Title: Using human pluripotent stem cell-derived tissues

Speaker: Prof. James M. Well, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati children’s hospital Medical Center

Time: 2012.2.21, 9：00am

Place: IOZ B-105

Contact: Prof. LIN Xin-Hua

Dr. James M. Well earned his Ph.D. in State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1995. He received postdoctoral training in the area of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University.

In 2002, He established his own lab in Cincinnati children’s hospital Medical Center and he is currently an associate professor.

The main focus of his lab is to use several model organisms, including chicks and mice, to study the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of the endoderm, which gives rise to the lining of the esophagus, stomach and intestines as well as the lungs, pancreas and liver.

The genes and signaling mechanisms that he identifies in his embryonic studies are being used to promote the differentiation of embryonic and adult stem cells into therapeutically important cell types such as insulin-producing beta cells.

Stem cells are a promising renewable source of cells for transplantation to treat human diseases such as type 1 diabetes.

Publication:

Spence JR, Mayhew CN, Rankin SA, Kuhar MF, Vallance JE, Tolle K, Hoskins EE, Kalinichenko VV, Wells SI, Zorn AM, Shroyer NF, Wells JM. Directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into intestinal tissue in vitro. Nature. 2010 Dec 12.

Lin SC, Wani MA, Whitsett JA, Wells JM. Klf5 regulates lineage formation in the pre-implantation mouse embryo. Development. 2010 Dec;137(23):3953-63.

Carpenter AC, Rao S, Wells JM, Campbell K, Lang RA. Generation of mice with a conditional null allele for Wntless. Genesis. 2010 Sep;48(9):554-8.