Disease Programs

Stem Cell Biology And Technology

Chris Amemiya, PhD (UW Affiliate Professor, Biology, and Member, Genetics Program at Benaroya Research )

Dr. Amemiya is a developmental geneticist, who uses comparative genomics approaches to study evolutionary and developmental aspects of the vertebrate adaptive immune system and the development of morphological structures. The lab is actively utilizing and is involved in construction and utilization of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) reagents and developing ways in which to employ BACs for functional biology and for making inferences relevant to human medicine.

Norman Beauchamp (Chair, Radiology)

I am finalizing the recruit of a faculty from Hopkins that will bring skills in working with stem cells with the goal of them joining the SLU team. We have developed and are performing studies monitoring stem cell movement. We have recruited a scientist to develop smart contrast agents to enhance our ability to track stem cells. It is a big part of where I am taking the department in terms of molecular imaging and diagnostics.

Mark Cooper (Biology)

During early embryogenesis, embryonic cell populations within vertebrate embryos exhibit extraordinary sequences to transient, stereotyped morphogenetic behaviors. The Cooper laboratory seeks to understand how these genetically encoded cell behaviors are organized spatiotemporally to generate embryonic tissues in living embryos through the use of computer-assisted imaging and visualization approaches.

Bruce Edgar (FHCRC)

Control of cell proliferation.

Alan Fantel (Pediatrics)

Dr. Fantel provides tissues from human embryos under a long-standing grant awards from the NIH. Such tissue is for research purposes.

Jay Heinecke (Medicine)

The Heinecke laboratory provides state-of-the-art proteomic analyses to investigators with an interest in stem cell biology.

Dina Mandoli (Biology)

Stem cell-like cells in Acetabularia, a plant.

Satoshi Minoshima (Radiology)

Dr. Minoshima has been developing magnetic resonance (MR) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of neuro-progenitor cells and gene / drug delivery vehicles. He has an extensive background in imaging sciences and research and clinical applications to animals and humans.

Keiko Torii (Biology)

Signals that specify terminal differentiation of stomatal stem cells.

Carol Ware (Comparative Medicine)

Director of the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core (hESC Core). Research includes studies of human embryonic stem cell self-renewal to maintain normal phenotype and genotype following extended in vitro culture. She is internationally known for developing successful methods for freezing and restarting stem cells and for comparative studies on existing hESC lines.

Wenqing Xu (Biological Structure)

This lab works on the structural biology of Wnt pathway components that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

Chun Yuan (Pathology)

Imaging, as already identified as a core of the institute, can play key roles in many different areas in stem cell research. One apparent area would be to monitor the therapeutic effects in tissue function as in the treatment of stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, liver disease, and pancreatic islet cell transplantation. The most advanced area of research involves the use of stem cells to treat heart conditions, including the repair of myocardium after infarction. Most of the current works are in varies animal models but can be extended into human imaging. Stem cell tracking by invasive and non-invasive imaging is also being developed as part of the overall efforts in molecular imaging. This capability will be beneficial.

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