Amy J. Wagers is the Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, an investigator in

islet cell The pancreatic islets or islets of Langerhans are the regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine (hormone-producing) cells, discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans. The pancreatic islets constitute 1–2% of ...

and regenerative biology at the

Joslin Diabetes Center Joslin Diabetes Center is the world's largest diabetes research center, diabetes clinic, and provider of diabetes education. It is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Among the Harvard Medica ...

, and principal faculty of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She is co-chair of the Department of Stem Cells and Regenerative Biology at

Education and research

Wager started her education at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and received her B.A. in Biological Sciences and her Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1999. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr.

Irving Weissman Irving Lerner "Irv" Weissman (born Great Falls, Montana, October 21, 1939) is a Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford University where he is the Director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medic ...

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

. Wagers researches intrinsic and extrinsic regulators of stem cell function and how stem cells impact tissue regeneration and aging. She has demonstrated that transplantation of satellite cells into injured, diseased, or aged muscle can lead to cell engraftment, in some cases restoring muscle function. She has also identified novel regulators (such as

EGR1 EGR-1 (Early growth response protein 1) also known as ZNF268 (zinc finger protein 268) or NGFI-A (nerve growth factor-induced protein A) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''EGR1'' gene. EGR-1 is a mammalian transcription factor. It wa ...

) of stem cell trafficking and stem cell number in bone marrow and during immune responses, and identified blood-borne proteins, such as GDF11, that in mice can reverse some of the pathological changes that occur in aging tissues. She co-founded a company based on this work, Elevian in 2018 that aims to apply GDF11 to stroke and other conditions. There are other data, however, that indicate that GDF11 functions to inhibit muscle regeneration Two publications involving work by a postdoctoral researcher in the Wagers lab in 2008 were retracted by their other authors, one from ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' (2010) and one from ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

'' (August 2008). The researcher was dismissed from the lab and later sanctioned by the U.S. Government's Office of Research Integrity (ORI), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2018, Harvard Medical School announced that Wagers had accepted the position of co-chair of the Department of Stem Cells and Regenerative Biology, co-leading the Department with Chair

Paola Arlotta Paola Arlotta (born 1971) is the Golub Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and chair of the Harvard Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB). Her research focuses on the development of neuron types in the ...

Awards

* 2018: NIH Director’s Pioneer Award * 2012: Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology * 2007:

Beckman Young Investigators Award The Beckman Young Investigators Award was established by Mabel and Arnold Beckman in 1991, and is now administered by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program is intended to provide research support to p ...

* 2004: Smith Family New Investigator Award * 2003:

Burroughs Wellcome Fund The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an American non-profit medical research organization that provides funding for biomedical research, STEM education, and areas of career development for scientists. Since 1970, it has been headquartered in Nor ...

Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagers, Amy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women biologists Harvard Medical School faculty American women academics 21st-century American women Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers