the nyscf investigator program

THE NEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATIONINVESTIGATOR PROGRAMScientists leading their generation in cutting-edge research

2017 - 2018

Cover: Kristen Brennand, PhD, 2013 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell InvestigatorImage by: Veronica Szarejko

The New York Stem Cell Foundation is accelerating cures for the major diseases of our time

through stem cell research.

The NYSCF Investigator Program

supports early career scientists, creating and promoting a global community of leading

stem cell and neuroscience researchers. The Program provides support for:

• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigators• NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigators • NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipients

The NYSCF Fellowship Program

supports postdoctoral scientists at an early stage of their careers. These young researchers hold the potential to accelerate treatments and cures. The Program provides support for:

• NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellows

The NYSCF Research Institute

Laboratories conduct the most advanced human stem cell research and develop pioneering technologies for the field. Independent and privately funded,

NYSCF takes a “team science” approach to advance cures, collaborating with leading

global partners to unravel the root causes of disease through

the power of stem cells.

A global community of over 150 scientists leading their generation in cutting-edge research

N Y S C F I N N O V ATO R C O M M U N I T Y

The NYSCF Investigator Program

supports early career scientists, creating and promoting a global community of leading

stem cell and neuroscience researchers. The Program provides support for:

• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigators• NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigators • NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipients

The NYSCF Fellowship Program

supports postdoctoral scientists at an early stage of their careers. These young researchers hold the potential to accelerate treatments and cures. The Program provides support for:

• NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellows

The NYSCF Research Institute

Laboratories conduct the most advanced human stem cell research and develop pioneering technologies for the field. Independent and privately funded,

NYSCF takes a “team science” approach to advance cures, collaborating with leading

global partners to unravel the root causes of disease through

the power of stem cells.

The NYSCF Investigator Programs support and encourage promising early career scientists whose cutting-edge research holds the potential to accelerate treatments and cures. The Programs provide critical seed funding to these outstanding scientists, supporting them as they move beyond their postdoctoral training to establish their own,

independent research.

NYSCFINVEST IGATOR

PROGRAMS

• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Awards• NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Awards• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize• NYSCF Research Institute Investigators

The Programs provide support for:

The NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Awards provide five years of critical seed funding to outstanding early career scientists all over the world. The Program fosters bold and innovative scientists with the potential to transform the field of stem cell research, and advance the understanding and use of stem cells in the development of treatments for human disease.

NYSCF – ROBERTSON STEM CELL INVESTIGATOR AWARDS

SERGIU PASCA, MDStanford University

Dr. Pasca is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute Stem Cell Core. He is primarily focused on the development of new approaches for studying human brain development, like building mini brain organoids, and for uncovering the mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University.

LOUIS VERMEULEN, MD, PHDAcademic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dr. Vermeulen is a Principal Investigator at the Center for Experimental Molecular Medicine at Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where he is focusing on the role of stem cells in colorectal cancer development and progression. He aims to develop improved preventive strategies and novel, more effective therapies for this disease by studying the effects of genetic mutations on the behavior of stem cells in the gut. He completed his postdoctoral studies at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

BRIAN WAINGER, MD, PHDMassachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Wainger is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. His lab aims to develop a precision medicine platform by which analyses of stem cells and derived cell types can be used to build more powerful human models in the laboratory. He is also currently conducting clinical trials in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He completed his residency and clinical fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

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MARIA BARNA, PHD Stanford University

Dr. Barna is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Developmental Biology and Genetics at Stanford University. Her lab focuses on the importance of ribosomes in cell communication to determine stem cell development and gene expression. She aims to show how ribosomes are involved in the remarkable diversity of cell types characteristic of normal embryonic development. She completed her postdoctoral studies at University of California, San Francisco.

MALIN PARMAR, PHDLund University, Sweden

Dr. Parmar is a Professor in the Cellular Neuroscience Department at Lund University, Sweden, where she is focusing on bringing new cell-based therapies for Parkinson’s disease to the clinic by replacing lost dopamine neurons with new, healthy cells. Her work in cellular reprogramming opens up the possibilities of personalized treatments of patients with healthy versions of their own cells. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Lund University, Sweden and Edinburgh University, Scotland.

