Gordon Keller receives the 2025 ISSCR Achievement Award for his seminal work in regenerative medicine
2025-02-20
(Press-News.org) The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is honoring Gordon Keller, Ph.D., with this year’s ISSCR Achievement Award. Dr. Keller is the Director of the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, Canada. He will present his research at the ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting taking place in Hong Kong 11-14 June 2025.
“Gordon Keller's groundbreaking work in regenerative medicine has illuminated the path to transforming human health,” said Andrea Ditadi, Group Leader, San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-TIGET), Italy, who led the nomination of Dr. Keller. “From his lab's world-first discovery of the hemangioblast in 1997, to his pioneering efforts in harnessing human pluripotent stem cells to repair vital organs, Dr. Keller’s legacy is one of unparalleled innovation. His research continues to push the boundaries of what is possible, offering hope for the regeneration of heart, liver, and blood cells, and paving the way for new treatments in cardiovascular and hepatic diseases. Through his investigations of embryonic development, his work has uncovered the stage-specific signal requirements for the directed differentiation of multiple cell types, ranging from blood, heart or pancreatic cells, laying the foundations for all modern directed differentiation approaches. These foundational insights have paved the way for the use of pluripotent stem cells in clinical trials. Dr. Keller’s unwavering dedication not only advances science but also embodies the work ethic and vision of a life spent building something transformative, rooted in the values of hard work and discovery.”
“It is truly an honor to receive the 2025 ISSCR Achievement Award, I am very grateful for this recognition,” Dr. Gordon Keller said. “I have worked in the exciting field of stem cell biology for many years and have had the opportunity to contribute to advances that we believe will accelerate the translation of this research into new therapies. I’m indebted to the many talented trainees, research staff, and collaborators who have worked with me and whose inspiration and dedication made this possible.”
“I am excited to congratulate Gordon Keller and his team on receiving the 2025 ISSCR Achievement Award,” said ISSCR President Valentina Greco. “Dr. Keller and his lab’s groundbreaking work and commitment to advancing scientific knowledge have made a remarkable impact. This achievement is just one of many milestones celebrating his numerous impactful contributions to our field.”
Gordon Keller is internationally recognized for his contributions to our understanding of the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in culture. Using developmental biology guided approaches, his lab has successfully generated a broad spectrum of differentiated cells from hPSCs including most cell types found in the human heart and the majority of lineages that make up the human hematopoietic system. The findings from this work have provided the first comprehensive lineage maps of human cardiac and hematopoietic development and importantly demonstrated that key fate decisions are made early, at the onset of mesoderm induction. His current research efforts are focused on translating these advances to the development of new cell therapies to treat cardiovascular and hematological diseases. Dr. Keller was a founding board member of the ISSCR. In December 2016, he was named scientific co-founder of BlueRock Therapeutics, a next-generation regenerative medicine company. Among other accolades, he earned the 2019 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize awarded by Gladstone Institutes.
The 2025 ISSCR Achievement Award is supported by FUJIFILM.
ISSCR 2025 is the largest meeting in the world gathering leading innovators in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The meeting is co-sponsored by The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and will take place 11-14 June 2025 in Hong Kong. Submission of late-breaking abstracts is open until 19 March 2025.
About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.
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[Press-News.org] Gordon Keller receives the 2025 ISSCR Achievement Award for his seminal work in regenerative medicine
