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Click here to download the 2012 NYSCF Investigators Brochure |
The New York Stem Cell Foundation Investigator Program: Scientists leading their generation in stem cell research.
The NYSCF Investigator Program builds on the success of the NYSCF Fellowship Program and provides five years of critical seed funding to outstanding early career scientists, supporting them as they move beyond their postdoctoral training to establish their own, independent research. NYSCF's Investigator Program includes two separate programs:
The NYSCF Stem Cell Investigator Program supports scientists engaged in cutting edge translational stem cell research with the potential to accelerate the path from bench to bedside.
The NYSCF Neuroscience Investigator Program supports truly innovative neuroscience with the potential to transform our fundamental understanding of the brain and how it functions.
By providing resources and support to exceptional early career researchers, NYSCF seeks to encourage a new generation of energetic, innovative scientists to pursue these fields of research and to build a community of exceptional scientists. Initial support for the NYSCF Investigator Program was provided by the The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The program has been significantly expanded through the generosity of a Robertson Foundation grant.
Meet the NYSCF Investigators
 Valentina Fossati, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Helmsley Stem Cell Investigator The New York Stem Cell Foundation Dr. Fossati is using skin samples from patients with multiple sclerosis to create the oligodendrocytes affected by the disease. She previously worked on the development of the immune system, initially focusing on B lymphocytes, and as a postdoctoral fellow, on the generation of thymic epithelial cells from embryonic stem cells. Dr. Fossati received a NYSCF–Druckenmiller Fellowship in 2009. Valentina Fossati, PhD |  Darja Marolt, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Helmsley Stem Cell Investigator The New York Stem Cell Foundation Currently, Dr. Marolt is working in the NYSCF Laboratory to develop tissue engineering approaches to repair and generate bone using stem cells. She has also spent time working at the Blood Transfusion Center of Slovenia and the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Science and Technology. She received a NSYCF-Druckenmiller Fellowship in 2007. Darja Marolt, PhD |  Shuibing Chen, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Weill Cornell Medical School Dr. Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. She conducted her postdoctoral studies at Harvard University to study the directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells toward the pancreatic lineage. Shuibing Chen, PhD |  Derrick Rossi, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Harvard University Since November 2007, Dr. Rossi has been a faculty member of the Immune Disease Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Pathology Department at Harvard Medical School. He did his postdoctoral work at Stanford University. Derrick Rossi, PhD |
 Paul Tesar, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator
Case Western Reserve University Paul Tesar, PhD |  Marius Wernig, MD, PhD
2010 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Stanford University Dr. Wernig is a member of the faculty of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Pathology at Stanford University. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Whitehead Institute, MIT, Dr. Wernig spearheaded one of the few research groups worldwide to successfully create pluripotent stem cells from mouse skin cells. Marius Wernig, MD, PhD |  Ed Boyden, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ed Boyden, PhD |  Christopher Gregg, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator University of Utah Dr. Gregg is currently Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, researching the function and regulation of imprinted genes expressed in circuits of the brain that modulate feeding and motivated behaviors. Dr. Gregg’s postdoctoral studies were carried out at Harvard University. Christopher Gregg, PhD |
 Gaby Maimon, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator The Rockefeller University Dr. Maimon’s work focuses on the mechanisms of cognition and integrative brain function. He was the recipient of a Della Martin fellowship from The California Institute of Technology in 2006 and was named one of Popular Science magazine's "Brilliant 10" of 2011. Gaby Maimon, PhD |  Takaki Komiyama, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator University of California, San Diego In September 2010, Dr. Komiyama joined the faculty of University of California, San Diego, as Assistant Professor in the Neurobiology Section and the Department of Neurosciences. During his postdoctoral training at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, he pioneered the use of in vivo two-photon calcium imaging in mice performing a learned behavioral task. Takaki Komiyama, PhD |  Paola Arlotta, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Harvard University Dr. Arlotta’s laboratory focuses on the investigation of mechanisms that control the development, regeneration and assembly of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Much of her work is aimed at identifying regenerative strategies for neurodegenerative and traumatic diseases of the corticospinal tract, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury. Paola Arlotta, PhD |  Gabsang Lee, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine Dr. Lee is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he continues his research on Familial Dysautonomia. During his postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center he established a novel methodology for direct derivation and prospective isolation of neural crest cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Gabsang Lee, PhD |
 Ravindra Majeti, PhD
2011 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Stanford University Dr. Majeti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University. In his independent laboratory, Dr. Majeti’s research focuses on the molecular/genomic characterization and therapeutic targeting of leukemia stem cells in human hematologic malignancies. Ravindra Majeti, PhD |  Christopher Harvey, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Harvard Medical School Dr. Harvey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School where his lab focuses on understanding the neuronal circuit mechanisms underlying short-term memory and decision-making, using a range of imaging, electrophysiological, genetic, and behavioral approaches. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Princeton University. Christopher Harvey, PhD |  Michael A. Long, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator New York University School of Medicine
Dr. Long is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Neuroscience and Otolaryngology at New York University School of Medicine. His work focuses on developing approaches that adapt modern imaging and electrophysiological tools to the study of neural circuits underlying the production of skilled motor behaviors. He completed his postdoctoral studies at MIT.
Michael A. Long, PhD |  Vanessa Ruta, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator The Rockefeller University
Dr. Ruta is an Assistant Professor of Neurophysiology and Behavior at The Rockefeller University, where her lab is using novel methods to trace and probe neural circuits to gain insight into the neural basis for innate and adaptive behaviors. She completed her postdoctoral studies at Columbia University. Vanessa Ruta, PhD |
 Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Washington University School of Medicine Dr. Bhattacharya is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His lab focuses on stem cell-based approaches for the treatment of immune deficiencies and on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of resistance to viral infections. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD |  Dieter Egli, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator The New York Stem Cell Foundation Dr. Egli is a Senior Research Fellow at The New York Stem Cell Foundation. His research focuses on the generation of therapeutically relevant cells for diabetes. His work has relevance for the use of stem cells to study disease, screen for new drugs, and cell replacement therapy. His research creating patient-specific stem cells using the DNA of patients with type 1 diabetes, first published in Nature in October 2011, was named the #1 Medical Breakthrough of 2011 by TIME magazine, which also named him one of 2011’s People Who Mattered. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Harvard University. He received a NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellowship in 2008. Dieter Egli, PhD |  Alexander Meissner, PhD
2012 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Harvard University, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Dr. Meissner is an Assistant Professor at Harvard University and a senior associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is developing and applying next generation sequencing technologies to the human genome with the goal of better understanding normal and diseased cellular states and how to alter them. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Whitehead Institute. Alexander Meissner, PhD |
