Speaker: Su-Chun Zhang, Neuroscience
Description: Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can generate all cell types in our body, opening the possibility to unlock the mystery of early human development and to develop therapeutics for a range of diseases. The first type of human PSCs, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), was generated by Jamie Thomson here at UW Madison 25 years ago. Studies on human ESCs led to the development of another type of PSCs, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which can be generated from blood or skin cells of an individual. I will describe what has been happening in my laboratory and attempt to reflect what has happened to and what to expect for the human PSC field.
Bio: Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, is professor of Neuroscience and Neurology, Steenbock Professor in Neural and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Zhang received his MD and MS in China and PhD in Canada. He is a pioneer in stem cell biology, guiding human stem cells to functionally specialized nerve cell types with over 20 awarded patents. He has developed stem cell-based platforms for studying neural degeneration and testing drugs for neurological diseases. In parallel, he is developing cell therapy for neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and stroke. Dr. Zhang was a founding member of the WiCell Institute and co-founder of BrainXell, Inc and BrainXell Therapeutics, Inc.
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