Leading physician-scientist and stem cell researcher Dr. George Q. Daley will share his views on the scientific and ethical implications of stem cell research as keynote speaker for UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center Symposium.
His lecture, “Embryonic Stem Cells: Science and Society,” will take place at 1 p.m. July 17 in Masters Hall at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel. It is free and open to the public.
Daley is associate professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Stem Cell/Developmental Biology Program at Children’s Hospital Boston. His research is aimed at translating insights in stem cell biology into cellular therapies for degenerative, malignant and genetic diseases.
Daley currently heads up one of two research teams at Harvard attempting to create the world’s first cloned human embryonic stem cells. His work focuses on the use of human embryonic stem cells to replace problematic genes that lead to diseases such as sickle cell anemia, as well as developing stem cells that would make it unnecessary for children with cancers and diseases of the blood to rely on hard-to-find bone marrow donors. His team hopes to develop new lines of embryonic stem cells that are unique to each patient and can be used to repair defective genes throughout the body.
“Dr. Daley is a true innovator and leader in stem cell research,” said Steve Stice, RBC director and professor in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “And just as important, he is a physician making every effort to help patients, young and old, with debilitating diseases through his research.”
Daley’s laboratory reported the first successful application of therapeutic cloning of embryonic stem cells to treat genetic disease in a mouse model of immune deficiency. His lab was also responsible for the first creation of functional sperm cells from embryonic stem cells, work that was cited by Science as a “Top Ten” breakthrough for 2003.
Daley also has done extensive research on chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood caused by genetically defective stem cells. His findings of a specific protein causing CML led to the development of Gleevac, a highly effective drug for treating CML.
Daley received his Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology.