TAKANORI TAKEBE, MDCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Dr. Takebe is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and Division of Developmental Biology at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Associate Professor at Yokohama City University, Japan. His lab is developing and applying mini-organ technologies from human stem cells – namely organ bud transplants – in patients with a rare congenital metabolic disorder, ultimately expanding the clinical applications to diseases like liver cirrhosis. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Yokohama City University, Japan.


MITCHELL GUTTMAN, PHDCalifornia Institute of Technology

Dr. Guttman is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. His lab aims to understand how lncRNAs, a class of noncoding genes described by Dr. Guttman, perform many jobs in the cell, among them regulating the plasticity of embryonic stem cells and controlling how stem cells become any other kind of cell. He completed his postdoctoral studies at MIT and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

JUSTIN ICHIDA, PHDUniversity of Southern California

Dr. Ichida is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Southern California, where he is focusing on using patient-specific disease modeling, next-generation sequencing, and chemical screening to identify disease mechanisms and new treatments for Lou Gehrig’s Disease and sensorineural hearing loss. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard University.

KRISTY RED-HORSE, PHDStanford University

Dr. Red-Horse is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Stanford University, where her lab focuses on how cardiovascular stem cells behave in three dimensions and at the single cell level, bringing a high-resolution understanding of embryonic development to injury and disease models. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Genentech and Stanford University.


VALENTINA GRECO, PHDYale University

Dr. Greco is an Associate Professor at Yale University where she is utilizing genetic, live imaging and genomic approaches to capture the emergence of cancer by live imaging to transform current therapeutic strategies to cure and prevent cancer. She received her PhD from European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and completed her postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University.

JENNIFER E. PHILLIPS-CREMINS, PHD University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Phillips-Cremins is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where her lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms that govern producing healthy neurons from stem cells and how these mechanisms go awry during the onset of neurodegenerative diseases. She received her PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology, and completed her postdoctoral training at Emory University and UMass Medical School.

FENG ZHANG, PHD Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Zhang is a Core Member of the Broad Institute and the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor of Biomedical Engineering at MIT where he is developing and applying disruptive technologies including optogenetics and genome engineering (TALEs and CRISPR) to understand nervous system function and disease. He received his PhD from Stanford University and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard.


JAY RAJAGOPAL, MDHarvard Medical School

Dr. Rajagopal is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where his laboratory focuses on the application of stem cells and regenerative biology to human lung disease. He completed his postdoctoral research at Harvard University.

KRISTEN BRENNAND, PHDIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Brennand is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where her research focuses on schizophrenia, a debilitating psychiatric disorder with no cure. She completed her postdoctoral research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

JACOB HANNA, MD, PHDWeizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Dr. Hanna is a Senior Scientist in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where he explores topics in embryonic stem cell biology, early embryonic development and the modeling of human diseases. His research holds the promise of creating powerful research models for degenerative and autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.


The NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Awards provide five years of critical seed funding to outstanding early career scientists all over the world. The Program supports truly innovative neuroscientists whose research holds the potential to transform our fundamental understanding of the brain and how it functions.

NYSCF – ROBERTSON NEUROSCIENCE INVESTIGATOR AWARDS

STEPHEN BROHAWN, PHDUniversity of California, Berkeley

Dr. Brohawn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology at University of California, Berkeley. His lab is focused on understanding how the nervous system senses and responds to physical forces, which is at the heart of the classic senses of hearing and touch. It also underlies other sensations, including those involved in balance, pain, breathing, digestion, and blood pressure control. He completed his postdoctoral studies at The Rockefeller University.

GREGORY SCHERRER, PHD, PHARMDStanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Scherrer is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he is proposing to alter the brain’s interpretation of pain signals to eliminate the unpleasantness associated with pain and restore patients’ quality of life. Long term, he hopes to discover new drugs that can interfere with the function of neurons to ultimately provide pain relief and provide a therapeutic solution for millions of patients. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Columbia University.

ILANA WITTEN, PHDPrinceton University

Dr. Witten is an Assistant Professor in the Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology at Princeton University. Her lab studies the neural circuits for reward learning and decision-making, with a focus on the role of dynamics and feedback in these cognitive processes. The work promises to provide important insights regarding how actions are linked to later occurring outcomes in support of learning, a central open question in the field of reinforcement learning. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University.

