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Akihiro Umezawa

e-mail: umezawa@1985.jukuin.keio.ac.jp

Department of Reproductive Biology, National Institute for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan.

Date of birth: April 29, 1960

Education and Professional Career:

1985 Keio Univ School of Medicine, MD, Japan

1990 Keio Univ School of Medicine, DMSc, Japan

1991 Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSD, USA

1992 Postdoctoral Fellow, The Burnham Institute, USA

1995 Assistant Professor, Keio Univ School of Medicine, Japan

1999 Associate Professor, Keio Univ School of Medicine, Japan

2002 Department Head and Chairman, Department of Reproductive Biology and Pathology, National Institute for Child Health and Development, Japan

2011 Vice President, National Institute for Child Health and Development, Japan

Specialties and Field of Interest:

Cell transplantation is a promising approach to disease treatment, but only a limited number of stem cells transdifferentiate into specific cell types. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells isolatable from adult bone marrow, that can differentiate into multiple lineages. However, human MSCs have a limited life span and thus it is difficult to obtain a large number of cells. I would like to extend the life span of human mesenchymal stem cells that retain the pluripotency and serve as a highly useful source for cell transplantation.