Janet Rossant - Canada
University of Toronto
Janet Rossant is a Senior Scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto. She is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto. She is also the President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation.
Janet Rossant trained at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, United Kingdom and has been in Canada since 1977, first at Brock University and then at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, from 1985 to 2005.
She is a Fellow of both the Royal Societies of London and Canada, and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Science. She was the President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in 2013. She chaired the working group of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) on Stem Cell Research, which developed guidelines for CIHR funded research in this area.
Janet Rossant is an internationally recognized developmental and stem cell scientist and has received many awards for her contributions to science, some of which include the Ross G Harrison Medal Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society of Developmental Biologists; and the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. Professor Rossant is the first female to receive the 2015 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award.
She has numerous publications to her credit. Her research interests centre on understanding the genetic control of normal and abnormal development in the early mouse embryo using both cellular and genetic manipulation techniques. Her interests in the early embryo have led to the discovery of a novel placental stem cell type, the trophoblast stem cell.
Janet Rossant is actively involved in many international developmental and stem cell biology communities and has contributed to the scientific and ethical discussion on public issues related to stem cell research and gene editing.
