Irving Louis Weissman BS, MD

Dr. Weissman is the Founding Director of the Institute for Stem-Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University (ISCBRM), Director of the Stanford Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research, and former Director of the Stanford Cancer Center.

His research on hematopoiesis, hematologic malignancies and solid tumors has led to several discoveries and the development of new therapies. These include the isolation and transplantation of pure hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), isolation of hematopoietic progenitors, and the demonstration that, upon transplantation, pure HSCs can regenerate the entire blood and immune system without causing graft vs. host disease.

Those earlier studies on HSCs and hematopoiesis served as a foundation for the biological definition and prospective isolation of human leukemia stem cells [LSC]. In AML he proposed and proved preleukemic development in clones of HSC accumulating one mutation at a time with the last mutation giveing rise to the LSC. Next, by comparing LSC to HSC, Weissman discovered CD47 as a ‘don’t eat me’ signal used by leukemias and all other human cancers to evade innate immunity. He showed that blocking this interaction with anti CD47 antibodies unleashes phagocytosis of cancer cells by macrophages and leads the clinical development. achieved remarkable results in phase-I clinical trials.