Event
Brain-Based Systems Seminar: Ronald McKay, Using Stem Cells to Define Human Identity
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
11:00 a.m.
1146 AV Williams Building
Jonathan Simon
301-405-3645
jzsimon@umd.edu
Brain-Based Systems Seminar
Using stem cells to define human identity
Ronald McKay, Ph.D.
Director of Basic Sciences
Lieber Institute for Brain Development
Lecture: 11 a.m.; 1146 AV Williams
Roundtable: 4 p.m.; 1146 AV Williams
Host
Jonathan Simon
Biography
Ron McKay, Ph.D is the LIBD Director for Basic Sciences. Before joining the Lieber Institute, Dr. McKay was Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Dr. McKay received a B.Sc. in 1971 and a Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Edinburgh. His postdoctoral training was at the University of Oxford. In Edinburgh and Oxford, he contributed to the earliest work showing that the tools of molecular biology would make a major contribution to human genetics. In 1978, he moved to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. At Cold Spring Harbor, he was the first to show that specific DNA-protein complexes could be analyzed with antibodies, and pioneered the field of molecular neuroscience. Joining the MIT faculty in 1984, Dr. McKay identified neural stem cells as a tool to study brain development and function. In 1993, he joined the NIH as Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at NINDS. His laboratory at the Lieber Institute studies pluripotent and somatic stem cells with a particular interest in the development of the nervous system. His research is focused on using the biology of stem cells to understand the genetic basis of human disease and to regenerate injured tissue. He is a founding board member of the International Society of Stem Cell Research. He has served on Scientific Advisory Boards of commercial and academic programs across the world. He is the recipient of the Ernst Schering Prize and the Robert Menzies, and Max Delbrück Medals.