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MARIA LEHTINEN, PHDBoston Children’s Hospital

Dr. Lehtinen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on how cerebrospinal fluid regulates the development and health of the brain. By determining the mechanisms by which the cerebrospinal fluid delivers instructive cues for stem cells in the brain, her lab can provide the foundation for understanding normal brain development. She completed her postdoctoral studies at University of Helsinki, Finland and Boston Children’s Hospital.

CLAIRE WYART, PHDBrain & Spine Institute (ICM), France

Dr. Wyart is an Independent Group Leader at the Brain & Spine Institute (ICM), France, where her team focuses on the presence of multiple signaling molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid that regulate complex behavior, such as appetite, locomotion, sleep and arousal, and sickness behavior. Her work aims to understand how the central nervous system can perceive and respond to internal state changes in both body and brain. She completed her postdoctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley and the Curie Institute, France.

MICHAEL YARTSEV, PHDUniversity of California, Berkeley

Dr. Yartsev is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at University of California, Berkeley. His lab uses neurophysiological, optogenetic, imaging and molecular techniques in a novel model system – the bat – to study the neurobiological basis of language learning in the mammalian brain and ultimately investigate a wide range of neurological disorders associated with language. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Princeton University.


HILLEL ADESNIK, PHDUniversity of California, Berkeley

Dr. Adesnik is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at University of California, Berkeley, where he is focusing on revealing the neural basis of sensory perception at the synaptic, systems, and behavioral levels. He completed his postdoctoral studies at University of California, San Diego.

DRAGANA ROGULJA, PHDHarvard Medical School

Dr. Rogulja is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, where her lab is focusing on the genetics of sleep regulation and the molecular regulatory mechanisms and neuronal circuitry of the sensory gating that takes place in the various stages of sleep. She completed her postdoctoral studies at The Rockefeller University.


EDWARD CHANG, MDUniversity of California, San Francisco

Dr. Chang is a neurosurgeon, Chief of Epilepsy and Pain Neurosurgery and a Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, where he specializes in advanced clinical brain mapping methods, including awake speech mapping, to safely perform neurosurgical procedures in eloquent areas of the brain. He received his medical degree from UCSF, and completed his postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley.

LISA GIOCOMO, PHDStanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Giocomo is an Assistant Professor at Stanford University, where her lab integrates a variety of disciplines and tools to study how single-cell biophysics and network dynamics interact to mediate spatial memory and navigation. She received her PhD at Boston University, and completed her postdoctoral studies at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

KAY M. TYE, PHDMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Tye is an Assistant Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where her lab focuses on understanding how the brain processes the differences between positive and negative stimuli, and leveraging cutting-edge techniques to reprogram neural circuits to induce long lasting changes in behavior. She completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford University.


WINRICH FREIWALD, PHDThe Rockefeller University

Dr. Freiwald is an Associate Professor at The Rockefeller University where he heads the Laboratory of Neural Systems. His work focuses on the neural circuit mechanisms of face recognition, attention, and social cognition. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT and Harvard Medical School.

DANIEL HUBER, PHDUniversity of Geneva, Switzerland

Dr. Huber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Basic Neurosciences at the University of Geneva, Swizerland, where his lab currently combines novel behavioral paradigms with electrophysiology and innovative optical imaging tools to study how different areas of the frontal cortex interact during decision-making and the control of goal-directed action. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and at the Janelia Farm Research Campus.

ZACHARY KNIGHT, PHDUniversity of California, San Francisco

Dr. Knight is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where his lab is developing new technologies for mapping neural circuits by sequencing RNA and using these tools to identify the cells that control innate behaviors such as feeding. He completed his postdoctoral research at The Rockefeller University.

MELISSA WARDEN, PHDCornell University

Dr. Warden is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University and a Miriam M. Salpeter Fellow. Her work integrates neurophysiological, imaging, and cellular and molecular approaches to the understanding of neural circuits mediating reward, motivation, and learning. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University.


The NYSCF – Robertson Investigator Alumni continue to participate in the greater Innovator Community through The NYSCF Conference, the annual Innovators Retreat, and an ongoing series of collaborations and projects. They are part of a global network of scientists who are working to accelerate the path of research from bench to bedside.

