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Previous Stem Cell Seminar Speakers

Speaker Name Talk Title Date Home (Lab, Uni, Inst) Sharon Gerecht Engineering human blood vessels for modeling and therapeutics 4/28/26 Duke University Duc-Huy Nguyen Engineering vascular endothelial cells and microphysiological system to support organ and tissue function 4/21/26 BME Wisconsin Stem Cell Graduate Scholars 4/14/26 Cyrus Sethna Beyond Gene Dosage: Multidimensional Islet Dysfunction in Down …

Stem Cell Ethics

Is it ethical to use embryonic stem cells in research? For many people, the ethics of embryonic stem cell research are closely tied to the ethics of destroying embryos. Even where an embryo is destined to be destroyed, e.g. at the behest of a couple that is no longer able to use it for reproductive …

What is regenerative medicine?

Regenerative medicine is a scientific and medical discipline focused on harnessing the power of stem cells and the body’s own regenerative capabilities to restore function to damaged cells, tissues and organs. Researchers in this field seek to understand how and why various kinds of stem cells are able to develop into specialized cells and tissues. …

What are IPS cells?

An induced pluripotent stem cell, or IPS cell, is a stem cell that has been created from an adult cell such as a skin, liver, stomach or other mature cell through the introduction of genes that reprogram the cell and transform it into a cell that has all the characteristics of an embryonic stem cell. …

How are stem cells used?

Why are stem cells so valuable in research? One reason stem cells have generated excitement in science is their versatility. Like little Swiss Army knives, stem cells provide the basic tools researchers can apply to help solve many kinds of problems in biology and medicine. The different types of stem cells — embryonic, induced pluripotent, …

Questions about Embryonic Stem Cells

Where do ES cells come from? Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) come from leftover in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos created in a laboratory dish for the purpose of treating infertility. Those embryos not implanted can be donated for research, otherwise they are discarded or frozen. ES cells come from these very early-stage embryos (about 6 …

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are undifferentiated or “blank slate” cells from which other types of cells can arise. The defining characteristic of human stem cells is their ability to self-renew (provide an exact copy of themselves) while maintaining the potential to develop into other types of cells, such as blood, brain or heart. Although stem cells from …

By Bekah McBride When illness strikes, white blood cells are the first cells on the scene. Much like a team of superheroes they each complete their specialized task, engulfing bacteria, controlling the immune response, and cleaning up dead or damaged cells. Leading the charge, is the macrophage, which literally translates to “big eater”. These white …

Researchers overcome a major barrier in using stem cell therapy for heart repair

By Bekah McBride For the nearly one million Americans who have a heart attack each year, receiving care in the first 90 minutes is a critical step towards restoring blood flow to the jeopardized heart muscle. Unfortunately, many patients do not receive care in this window, so a portion of their functioning heart muscle dies. …

Portia is primed for battle: How a postdoctoral research associate is helping to harness the human immune system to fight cancer

Harnessing the human body’s power to combat cancer is all in a day’s work for University of Wisconsin–Madison postdoctoral research associate, Portia Smith, PhD. Whether she is engineering white blood cells to fight tumors or exploring the mechanisms behind the deadliest forms of cancer, Smith is determined to help the human immune system win the …