Stem Cells: Remembering Experiences Which Impact Tissue Fitness
Event Details
- Type
- Monday Lecture Series
- Speaker(s)
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Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D., Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and head, Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, The Rockefeller University; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Speaker bio(s)
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According to Webster, memory “is the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms.” It has generally been thought to be the privilege of the brain, and indeed as most neurons are long-lived, they have the capacity to store memories of their experiences and recall them months later. However many tissues of our body learn from their past experiences, and like memories that occur in the brain, tissue memories have both beneficial and maladaptive consequences. An excellent example of this is our barrier epithelial tissues such as the skin, lung and gut, which are the first line of defense between our body and the outside world. These tissues harbor reservoirs of long-lived, self-renewing stem cells that rejuvenate the barrier during normal homeostasis and restore it when damaged by wounds, mechanical stress, ultraviolet radiation, pathogens and irritants. How do epithelial stem cells equip themselves to cope with these harmful stresses? The Fuchs Lab discovered that when stem cells encounter diverse stresses, their chromatin develops and stores epigenetic memories with profound consequences. The Fuchs Lab focuses on dissecting the complex interactions between stem cells and their environment that are evolutionarily optimized for tissue fitness but go awry in chronic inflammation and cancer.
Elaine Fuchs received her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1977 from Princeton University and was a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1977 to 1980. She was the Amgen Professor of Basic Sciences at the University of Chicago before coming to Rockefeller in 2002. Fuchs was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute associate investigator in 1988 and full investigator in 1993.She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Philosophical Society.
Among Fuchs’ many honors are the 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the 2020 Canada Gairdner International Award, the 2019 AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award, the 2017 McEwen Award for Innovation, the 2015 E.B. Wilson Medal, the 2014 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award, the 2013 Pasarow Award, the 2013 American Skin Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2012 March of Dimes Prize, the 2011 Albany Medical Center Prize, the 2011 Passano Award, the 2011 Madison Medal, and the 2009 National Medal of Science. Fuchs also holds membership in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Philosophical Society, and the Royal Society.
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- Campus Only