Steven Minger, Ph.D. is Lecturer and Director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at King?s College London. He first pursued research in neural stem cell biology as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego. After additional post-doctoral work at the University of Kentucky, he was appointed an Assistant Professor in Neurology at The University of Kentucky Medical School in 1995. He then moved his research program to Guy?s Hospital in 1996 and was appointed Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at King?s College London in 1998. In 2002, Dr. Minger was awarded one of the first two licenses granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for the derivation of human embryonic stem cells, and his group generated the first human embryonic stem cell line in the UK.
Dr. Minger?s laboratory is primarily interested in the generation of enriched populations of tissue-specific cell types from pluripotent embryonic stem cells for use in cellular replacement strategies for treating human diseases. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and his PhD in Pathology (Neurosciences) from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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Thomas Okarma, M.D., Ph.D. is CEO and President of Geron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for cancer based on its telomerase technology, and cell-based therapeutics using its human embryonic stem cell technology. He is also a director of Geron Bio-Med Limited, a United Kingdom company. Prior to his position at Geron, he was an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and subsequently founder and chairman-CEO of Applied Immune Sciences (AIS), a cell and gene therapy company. After Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) acquired AIS, Dr. Okarma served there as senior Vice President, until joining Geron Corp. in 1997. At Geron he held the positions of Vice President of Cell Therapies (1997) and Vice President of Research and Development (1998).
Dr. Okarma is the author of over 50 publications on cell and gene therapy and is an inventor of numerous patents in the field. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford Universit
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Professor Dame Julia M. Polak, M.D. is Professor of Endocrine Pathology at Imperial College London, where she studies tissue engineering in the Division of Investigative Science. She is the founder and director of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Center there and her work centers on finding ways to grow lung and bone tissue to provide alternates to transplantation. The leader in her field, Professor Polak is Editor of the Tissue Engineering journal and advisor to both the MRC Stem Cell Bank Liaison and the Science and Parliament Committees. For her services to medicine, she was created Dame Commander and her work has been recognized by the Society for Endocrinology, the International Academy of Pathology and Association of Clinical Pathologists.
In 1995, Dame Polak had a double heart and lung transplant
Dr. Minger?s laboratory is primarily interested in the generation of enriched populations of tissue-specific cell types from pluripotent embryonic stem cells for use in cellular replacement strategies for treating human diseases. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and his PhD in Pathology (Neurosciences) from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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Thomas Okarma, M.D., Ph.D. is CEO and President of Geron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic and diagnostic products for cancer based on its telomerase technology, and cell-based therapeutics using its human embryonic stem cell technology. He is also a director of Geron Bio-Med Limited, a United Kingdom company. Prior to his position at Geron, he was an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and subsequently founder and chairman-CEO of Applied Immune Sciences (AIS), a cell and gene therapy company. After Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) acquired AIS, Dr. Okarma served there as senior Vice President, until joining Geron Corp. in 1997. At Geron he held the positions of Vice President of Cell Therapies (1997) and Vice President of Research and Development (1998).
Dr. Okarma is the author of over 50 publications on cell and gene therapy and is an inventor of numerous patents in the field. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford Universit
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Professor Dame Julia M. Polak, M.D. is Professor of Endocrine Pathology at Imperial College London, where she studies tissue engineering in the Division of Investigative Science. She is the founder and director of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Center there and her work centers on finding ways to grow lung and bone tissue to provide alternates to transplantation. The leader in her field, Professor Polak is Editor of the Tissue Engineering journal and advisor to both the MRC Stem Cell Bank Liaison and the Science and Parliament Committees. For her services to medicine, she was created Dame Commander and her work has been recognized by the Society for Endocrinology, the International Academy of Pathology and Association of Clinical Pathologists.
In 1995, Dame Polak had a double heart and lung transplant