Cell Fate Decisions - David Schaffer, Ph.D.
Channel: Science@Cal
Date: 08/07/2015

Learning the mechanisms that regulate stem cell behavior is critical for understanding the role of these
powerful cells in normal function as well as for harnessing them to repair tissues damaged by disease or
injury. In particular, discovering the signals that regulate whether stem cells replicate themselves or mature
into a specific adult tissue is critical for developing therapies. 

This knowledge is required for efficient
manufacturing of cells for implantation and for enhancing the chances the cells will survive and function
the way we need to repair an organ. For example, this information can be harnessed to help implanted
cells integrate into neighboring tissue or to even modulate the behavior of endogenous stem cells — the
adult stem cells we all have naturally in all our tissues.

It has become increasingly clear that stem cell behavior is regulated not only by biochemical signals, but
also by biophysical forces. The latter has been difficult to study due to the complexity of mimicking the
way cells interact in real life in the lab. Recent work has demonstrated that synthetic materials can be
harnessed to emulate and thereby study the effects of biophysical cues on cell function.

For example, using engineered materials, we discovered that mechanical cues regulate the maturation of adult neural
stem cells, as well as earlier stage stem cells known as pluripotent stem cells. We have learned what
types of synthetic material work well to grow the desired type of cell in the lab in quantities large
enough for therapy and primed for successful transplantation into patients.

David Schaffer is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, and Neuroscience at the 
University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the Director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center. 

He graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1993. Afterward, he attended 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his Ph.D. also in Chemical Engineering in 1998. Finally, he did a 
postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Fred Gage at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA before 
moving to UC Berkeley in 1999. 

At Berkeley, Dr. Schaffer applies engineering principles to enhance stem cell and gene therapy approaches for 
neuroregeneration, work that includes novel approaches for molecular engineering and evolution of new viral 
vectors as well as new technologies to investigate and control stem cell fate decisions. 

David Schaffer has received an NSF CAREER Award, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 
Whitaker Foundation Young Investigator Award, and was named a Technology Review Top 100 Innovator. 
He was also awarded the Biomedical Engineering Society Rita Shaffer Young Investigator Award in 2000, 
the American Chemical Society BIOT Division Young Investigator Award in 2006, and was inducted into the 
College of Fellows of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2010.

Music by Tobu
http://www.youtube.com/tobuofficial