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Irving L. Weissman, M.D., is the Karel and Avice Beekhuis Professor of Cancer Biology, Professor of Pathology, and Professor of Developmental Biology at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Institute for Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, Palo Alto, California. Dr. Weissman's lab was responsible for the discovery of the first ever mammalian stem cell, the hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cell. Dr. Weissman was responsible for the formation of three stem cell companies, SyStemix, Inc., StemCells, Inc., and Cellerant, Inc. He is a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Boards of StemCells and Cellerant. Dr. Weissman co-discovered the mammalian and human hematopoietic stem cells and the human neural stem cell. Past achievements of Dr. Weissman's laboratory include identification of the states of development between stem cells and mature blood cells and identification of the states of thymic lymphocyte development. More recently, his laboratory at Stanford has developed accurate mouse models of human leukemias, and has shown the central role of inhibition of programmed cell death in that process. Dr. Weissman has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He has received the Kaiser Award for Excellence in Preclinical Teaching, the Pasarow Foundation Award, and the Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health. | 