Jeanne F. Loring, Ph.D.

February 4, 2018 /   / 

Jeanne F. Loring is a Professor and the founding Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. Her laboratory studies human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), the remarkable cells that can make every cell type in the body. Her lab is developing a patient-specific cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease and a stem cell-based treatment for multiple sclerosis, and they are studying the underlying causes of autism. With the San Diego Zoo, her lab is developing a “zoo” of induced pluripotent stem cells from endangered species to aid in their conservation. Dr. Loring serves on many scientific and bioethics advisory boards and is frequently quoted in major newspapers, appears on television and in documentary features, and gives many public lectures about science and society. She is particularly concerned with the dangers of unregulated stem cell treatments in the US and other countries (“stem cell tourism”).  In 2015, she was designated “Stem Cell Person of the Year” by The Niche blog, and was awarded the Stem Cell Action Advocacy Award by the World Stem Cell Summit.