Roger A. Pedersen
Roger A. Pedersen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Roger Arnold Pedersen 01 August 1944 |
| Died | 02 February 2025 (aged 80 years) |
| Nationality | American, British |
| Alma mater | Stanford University, Yale University |
| Known for | Stem cell biology, developmental biology, cell programming, regenerative medicine |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University California San Francisco, University of Cambridge, Stanford University |
Roger A. Pedersen (1944 - 2025) was a prominent American-British stem cell biologist known for his pioneering research in the fields of developmental biology, regenerative medicine, and pluripotent stem cells. His work has significantly contributed to the understanding of stem cell biology and has implications for therapeutic applications.
Education
[edit]Pedersen completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, earning an A.B with distinction in Biology in 1965. He earned his Ph.D. in developmental genetics in 1970 at Yale University under the guidance of isozyme pioneer Clement Markert, collaborating with Yoshi Masui on the biochemical aspects of cell differentiation during embryonic development. Pedersen continued his academic journey with postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University with John Biggers, where he began using the mouse embryo as a model for studying mammalian embryonic development.[1]
Research career
[edit]Pedersen began his research career at UCSF in 1971, where he studied the developmental genetics of mouse embryos. These studies revealed the origins of tissues and the three-dimensional organization of mammals,[2] highlighting the conservation of the gastrula fate map across vertebrates.[3]
In 1992, Pedersen became Director of the UCSF assisted reproduction laboratory, where he introduced the use of micromanipulation for treating male infertility.
In the late 1990s, Pedersen together with Michael D. West organized the first collaborative effort to isolate human embryonic stem cells for the purpose of manufacturing products in regenerative medicine in collaboration with James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, John Gearhart at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
In the early 2000s, Pedersen joined the University of Cambridge U.K., where he nucleated the Cambridge Stem Cell Initiative, later named the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (2012). In 2008, Pedersen established and led the Institute's translational division, the Anne McLaren Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine. He gained recognition for his investigations into the molecular mechanisms governing stem cell pluripotency and differentiation.[4][5][6] He discovered of a novel type of pluripotent stem cell from the late epiblast layer of mouse and rat embryos, which Pedersen named epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs)[7] – the mouse counterpart to human embryonic stem cells.[8] His research has led to breakthroughs in understanding how stem cells can be directed to become various cell types both by directed differentiation and forward programming,[9][10] with enormous potential for the realization of regenerative therapies.
In 2018, Pedersen returned to his alma matter as Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, USA. He was also an Honorary Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge, and Chief Scientific Advisor to bit.bio, Cambridge, U.K.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Roger Pedersen Stanford CAP profile".
- ^ Lawson KA, Meneses JJ, Pedersen RA (1991). "Clonal analysis of epiblast fate during germ layer formation in the mouse embryo". Development. 113 (3): 891–911. doi:10.1242/dev.113.3.891. PMID 1821858.
- ^ Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA (2016). "Human-mouse chimerism validates human stem cell pluripotency". Cell Stem Cell. 18 (1): 67–72. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2015.11.017. PMC 4712187. PMID 26712580.
- ^ Vallier L, Touboul T, Brown S, Cho C, Bilican B, Alexander M, Cedervall J, Chandran S, Ahrlund-Richter L, Weber A, Pedersen RA (2009). "Signalling pathways controlling pluripotency and early cell fate decisions of human induced pluripotent stem cells". Stem Cells. 27 (11): 2655–2666. doi:10.1002/stem.199. PMID 19688839.
- ^ Bernardo AS, Faial T, Niakan KK, Ortmann D, Gardner L, Senner CE, Callery EM, Trotter MW, Hemberger M, Smith JC, Moffett A, Bardwell L, Pedersen RA (2011). "BRACHYURY and CDX2 mediate BMP-induced differentiation of human and mouse pluripotent stem cells into embryonic and extraembryonic lineages". Cell Stem Cell. 9 (2): 144–155. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2011.06.015. PMC 3567433. PMID 21816365.
- ^ Mendjan S, Mascetti VL, Ortmann D, Ortiz M, Karjosukarso DW, Ng Y, Moreau T, Pedersen RA (2014). "NANOG and CDX2 pattern distinct types of human mesoderm during exit from pluripotency". Cell Stem Cell. 15 (3): 310–325. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2014.06.006. PMID 25042702.
- ^ Brons, IGM, Smithers LE, Trotter MW, Rugg-Gunn P, Sun B, Chuva de Sousa Lopes SM, Howlett SK, Clarkson A, Ahrlund-Richter L, Pedersen RA, Vallier L (2007). "Derivation of pluripotent epiblast stem cells from mammalian embryos". Nature. 448 (7150): 191–195. Bibcode:2007Natur.448..191B. doi:10.1038/nature05950. PMID 17597762.
- ^ Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA (2016). "Contributions of Mammalian Chimeras to Pluripotent Stem Cell Research". Cell Stem Cell. 19 (2): 163–175. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2016.07.018. PMC 5366358. PMID 27494674.
- ^ Moreau T, Evans A, Vasquez L, Tijssen MR, Yan Y, Trotter MW, Howard D, Colzani M, Arumugam M, Wu WH, Dalby A, Lampela R, Bouet G, Hobbs CM, Pask DC, Payne H, Ponomaryov T, Brill A, Soranzo N, Ouwehand WH, Pedersen RA, Ghevaert G (2016). "Large-scale production of megakaryocytes from human pluripotent stem cells by chemically defined forward programming". Nature Communications. 7: 11208. Bibcode:2016NatCo...711208M. doi:10.1038/ncomms11208. PMC 4829662. PMID 27052461.
- ^ Pawlowski M, Ortmann D, Bertero A, Pedersen R, Vallier L, Kotter M (2017). "Inducible and deterministic forward programming of human pluripotent stem cells into neurons, skeletal myocytes and oligodendrocytes". Stem Cell Reports. 8 (4): 803–812. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.02.016. PMC 5390118. PMID 28344001.
- ^ "Roger Pedersen obituary". Stanford Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- ^ Mascetti, Victoria L. "Roger A. Pedersen Obituary". Cell Stem Cell. 32 (5): 681–683. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2025.04.003.
- 1944 births
- 2025 deaths
- Stanford University alumni
- Yale University alumni
- Johns Hopkins University alumni
- 21st-century American biologists
- 21st-century British biologists
- 20th-century American biologists
- 20th-century British biologists
- Stanford University faculty
- University of California, San Francisco faculty