NYSCF – ROBERTSON INVESTIGATOR ALUMNI

DEEPTA BHATTACHARYA, PHD Associate Professor, University of Arizona

Dr. Bhattacharya’s lab focuses on stem cell-based approaches for the treatment of immune deficiencies and on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of resistance to viral infection. He started his independent laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine before moving to University of Arizona.

CHRISTOPHER HARVEY, PHDAssistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Harvey’s lab focuses on understanding the neuronal circuit mechanisms underlying short-term memory and decision-making, using a range of imaging, electrophysiological, genetic, and behavioral approaches. He investigates how circuits perform computations, especially in the context of spatial navigation.

DIETER EGLI, PHD Assistant Professor, Columbia University

Dr. Egli focuses on the generation of therapeutically relevant cells for diabetes. His work has relevance for the use of stem cells to study disease, screen for new drugs, and cell replacement therapy. Previously, he conducted research at The NYSCF Research Institute.

MICHAEL A. LONG, PHDAssociate Professor, New York University School of Medicine

Dr. Long and his lab aims to develop approaches that adapt modern imaging and electrophysiological tools to the study of neural circuits underlying the production of skilled motor behaviors.

ALEXANDER MEISSNER, PHDProfessor, Harvard UniversityDirector, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Germany

Dr. Meissner is developing and applying next generation sequencing technologies to the human genome with the goal of better understanding normal and disease cellular states. He maintains a lab at Harvard.

VANESSA RUTA, PHDAssistant Professor, The Rockefeller University

Dr. Ruta’s lab is using novel methods to trace and probe neural circuits to gain insight into the neural basis for innate and adaptive behaviors. Her lab has examined how the nervous system is wired to flexibly encode and assign meaning to the chemical world.

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PAOLA ARLOTTA, PHDProfessor, Harvard UniversityDr. Arlotta is investigating the mechanisms that control the development, regeneration and assembly of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Much of her work is aimed at identifying regenerative strategies for diseases of the corticospinal tract, including ALS and spinal cord injury.

ED BOYDEN, PHDAssociate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDr. Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for controlling and observing the dynamic circuits of the brain, and uses these neurotechnologies to enable systematic repair of intractable brain disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, PTSD, and chronic pain.

GABSANG LEE, PHDAssociate Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineDr. Lee is studying stem cells created from the cells of patients with rare diseases like Familial Dysautonomia, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, and muscular dystrophy in order to investigate the development of these diseases and treatments and therapies.

CHRISTOPHER GREGG, PHDAssistant Professor, University of UtahDr. Gregg is researching the function and regulation of imprinted genes expressed in circuits of the brain that modulate feeding and motivated behaviors. In particular, he is working to uncover epigenetic regulatory pathways that program gene expression in the brain during early life.

RAVI MAJETI, MD, PHD Associate Professor, Stanford UniversityDr. Majeti focuses on the molecular and genomic characterization and therapeutic targeting of leukemia stem cells in human hematologic malignancies. He has isolated a protein, CD47, as a protector of cancer cells and looks to treat cancer by silencing it.

TAKAKI KOMIYAMA, PHDAssociate Professor, University of California, San DiegoDr. Komiyama is interested in studying the activity of neuronal ensembles in behaving animals, and how it might change with experience and learning. His lab is among the pioneers to use in vivo two-photo calcium imaging in awake, behaving mice.

GABY MAIMON, PHD Associate Professor, The Rockefeller UniversityDr. Maimon and his lab aim to link the electrical activity of neurons and the biochemical action of molecules to their computational roles in animal behavior. His research program provides a platform for discovering basic mechanisms of how brains integrate, think, and decide.


SHUIBING CHEN, PHD Associate Professor, Weill Cornell Medical College

Dr. Chen focuses on manipulating stem cell fate using chemical and biological approaches generating functional tissues and organs that can be used for translational research. Her lab’s goal is to use these patient specific tissues and organs for replacement therapy.

MARIUS WERNIG, MD, PHDAssociate Professor, Stanford University

Dr. Wernig is interested in pluripotent stem cell biology and the molecular determinants of neural cell fate decisions. His laboratory was the first to generate functional neuronal cells reprogrammed directly from skin fibroblasts, and is now working on cell transplantation-based strategies for a variety of monogenetic diseases.

