Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine


Showing 1-10 of 39 Results

  • Ash A. Alizadeh, MD/PhD

    Ash A. Alizadeh, MD/PhD

    Moghadam Family Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research is focused on attaining a better understanding of the initiation, maintenance, and progression of tumors, and their response to current therapies toward improving future treatment strategies. In this effort, I employ tools from functional genomics, computational biology, molecular genetics, and mouse models.

    Clinically, I specialize in the care of patients with lymphomas, working on translating our findings in prospective cancer clinical trials.

  • Lay Teng Ang

    Lay Teng Ang

    Assistant Professor of Urology

    BioAs a stem cell biologist, I aim to understand the mechanisms through which stem cells differentiate into progressively specialized cell types and to harness this knowledge to artificially generate pure populations of desired cell types from stem cells. My work over the past ten years has centered on pluripotent stem cells (PSCs, which include embryonic and pluripotent stem cells), which can generate any of the hundreds of diverse cell types in the body. However, it has been notoriously challenging to guide PSCs to differentiate into a pure population of a given cell type. Current differentiation strategies typically generate heterogeneous cell populations unsuitable for basic research or clinical applications. To address this challenge, I mapped the cascade of branching lineage choices through which PSCs differentiate into various endodermal and mesodermal cell types. I then developed effective methods to differentiate PSCs into specific lineages by providing the extracellular signal(s) that specify a given lineage while inhibiting the signals that induce the alternate fate(s), enabling the generation of highly-pure human heart and bone (Loh & Chen et al., 2016; Cell) and liver (Loh & Ang et al., 2014; Cell Stem Cell) from PSCs. My laboratory currently focuses on differentiating human PSCs into liver progenitors (Ang et al., 2018; Cell Reports) and blood vessel cells (Ang et al., 2022; Cell).

    I earned my Ph.D. jointly from the University of Cambridge and A*STAR and was subsequently appointed as a Research Fellow and, later, a Senior Research Fellow at the Genome Institute of Singapore. I then moved my laboratory to Stanford University as a Siebel Investigator and Instructor at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine. In 2024, I am jointly appointed in the Stanford Department of Urology and Stem Cell Institute as an Assistant Professor. My laboratory has been supported by the Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Siebel Investigatorship, Additional Ventures, and other sources.

  • Rosa Bacchetta

    Rosa Bacchetta

    Professor (Research) of Pediatrics (Stem Cell Transplantation)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsIn the coming years, I plan to further determine the genetic and immunological basis of diseases with autoimmunity or immune dysregulation in children. I believe that much can still be learned from the in depth mechanistic studies of pediatric autoimmune diseases. Genomic analysis of the patients' samples has become possible which may provide a rapid indication of altered target molecules. I plan to implement robust functional studies to define the consequences of these genetic abnormalities and bridge them to the patient's clinical phenotype.

    Understanding functional consequences of gene mutations in single case/family first and then validating the molecular and cellular defects in other patients with similar phenotypes, will anticipate and complement cellular and gene therapy strategies.

    For further information please visit the Bacchetta Lab website:
    http://med.stanford.edu/bacchettalab.html

  • Philip Beachy

    Philip Beachy

    The Ernest and Amelia Gallo Professor, Professor of Urology, of Developmental Biology and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFunction of Hedgehog proteins and other extracellular signals in morphogenesis (pattern formation), in injury repair and regeneration (pattern maintenance). We study how the distribution of such signals is regulated in tissues, how cells perceive and respond to distinct concentrations of signals, and how such signaling pathways arose in evolution. We also study the normal roles of such signals in stem-cell physiology and their abnormal roles in the formation and expansion of cancer stem cells.

  • Michael F. Clarke, M.D.

    Michael F. Clarke, M.D.

    Karel H. and Avice N. Beekhuis Professor of Cancer Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Clarke maintains a laboratory focused on two areas of research: i) the control of self-renewal of normal stem cells and diseases such as cancer and hereditary diseases; and ii) the identification and characterization of cancer stem cells. His laboratory is investigating how perturbations of stem cell regulatory machinery contributes to human disease. In particular, the laboratory is investigating epigenetic regulators of self renewal, the process by which stem cells regenerate themselves.

  • Agnieszka Czechowicz, MD, PhD

    Agnieszka Czechowicz, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Stem Cell Transplantation)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Czechowicz’s research is aimed at understanding how hematopoietic stem cells interact with their microenvironment in order to subsequently modulate these interactions to improve bone marrow transplantation and unlock biological secrets that further enable regenerative medicine broadly. This work can be applied across a variety of disease states ranging from rare genetic diseases, autoimmune diseases, solid organ transplantation, microbiome-augmentation and cancer.

  • Tushar Desai

    Tushar Desai

    Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBasic and translational research in lung stem cell biology, cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, and acute lung injury/ARDS. Upper airway stem cell CRISPR gene correction followed by autologous stem cell transplantation to treat Cystic fibrosis. Using lung organoids and precision cut lung slice cultures of mouse and human lungs to study molecular regulation of lung stem cells. Using transgenic mice to visualize Wnt protein transmission from niche cell to stem cell in vivo.

  • Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD

    Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD

    Jack, Lulu, and Sam Willson Professor and Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Therapy)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory focuses on two main areas: 1) cancer stem cell biology and 2) novel biomarkers for identifying the presence of malignant cells (diagnostic), predicting outcome (prognostic), and predicting response to therapy (predictive). Areas of study include cancers of the lung, breast, and gastrointestinal system. Clinically I specialize in the treatment of lung cancer and applications of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy and perform both prospective and retrospective clinical studies.