Scientific Advisory Board

• Daniel Anderson, Ph.D.
• Alan Colman, Ph.D.
• Hongkui Deng, Ph.D.
• Sheng Ding, Ph.D.
• Rudolf Jaenisch, M.D.
• Jeffrey Karp, Ph.D.
• Robert Langer, Sc.D.
• Douglas A. Melton, Ph.D.
• Roy Ogle, Ph.D.
• Thomas Roberts, Ph.D.
• Lee Rubin, Ph.D.
• Bob Weinberg, Ph.D.
• Leonard Zon, M.D.

Douglas A. Melton, Ph.D.

Molecular embryology, pancreatic developmental biology, and differentiation of human ES cells into insulin producing, pancreatic beta cells

Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Dr. Melton began his career studying frog development in the early 1990's. After his son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes Melton redirected his research and began studying stem cells with the hope of finding a cure for this debilitating disease. Melton's early work established much of what we know about pancreatic development in vertebrates. In the late 1990's he began working with human stem cells in order to identify the factors causing them to transform into insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells.

After recognizing a need for a greater quantity of quality human embryonic stem cell lines, Melton was responsible for both the fundraising for and initiation of a collaborative effort between Harvard University, Boston IVF, and HHMI to develop additional stem cell lines. These have since been distributed at no fee to scientists in the field.

Other accomplishments in the field include work in creating human embryonic stem cells from adult skin cells through a cell fusing process; a success that once perfected can have widespread application and help eliminate some of the controversy surrounding stem cell research.

Dr. Melton was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007 and is the founding director of International Society for Stem Cell Research. He currently serves as the co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute where he heads his own lab, and has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work. He holds a B.S. in Biology from University of Illinois and received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Cambridge University.