PAUL J. TESAR, DPHILAssociate Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Tesar works on directed differentiation of stem cells into oligodendrocytes to study diseases such as multiple sclerosis. By comparing stem cells from different patients, he has a tractable system to study human developmental genetics and uncover new genetic or pharmacological therapies.

DERRICK ROSSI, PHD Associate Professor, Harvard University

Dr. Rossi is interested in understanding the mechanisms enabling self-renewal and multi-potency in hematopoietic stem cells, cells within the bone marrow, which he studies using cellular, molecular, genetic, and epigenetic approaches.

The NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding young stem cell scientist in recognition of significant and pathbreaking translational stem cell research.

Each NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipient receives a monetary award to be used for research purposes as well as a sculpture from The New York Stem Cell Foundation.

NYSCF – ROBERTSON STEM CELL PR IZE

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2017 PAUL J. TESAR, DPHIL

Dr. Tesar is an Associate Professor and the Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics at Case Western Reserve University, where his laboratory is developing cutting-edge stem cell technologies to better understand and treat nervous system disorders including multiple sclerosis, pediatric leukodystrophies, cerebral palsy, and brain cancer.

Recently, Dr. Tesar has turned his attention to the study of myelination and the diseases that impact it. His work has helped move the field beyond the challenge of inaccessibility by devising new methods for producing myelinating oligodendrocytes through reprogramming and stem cell differentiation techniques. He has also delivered on the translational promise that these cells hold by using them as a substrate for drug screening efforts. His transformative discoveries are fundamentally enabling critical advances in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.

Dr. Tesar is a NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus.

N Y S C F – R O B E R T S O N S T E M C E L L P R I Z E R E C I P I E N T S

2016 FENG ZHANG, PHDCore Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardAssociate Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Zhang won the Prize for his development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, using the technique in human cells. The CRISPR-Cas9 system and later advances, also developed by Zhang, are easy to execute with almost endless possibility for new research enabling scientists to change, delete, and replace any genes of any animal. His methods are being used in immunology, clinical medicine, and cancer biology.

2015 FRANZISKA MICHOR, PHDProfessor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Dr. Michor won the Prize for her work pioneering new approaches to study the growth, spread, and treatment of cancer. Her quantitative approaches have called into question drug regimens for cancer treatments, in particular, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a type of blood cell cancer. Dr Michor’s work simulates what happens if drugs are introduced in different time intervals in order to optimize treatment by reducing the amount of surviving cancer cells.

2014 MARIUS WERNIG, MD, PHDAssociate Professor at Stanford University

Dr. Wernig won the Prize for his discovery that human skin cells can be converted directly into functional neurons, termed induced neuronal (iN) cells. This new technique transformed the field of cellular reprogramming by eliminating the need to first create iPS cells, making it easier to generate patient or disease-specific neurons. These cell types hold tremendous therapeutic and translational relevance for patients around the world.

For the development of novel, interdisciplinary approaches to treat cancer

For the development of genome editing tools from CRISPR-Cas9

For a new method to generate neurons

N Y S C F – R O B E R T S O N S T E M C E L L P R I Z E R E C I P I E N T S

2013 AMY J. WAGERS, PHDProfessor at Harvard University

Dr. Wagers won the Prize for her discovery of a hormone, GDF11, that regulates aging through stem cell “rejuvenation”, which has the potential to provide transformative new therapies for aging and chronic degenerative diseases. Her work has the potential to impact treatment of diabetes, cancer, and muscular dystrophy among many other devastating conditions. Her lab focuses on the regulation and therapeutic potential of blood and muscle stem cells.

2012 KAZUTOSHI TAKAHASHI, PHDInvestigator at Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease

Dr. Takahashi won the Prize for his vital contribution to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell derivation at Kyoto University, Japan. He was lead author on a series of landmark papers that described reprogramming adult cells into iPS cells, which were published while he was a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. His path-breaking work has opened up the field of stem cell research.

2011 PETER J. COFFEY, DPHILProfessor at University College London, United KingdomProfessor at University of California, Santa Barbara

Dr. Coffey won the Prize for his pioneering work in the use of human embryonic stem cells to halt visual deterioration and treat age-related eye diseases, resulting in the first clinical stem cell trials to attempt to treat blindness. His research has demonstrated that stem cell-based therapy halted visual deterioration in models of Aged-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a currently untreatable form of blindness affecting millions of people across the globe.

