Robert Lanza

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Dr Robert Lanza is Vice President of Research and Scientific Development Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) and Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Lanza received both BS and MD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He has authored books on topics involving tissue engineering, cloning, and stem cells, including the Handbook of Stem Cells ^[1] and Essentials of Stem Cell Biology, ^[2] which are considered the definitive references in the field of stem cell research. Others include Principles of Tissue Engineering ^[3] and One World: The Health & Survival of the Human Species in the 21st Century (Foreword by President Jimmy Carter)^[4].

Lanza is a former Fulbright Scholar, Dr Lanza has worked with well-known scientists Jonas Salk, B. F. Skinner, and heart transplant pioneer Christiaan Barnard.

Lanza was part of the team that cloned the world's first human embryo ^[5]. He was also the first to clone an endangered species ^[6], to demonstrate that nuclear transplantation could be used to reverse the aging process ^[7] and to generate immune-compatible tissues, including the first organ tissue-engineered from cloned cells ^[8]. One of his most recent successes is in getting stem cells to grow into retinal cells. Using this technology some forms of blindness may be curable. However, perhaps his greatest fame has come from his suggestion that techniques used in preimplantation genetic diagnosis may be used to generate embryonic stem cells without embryonic destruction.^[9]

Dr Lanza believes that stem cell technology will have a substantial importance in the future of medicine. ^[10]

He currently resides in Clinton, Massachusetts.