden too high. Prof Valenzuela’s group helped define the clinical syndrome of Canine Dementia as well as understand its epidemiology and biology. Recently, his group has shown that Canine Dementia not only features classic Alzheimer amyloid plaques but also early-stage tau pathology, distributed in similar pattern to early stage human Alzheimer’s disease. Given all these parallels, S2N is excited to be near completion of its DOGS+CELLS Trial, a world-first veterinary trial of skin-derived cell therapy. Prof Valenzuela revealed positive topline results of the DOGS+CELLS Trial at Vet Expo in Sydney on October 28, 2020. 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