Helen M. Blau, PhD
Helen Blau is a co-inventor on 20 patents, 12 currently licensed. Her lab's work is consistently high profile, with one quarter of publications in Science, Cell, and Nature journals. The Blau laboratory’s innovation has garnered an NIH MERIT Award, an NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, and an NIH EUREKA Grant for Exceptionally Innovative Research. They have made seminal contributions in the area of nuclear reprogramming of the differentiated state. Research encompasses cell and molecular approaches to regenerative medicine for acquired and inherited diseases. A central interest is the elucidation of the mechanisms that underlie changes in muscle stem cell function in aging, dystrophy, and diabetes. This knowledge is key to our understanding of stem cell self-renewal and expansion during tissue regeneration with a view toward medical applications for increasing muscle function and extending healthspan. A hallmark of her work is the development of interdisciplinary technologies that enable novel fundamental insights and drug discovery. Helen Blau is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.