For the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells

For key insights into aging

For the first stem cell trial to treat blindness

Since its inception, The NYSCF Research Institute has used private funds to advance the most cutting-edge stem cell research.

With the generous support of private philanthropists, the NYSCF Research Institute Investigators are moving the field of stem cell research closer to the cures we need.

NYSCF RESEARCH INST ITUTE INVEST IGATORS

SCOTT NOGGLE, PHDThe NYSCF Research Institute

Dr. Noggle is Senior Vice President, Research at The NYSCF Research Institute, where his work focuses on using cell reprogramming to create new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and developing new stem cell technologies. He completed his postdoctoral research at The Rockefeller University, and previously was named the NYSCF – Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer’s Disease.

VALENTINA FOSSATI, PHD The NYSCF Research Institute

Dr. Fossati is a Senior Investigator at The NYSCF Research Institute, where she is using skin samples from patients with multiple sclerosis to create the oligodendrocytes affected by disease. Dr. Fossati received a NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellowship in 2009 and conducted her postdoctoral studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

BJARKI JOHANNESSON, PHDThe NYSCF Research Institute

Dr. Johannesson is an Investigator at The NYSCF Research Institute. He focuses on gaining a better understanding of why beta cells fail in diabetes as well as exploring ways to improve the survival of stem cell derived insulin producing cells after transplantation. He received his PhD from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany and a NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellowship in 2014.

DANIEL PAULL, PHDThe NYSCF Research Institute

Dr. Paull is Vice President, Automation Systems & Stem Cell Biology at The NYSCF Research Institute, where he leads research on the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array automated robotic stem cell derivation and differentiation system. He received his PhD from University College London, United Kingdom and completed his postdoctoral studies at The NYSCF Research Institute in Dr. Dieter Egli’s lab.

N Y S C F R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E I N V E S T I G ATO R S

GIUSEPPE MARIA de PEPPO, PHD The NYSCF Research Institute

Dr. de Peppo is the NYSCF – Ralph Lauren Investigator at The NYSCF Research Institute, where he is focusing on engineering personalized bone substitutes for reconstructive therapies of the skeletal system, studying bone development and pathologies using patient-specific cells, and screening new drugs and testing biomaterials. Dr. de Peppo conducted his postdoctoral studies at The NYSCF Research Institute.

2015 NYSCF – Ralph Lauren Investigator

INSTITUTIONS OF CURRENTSTEM CELL INVESTIGATORS

INSTITUTIONS OFALUMNI INVESTIGATORS

Academic Medical Center, �e NetherlandsBroad Institute of MIT and HarvardCalifornia Institute of TechnologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterHarvard Medical SchoolIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiLund University, SwedenMassachusetts General HospitalMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyStanford UniversityUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWeizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Boston Children's HospitalBrain & Spine Institute (ICM), FranceCornell UniversityHarvard Medical SchoolMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyPrinceton UniversityStanford University�e Rockefeller UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, San FranciscoUniversity of Geneva, Switzerland

Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Columbia UniversityHarvard Medical School

Harvard UniversityJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Germany

New York University School of Medicine�e NYSCF Research Institute

Stanford University�e Rockefeller University

University of ArizonaUniversity of California, San Diego

University of UtahWashington University School of Medicine

Weill Cornell Medical College

Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCase Western Reserve University

Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteHarvard University

Kyoto University, JapanStanford University

University College London, United Kingdom

INSTITUTIONS OF NYSCF – ROBERTSONSTEM CELL PRIZE RECIPIENTS

INSTITUTIONS OF CURRENTNEUROSCIENCE INVESTIGATORS

N Y S C F I N V E S T I G ATO R P R O G R A M S

INSTITUTIONS OF CURRENTSTEM CELL INVESTIGATORS

INSTITUTIONS OFALUMNI INVESTIGATORS

Academic Medical Center, �e NetherlandsBroad Institute of MIT and HarvardCalifornia Institute of TechnologyCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical CenterHarvard Medical SchoolIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiLund University, SwedenMassachusetts General HospitalMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyStanford UniversityUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWeizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Boston Children's HospitalBrain & Spine Institute (ICM), FranceCornell UniversityHarvard Medical SchoolMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyPrinceton UniversityStanford University�e Rockefeller UniversityUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, San FranciscoUniversity of Geneva, Switzerland

Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Columbia UniversityHarvard Medical School

Harvard UniversityJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMax Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Germany

New York University School of Medicine�e NYSCF Research Institute

Stanford University�e Rockefeller University

University of ArizonaUniversity of California, San Diego

University of UtahWashington University School of Medicine

Weill Cornell Medical College

Broad Institute of MIT and HarvardCase Western Reserve University

Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteHarvard University

Kyoto University, JapanStanford University

University College London, United Kingdom

INSTITUTIONS OF NYSCF – ROBERTSONSTEM CELL PRIZE RECIPIENTS

INSTITUTIONS OF CURRENTNEUROSCIENCE INVESTIGATORS

Creating a global community of scientists leading their generation in cutting-edge research

IMPACT

SINCE THE PROGRAM’S INCEPTION

NYSCF – ROBERTSON STEM CELL PRIZE RECIPIENTS

ALUMNI

NYSCF – ROBERTSON NEUROSCIENCE INVESTIGATORS

NYSCF – ROBERTSON STEM CELL INVESTIGATORS

NYSCF RESEARCH INSTITUTE INVESTIGATORS

850YOUNG SCIENTISTS

BEING TRAINED IN THEIR LABS

Over

2100TOTAL

PUBLICATIONS

Over

400AWARDS & HONORS RECEIVED IN THEIR

CAREERS

Over

2000TALKS GIVEN

ON THEIREXCITING WORK

Over

a t61 SCIENTISTS SUPPORTED 38 DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

IMPACT

Aging

Autoimmune Diseases

Blindness

Cancer

Cardiovascular Diseases

Diabetes

Gene Editing/Human Genome

Lung Diseases

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Stem Cell Biology

Tissue Engineering

AREAS OF STUDY

Neurotechnologies

Neurobiology

Development

Learning & Memory

Decision Making

AREAS OF STUDY

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

General

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Parkinson's Disease

Rare Diseases

Schizophrenia

Alzheimer’s

STEM CELLRESEARCH

AREAS

14%

14%

9%

23%

41%

3% 3% 3%

10%

3%

8%

13%

13%

3%

36%

8%

NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH

AREAS

RESEARCH AREAS BY THE NUMBERS

1. Dr. Feng Zhang; 2. Drs. Jay Rajagopal and Valentina Greco; 3. Drs. Michael Yartsev and Guiseppe Maria de Peppo;4. Dr. Christopher Harvey; 5. Drs. Maria Lehtinen and Valentina Fossati; 6. Drs. Paul Tesar and Christopher Gregg;7. NYSCF Innovators

N Y S C F I N N O V ATO R S

1 4

2

3

5 6

7

N Y S C F L E A D E R S H I P

B O A R D O F D I R E C TO R S *

L E A D E R S H I P C O U N C I L *

*as of 9/25/2017

Roy Geronemus, MD, ChairmanSusan L. Solomon, CEO & Co-founderMargo AlexanderPeggy Brim BewkesMarilyn G. BreslowKaren E. Burke, MD, PhDPaul GoldbergerGeorge Lazarus, MDRichard J. Massey, PhDStephen M. RossStephen M. ScherrStuart Smith, DPhilAnita Volz Wien

Katherine Bristor & William PriestDavid A. CarmelRussell L. CarsonChuck CloseAlan M. CohenShirley CookFiona & Stanley Druckenmiller Jodie & John EastmanFrank Gehry Lawrence E. Golub and Karen Finerman April GornikMarlene Hess

Tania HigginsDorothy LichtensteinSandra LloydPaul M. MeisterStephen J. MeringoffDavid K. MitnickNancy & Fred PosesCarol RoamanJulian RobertsonAndy RussellBarbara Stovall SmithNoelle and Dick Wolf

NYSCF’S Board of Directors are leaders in medicine, the arts, and business. Their talents and experience, combined with an unwavering commitment to advancing stem cell research, guide NYSCF in realizing its mission.

NYSCF’S Leadership Council members are valued ambassadors who are committed to funding and promoting NYSCF’s mission to accelerate cures through stem cell research.

