Stem Cell Research Pioneer to Deliver Faculty Research Lecture
The campus community is invited to hear stem cell research pioneer
Gail R. Martin, PhD, professor of anatomy, deliver the Academic
Senate Faculty Research Lecture
The lecture is slated for Tuesday, April 22, at 3:30 p.m. in Cole
Hall on the Parnassus campus. A reception will follow. The lecture
will be simulcast to Rock Hall at the Mission Bay campus.
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Martin, director of the UCSF Program in Developmental Biology, is
credited for her seminal discoveries in stem cell research. She first
discovered how to keep fragile stem cells alive in a petri dish while
she was working as a postdoctoral fellow at University College London
in 1974. She also isolated for the first time stem cells from mouse
embryos in her own lab at UCSF in 1981.
These studies provided scientists with a tool that revolutionized
mouse genetics by making it possible to generate mice carrying
mutations in specific genes, and also pointed the way for other
scientists to develop methods to isolate stem cells from human
embryos and to explore their use in treating disorders.
Martin points out that her work on embryonic stem cells shows how
seemingly small advances in basic biology can pay off years later in
unexpected ways. Many people focus on cures for specific diseases,
not realizing that these cures "may come from basic research in
seemingly unrelated areas. What is going to be important 20 years
from now isn't clear," she says.
Pioneering Spirit
Martin is recognized by colleagues for her pioneering spirit. "She
has shown remarkable courage and foresight in moving her research to
new and uncharted areas," says colleague Thomas Kornberg, PhD, a
professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF. "She has been
willing to devote considerable resources and effort to developing new
methodologies that have contributed importantly to the progress of
the field."
Martin also was among the first to realize that growth factors,
previously identified as proteins capable of supporting cell growth
in culture, have important functions during embryogenesis. She chose
to focus on one family of such molecules, the fibroblast growth
factors (FGFs), and demonstrated their roles as critical inductive
signals in the development of many organs, including the brain, limbs
and teeth.
More recently, Martin's laboratory has taken the lead in studying the
role of negative feedback mechanisms in regulating FGF signaling and
examining the importance for embryonic patterning of controlling
these potent inductive signals.
A native of New York City, Martin received an AB degree at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison and a PhD degree at UC Berkeley. She
then did postdoctoral work at University College London, England
prior to joining the UCSF faculty in 1976.
Martin has received many honors and awards, including election as a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991) and the
National Academy of Sciences (2002), the Edwin Grant Conklin Medal
from the Society for Developmental Biology (2002), and the Pearl
Meister Greengard Prize (2007). In addition, she has served as
president of the Society for Developmental Biology (2006-2007).
Related Links:
Gail Martin's Lab Stem Cell Research Pioneer to Deliver Faculty
Research Lecture
The campus community is invited to hear stem cell research pioneer
Gail R. Martin, PhD, professor of anatomy, deliver the Academic
Senate Faculty Research Lecture
The lecture is slated for Tuesday, April 22, at 3:30 p.m. in Cole
Hall on the Parnassus campus. A reception will follow. The lecture
will be simulcast to Rock Hall at the Mission Bay campus.
------------
----------
Print story
E-mail story
------------
----------
Martin, director of the UCSF Program in Developmental Biology, is
credited for her seminal discoveries in stem cell research. She first
discovered how to keep fragile stem cells alive in a petri dish while
she was working as a postdoctoral fellow at University College London
in 1974. She also isolated for the first time stem cells from mouse
embryos in her own lab at UCSF in 1981.
These studies provided scientists with a tool that revolutionized
mouse genetics by making it possible to generate mice carrying
mutations in specific genes, and also pointed the way for other
scientists to develop methods to isolate stem cells from human
embryos and to explore their use in treating disorders.
Martin points out that her work on embryonic stem cells shows how
seemingly small advances in basic biology can pay off years later in
unexpected ways. Many people focus on cures for specific diseases,
not realizing that these cures "may come from basic research in
seemingly unrelated areas. What is going to be important 20 years
from now isn't clear," she says.
Pioneering Spirit
Martin is recognized by colleagues for her pioneering spirit. "She
has shown remarkable courage and foresight in moving her research to
new and uncharted areas," says colleague Thomas Kornberg, PhD, a
professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF. "She has been
willing to devote considerable resources and effort to developing new
methodologies that have contributed importantly to the progress of
the field."
Martin also was among the first to realize that growth factors,
previously identified as proteins capable of supporting cell growth
in culture, have important functions during embryogenesis. She chose
to focus on one family of such molecules, the fibroblast growth
factors (FGFs), and demonstrated their roles as critical inductive
signals in the development of many organs, including the brain, limbs
and teeth.
More recently, Martin's laboratory has taken the lead in studying the
role of negative feedback mechanisms in regulating FGF signaling and
examining the importance for embryonic patterning of controlling
these potent inductive signals.
A native of New York City, Martin received an AB degree at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison and a PhD degree at UC Berkeley. She
then did postdoctoral work at University College London, England
prior to joining the UCSF faculty in 1976.
Martin has received many honors and awards, including election as a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991) and the
National Academy of Sciences (2002), the Edwin Grant Conklin Medal
from the Society for Developmental Biology (2002), and the Pearl
Meister Greengard Prize (2007). In addition, she has served as
president of the Society for Developmental Biology (2006-2007).
Related Links:
Gail Martin's Lab http://www.ucsf.
http://pub.ucsf.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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