The New York Stem Cell Foundation

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Advanced Technologies to Study and Direct Stem Cell Differentiation

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD

Cimetta received her PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Padua in Italy. She was awarded a Veneto Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2009 with which she studied the production of functional human heart tissue. She has published 9 papers.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Using Stem Cells to Model Fragile X Syndrome, an Inherited Form of Mental Impairment

Weill Cornell Medical College
Faculty Sponsor: Samie R. Jaffrey, MD, PhD

Colak received her BS from Hacettepe University, Turkey and her PhD from Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany. She was awarded a European Molecular Biology Organization fellowship in 2009. She has published in Cell Stem Cell and Journal of Neuroscience.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Developing Strategies for Liver Regeneration

Weill Cornell Medical College
Faculty Sponsor: Shahin Rafii, MD

Ding earned his BS from Nanjing University, China and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the Award for Outstanding Dissertation. He was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. He has published in Nature and Blood, and holds 3 patents.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Understanding the Development of Nervous System Immunity

The Rockefeller University
Faculty Sponsor: Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD

Hermesh earned her BSc from Tel Aviv University, Israel and her PhD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She has published in the Journal of Immunology.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Understanding Stem Cell Cycles Related to Cancer

The Rockefeller University
Faculty Sponsor: Elaine Fuchs, PhD

Hsu received her BS from National Tsing-Hua University,Taiwan and her PhD from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. She received the Starr Stem Cell Scholars Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Keystone Symposia Scholarship. She has published in Cell and Nature.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Generating Lung Cells from Stem Cells

Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Faculty Sponsor: Hans Snoeck, MD, PhD

Huang received her MD from Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, her MPH from Peking University, China, and her PhD from Columbia University in New York. She received the Weinstein Award for Academic Excellence at Columbia in 2009, and has published in Cancer Research.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Novel Therapeutics for Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Harvard University
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Eggan, PhD

Kiskinis earned his BS from University of Surrey, UK, and his MSc and PhD from Imperial College, London, UK. He received a European Molecular Biology Organization Fellowship in 2008, and has worked at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland. He has published in Cell and Nature.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Generating and Characterizing Neurons from Parkinson's disease Patients

John's Hopkins University
Faculty Sponsor: Ted Dawson, MD, PhD

Martin received his BS from the University of London at King's College and his PhD in Human Genetics from the Medical College of Virginia. In 2006, he received the Roscoe D. Hughes Fellowship. He has published 18 papers.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Treating Leukemia Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi, MD, PhD

Raynaud earned his MS degree from Science University, France and his PhD, with merit, from the Atomic Energy Center, France. He was named student of the year in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Previously, he spent time working at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. He has published in the International Journal of Cancer.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Modeling Parkinson's disease Using Patient-Specific Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Faculty Sponsor: Lorenz Studer, MD

Shim received his BS, MS, and PhD from the Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. He was previously awarded the Korea Research Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. He has published in several journals, including Stem Cells and Developmental Biology.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Making Gut Cells into Insulin-Producing Cells for the Treatment of Diabetes

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Domenico Accili, MD

Talchai received her BA from Wesleyan University, MS from the University of Pennsylvania, and MA, MPhil, and PhD in Human Nutrition from Columbia University. She has received many scholarships, including from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. She has published in Diabetes.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Modeling an Inherited Heart Disease Disorder Using Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Robert Kass, PhD

Wang received his PhD from the University of Hong Kong. Wang joined Dr. Kass' lab in 2008. He has published in several journals including Stem Cells.

2011 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Using Stem Cells to Model Cancer

Yale University
Faculty Sponsor: Valentina Greco, PhD

Zito earned his BS, MS, and PhD from University of Palermo, Italy, where he worked to identify and characterize cancer stem cells in thyroid tumors. He has presented his work at several international meetings, and has published in Modern Pathology.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Studying Mechanisms of Glucose Metabolism in the Pancreas related to Diabetes

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Faculty Sponsor: Yuval Dor, PhD

Ziv received his Bsc, Msc, and PhD from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He received several scholarships including the Expanded Scholarship for Outstanding Doctorate Students fromThe Hebrew University. He has published in Development.

2007 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Making Liver Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells for Transplantation

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Faculty Sponsor: Sanjeev Gupta, MD

Bandi received his PhD from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He received a Senior Research Fellowship from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, an affiliate of the Indian Government.

2008 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Exploring What Induces Hair Stem Cells to Become Cancerous

The Rockefeller Univerisity
Faculty Sponsor: Elaine Fuchs, PhD

Chen received her PhD from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, specializing in cell biology. She received the AACR Astellas USA Fellowship for Clinical or Translational Cancer Research in 2008. She has published in Cell Stem Cell.

