Alexander Medvinsky

Institute for Stem Cell Research, University of Edinburgh

Prof. Alexander Medvinsky graduated from the Moscow State University, Department of Embryology and obtained his PhD in the National Centre for Oncology, Moscow. Working in the National Centre for Haematology, Moscow he became interested in the development of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). In collaboration with colleagues, he identified a novel potent source of definitive haematopoietic activity inside the body of the embryo now called the AGM region and since then continues to work on the role of this organ in the development of HSCs. In 1993 he moved to the National Institute for Medical Research, London where he described important functional properties of the AGM region. In 1997 he accepted a group leader position in the Institute for Stem Cell Research and soon after that became an MRC Senior Fellow. In 2006 he was appointed as Professor in Haematopoietic Stem Cell Biology. The main focus of the Medvinsky laboratory "Ontogeny of Haematopoietic Stem Cells" is in understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of definitive HSCs.