T H E N E W YO R K S T E M C E L L F O U N D AT I O N

N Y S C F I N N O V ATO R S

NYSCF – Rober tson Stem Cell Investigators • Maria Barna • Kristen Brennand • Valentina GrecoMitchell Guttman • Jacob Hanna • Justin Ichida • Malin Parmar • Sergiu PascaJennifer E. Phillips-Cremins • Jay Rajagopal • Kristy Red-Horse • Takanori Takebe • Louis VermeulenBrian Wainger • Feng Zhang • NYSCF – Rober tson Neuroscience Investigators • Hillel AdesnikStephen Brohawn • Edward Chang • Winrich Frewiald • Lisa Giocomo • Daniel HuberZahcary Knight • Maria Lehtinen • Dragana Rogulja • Gregory Scherrer • Kay M. TyeMelissa Warden • Ilana Witten • Claire Wyart • Michael Yartsev • NYSCF – Robertson Investigator AlumniPaola Arlotta • Deepta Bhattacharya • Ed Boyden • Shuibing Chen • Dieter EgliChristopher Gregg • Christopher Harvey • Takaki Komiyama • Gabsang Lee • Michael A. Long Gaby Maimon • Ravi Majeti • Alexander Meissner • Derrick Rossi • Vanessa Ruta • Paul J. Tesar Marius Wernig • NYSCF Research Institute Investigators • Valentina Fossati • Bjarki Johannesson Daniel Paull • Scott Noggle • NYSCF – Ralph Lauren Investigator • Giuseppe Maria de Peppo NYSCF – Helmsley Stem Cel l Investigator Alumni • Valentina Fossati • Darja MaroltNYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellows • Laura Andres-Martin • Dafne Campigli Di GiammartinoTae Wan Kim • Hongda Li • Benjamin Lin • Raphael Lis • Ying Liu • Maria MaryanovichSangbum Park • Brett Shook • Julia TCW • NYSCF – Druckenmil ler Fel lowship AlumniSriram Bandi • Zhongwei Cao • Ting Chen • Elisa Cimetta • Dilek Colak • Francesco Paolo Di GiorgioRaffaella Di Micco • Bi-Sen Ding • Panos Douvaras • Dieter Egli • Samantha England • Elena EzhkovaChristopher Fasano • Nuria Flames • Valentina Fossati • Alexandre Gaspar Maia • Tamar Hermesh Ya-Chieh Hsu • Sarah Xuelian Huang • Justin Ichida • Keiichi Inoue • Daylon JamesBjarki Johannesson • Natalie Kim • Evangelos Kiskinis • Fabien Lafaille • Dung-Fang LeeGabsang Lee • Larry Luchsinger • Darja Marolt • Ian Martin • Maitane Ortiz-VirumbralesDominik Paquet • Sandra Pinho • Christophe Raynaud • Pantelis Rompolas • Marco Seandel Jae-won Shim • Shivatra Noi Talchai • Wee-Wei Tee • Maya Tevlin • Maria ThemeliSjoukje van der Stegen • George Kai Wang • Yingying Zhang • Giovanni Zito • Oren ZivNYSCF – Rober tson Stem Cel l Pr ize Recipients • Peter J. Coffey • Franziska MichorKazutoshi Takahashi • Paul J. Tesar • Amy J. Wagers • Marius Wernig • Feng ZhangNYSCF Research Inst itute • Kennedy Agwamba • Lauren Bauer Vensand • Katie BrennerGeoff Buckley-Herd • Sean DesMarteau • Panos Douvaras • Patrick Fenton • Eliana ForeroYosif Ganat • Jordan Goldberg • Jenna Hall • Ya-Chu Juliana Hsu • Christopher HunterTanya Jain • Travis Kroeker • Ilya Kruglikov • Gregory Lallos • Hector Martinez • Barry McCarthyPaul McCoy • Frederick Monsma • Dorota Moroziewicz • Melissa Nirenberg • Reid Otto Brandon Pearl • Katie Reggio • Tomasz Rusielewicz • Ana Sevilla • Martina Sladkova Bruce Sun • Edmund Tam • Cecile Terrenoire • Rebecca Tibbetts • Matthew Zimmer

W W W. N Y S C F. O R G

the nyscf investigator program

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