2007 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Making Nerve Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells to Study Alzheimer's Disease

The Salk Institute
Faculty Sponsor: Fred Gage, PhD

Di Giorgio received a Merck & Co. Fellowship and a scholarship from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany. He previously worked with Kevin Eggan, PhD, at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Di Giorgio has published in Cell Stem Cell.

2008 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Reprogramming Human Somatic Cells by Nuclear Transfer

The New York Stem Cell Foundation
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Eggan, PhD

Dieter Egli, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at The New York Stem Cell Foundation.  He received his PhD from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.  Before joining NYSCF, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Kevin Eggan at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, studying reprogramming after nuclear transfer. His interest includes the generation of therapeutically relevant cells for diabetes.  He also has been appointed as an Adjunct Associate Research Scientist in Pediatrics & Molecular Genetics at Columbia University.

2006 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Exploring Changes to Embryonic Stem Cells in Skin and Hair When Tumors Form

The Rockefeller University
Faculty Sponsor: Elaine Fuchs, PhD

Ezhkova received her PhD from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, specializing in Molecular Biology. She was granted the Women and Science Postdoctoral Fellow Award and is a Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship recipient. She has published in Cell.

2009 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Developing Dopaminergic Neurons for Therapeutic Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Oliver Hobert, PhD

Flames received her PhD from the Instituto Neurociencias de Alicante, Spain, and received the Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowhip from the European Union. She has published in Neuron and Cell.

2009 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Producing Thymus Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for the Treatment of Immune Deficiencies

Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Faculty Sponsor: Hans Snoeck, PhD

Valentina Fossati receiver her PhD from the University of Bologna. She joined Dr. Hans Snocke's lab in 2006, while still a PhD student. She has published research articles in various publications including Blood.

2007 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Developing Ways to Safely Reprogram Adult Cells into Stem Cells

Harvard University
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Eggan, PhD

Ichida recieved his PhD from the Harvard Medical School. He received a Ford Foundation pre-doctoral fellowship and the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship. He recently submitted two articles for publication in Science.

2007 NYSCF Fellow

Making Human Embryonic Stem Cells into the Nerve Cells Lost in Parkinson's Disease

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Asa Abeliovich, MD, PhD

Inoue received his PhD from the University of Tokyo and specialized in medical science at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. His research focuses on cell replacement therapies for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. He has published in Science.

2007 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Turning Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Blood Vessels to Repair Diseased or Damaged Tissues

Weill Cornell Medical College
Faculty Sponsor: Shahin Rafii, MD

James received his PhD from The Rockefeller University, specializing in Molecular Biology. His work seeks to drive human embryonic stem cells to become endothelial tissue as a means for vascular regeneration. He has published in Nature.

2007 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Turning Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Functioning Bone and Cartilage for Replacement Therapy

Columbia University
Faculty Sponsor: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD

Marolt received her PhD from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She worked as a young researcher at the Blood Transfusion Center of Slovenia and a visiting student to the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

2010 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Modeling Cell Fate Changes During Embryo Development

The Rockefeller University
Faculty Sponsor: Shai Shaham, PhD

Tevlin received her BS and PhD from The Hebrew University in Israel. She received the Bristol-Myers Squibb Postdoctoral Fellowship.Tevlin has published in Nature and Science.

2008 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Exploring Ways to Obtain Stem Cells from Male Reproductive Cells

Weill Cornell Medical College / Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Faculty Sponsor: Shahin Rafii, MD

Seandel received his MD and PhD from the State University of New York. He specialized in Molecular and Cellular biology and was recognized with the Young Investigator Award by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has published in Nature and Cell Cycle.

2009 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Using Human Stem Cells to Treat a Hereditary Nervous System Condition

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Faculty Sponsor: Lorenz Studer, MD

Lee received his PhD from Seoul National University, Korea. He received the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University. Lee has published in Cell Stem Cell.

2009 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Making Human Embryonic Stem Cells Into Cells for Transplantation

Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Faculty Sponsor: Ihor Lemischka, PhD

Lee received his PhD from the University of Texas, specializing in Cancer Biology. He received the Alfred Knudson Jr. Outstanding Dissertation Award from the University of Texas Health Science Center. He has published in Cell.

2009 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Finding Better Ways to Generate Neurons via Reprogramming

Harvard University
Faculty Sponsor: Lee Rubin, PhD

Natalie received her PhD from the New York University School of Medicine. During her PhD in Steve Burden's lab she specialized in neuromuscular synapse formation. She has published in Cell and Nature Neuroscience.

2008 NYSCF - Druckenmiller Fellow

Making Embryonic Stem Cells into Nerve Cells for Cell Replacement in Parkinson's Disease

New York Neural Stem Cell Institute
Faculty Sponsor: Sally Temple, PhD

Fasano received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Albany Medical School. He received the Graduate Student Alumni Award and the Richard Miller Alumni Prize for Outstanding Research Presentations. He has published in Cell Stem Cell.