Lorenz Studer, MD

Lorenz Studer is the founding Director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Enid A. Haupt Chair in Developmental Biology, and the President-Elect of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). His lab has pioneered protocols for the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into lineages of the central and peripheral nervous system. His group was among the first to realize the potential of patient-specific stem cells for modeling neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders and has developed innovative strategies to measure and manipulate cellular maturation and aging. He has also led the application of hPSC-derived cells in regenerative medicine, including the treatment of Parkinson's disease. His team conducted a first-in-human clinical trial of grafting hPSC-derived dopamine neurons in advanced PD, cleared by the FDA in 2020. The promising results from this study led to an ongoing Phase III clinical trial.