Sean J. Morrison
Encyclopedia
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is one of the biomedical research institutions of the University of Texas System, incorporating three degree-granting institutions, four affiliated hospitals, including Parkland Memorial, the teaching hospital, and biomedical research...
where he directs the Children's Research Institute. Prior to his recruitment to UT Southwestern he worked as a research associate professor at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
’s Life Sciences Institute
Life Sciences Institute
The Life Sciences Institute is a collaborative, independent research institution located on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It encompasses 25 faculty-led teams from 13 departments of various schools and colleges within the U-M...
as the director for the Center for Stem Cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
Biology; an associate professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine & Genetics at the University of Michigan Medical School; an associate professor at the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology at the UM Medical School; a research scholar at the Biological Sciences Scholars Program, also at the UM Medical School. He holds a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and a Ph.D in Immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
from Stanford.
Morrison investigates the mechanisms underlying the functioning of stem cells in the nervous
Nervous
Nervous may refer to:* The nervous system* "Nervous" , a rockabilly/doo-wop song first recorded by Gene Summers and His Rebels in 1958* Nervous Records, a UK record label* Nervous Records , a US record label-See also:...
and hematopoietic systems, "particularly the mechanisms that regulate stem cell self-renewal and aging". Morrison is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
, a position he has held since 2000, and he is a Henry Sewall Professor of Medicine, an honor in the basic sciences named for Sewall's famous work on antitoxin
Antitoxin
An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. Antitoxins are produced by certain animals, plants, and bacteria. Although they are most effective in neutralizing toxins, they can kill bacteria and other microorganisms. Antitoxins are made within organisms, but can be...
s in the 19th century.
George Daley, an associate professor at the Harvard Medical School, has commented that, "Sean Morrison is a fantastic scientist. Brilliant, creative, perseverant -- everything you fear in a competitor and treasure in a colleague. He is playing a major role in shaping the future of stem cell biology, both scientifically and politically".
In recent years Morrison's lab has identified important mechanisms that allow stem cells to renew themselves. The lab has discovered that stem cells in the sciatic nerves of rats just after birth contain undifferentiated neural crest
Neural crest
Neural crest cells are a transient, multipotent, migratory cell population unique to vertebrates that gives rise to a diverse cell lineage including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, peripheral and enteric neurons and glia....
stem cells, showing that stem cells remain in the peripheral nervous systems of animals longer than was previously thought.
A recent paper from his lab reports that research into such mechanisms has the potential to explain the differences in regeneration capabilities between old and new tissues. In addition to these findings, the lab has reported success in demonstrating that these mechanisms could be used in the treatment of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Special markers discovered by the lab may allow for the more effective purification of hematopoietic stem cells, a finding which could lead to an increase in the safety of bone marrow transplant
Bone marrow transplant
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cell or blood, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, or umbilical cord blood...
s.
Morrison has tested the "immortal strand hypothesis" using these markers, and found that this is not universal property of all stem cells.
Morrison has been in the public eye as a vocal proponent for loosening restrictions on stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
research in the State of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, restrictions he characterizes as "the most draconian in the country". Regarding Morrison's efforts in influencing stem cell public policy, ASCB Public Policy Chair Larry Goldstein remarked that "Sean is a rising star scientifically as well as on the policy side of the stem cell world. He is a young scientist who has embraced this responsibility, and I really admire him for that".
Awards and achievements
Sean Morrison has received numerous accolades throughout his career, in addition to the achievements listed above. These include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2003 and a Rave Award for Science in 2004 from Wired Magazine. In 2002, he was named to the MITMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR100
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35. He was a Searle Scholar from 2000-2003.
In October 2007 Morrison won the prestigious McCulloch and Till Award, which recognizes scientists in the field of hematology in honor of Professors Ernest McCulloch
Ernest McCulloch
Ernest Armstrong McCulloch, OC, O.Ont, FRSC was a University of Toronto cellular biologist, best known for demonstrating – with James Till – the existence of stem cells.-Biography:...
and James Till
James Till
James Edgar Till, OC, O.Ont, FRSC is a University of Toronto biophysicist, best known for demonstrating – with Ernest McCulloch – the existence of stem cells.-Early work:...
from the ISEH, "in recognition of exceptional scientific contributions to the field of hematology and stem cells".
According to The Detroit News, Morrison, "became one of more than 300 scientists at research institutes around the county chosen to become Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators because of his potential to make significant contributions to science". In December 2007 he received the American Association of Anatomists 2008 Harland Winfield Mossman Award, which recognizes "remarkable discoveries" in the field of stem cell biology.