Stanford Lab

Our lab works at the interface between molecular genetics, stem cell biology, and bioengineering to uncover the mechanisms underlying human disease and develop novel regenerative and tissue engineered approached to treat disease. Our research is organized into five overlapping project areas: Generation and Analysis of Animal Models of Human Disease, Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome, Molecular and Pharmacological Regulation of Stem Cell Self-Renewal versus Differentiation, Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering, and Somatic Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering. The primary areas of developmental biology and related disease focus are: Hematopoiesis/ Leukemia, Bone Homeostasis/ Osteoporosis, and Cardiovascular Development and Disease.

The synthesis of these research areas is illustrated by a project which utilized mutagenesis of mouse ES cells to develop a mouse model of type II (or age-related) osteoporosis, which results in a defect in the self-renewal capacity of mesenchymal stem cells, whose derivatives generate new bone mass throughout our lives.

Our laboratory is built upon multi-disciplinary research. Central to our mission is to train basic scientists in bioengineering approaches and engineers and clinicians in molecular genetics and cellular biology. Training areas within our lab or our collaborators labs include: genetic engineering, propagation and differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells, gene trapping, gene targeting, high throughput/content screening, proteomics, bioinformatics, microarray analysis, nanotechnology and microfabrication, and ENU mutagenesis.

Dr. William L. Stanford, Ph.D.
Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology & Functional Genomics
Associate Professor & Associate Chair, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
Director, Gene Trap Mutagenesis, Centre for Modeling Human Disease