Speaker Profile
James A. Thomson

James A. Thomson PhD

Molecular Biology
Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America

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Dr. Thomson is a professor at the University of California's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, where he serves as co-director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering. He is the Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Thomson graduated with a B.S. in biophysics from the University of Illinois in 1981, a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1985, and a doctorate in molecular biology in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1998, Dr. Thomson became the first person to derive human embryonic stem (ES) cells. In 2007, Dr. Thomson's group reported the first isolation of induced human pluripotent stem cells contemporaneously with Dr. Shinya Yamanaka. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recent recipient of numerous awards, including the Lois Pope LIFE International Research Award, the Frank Annunzio Award, the Massry Prize, the King Faisal International Prize for Medicine, and the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.