Innovation Profile: Dr Janet Rossant
The Hospital for Sick Children
Focusing on mouse embryos no bigger than specks of dust, Dr Janet Rossant is zeroing in on how stem cells make decisions in the early embryo. Dr Rossant is Chief of Research and Senior Scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology program at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is leading member of the collaborative, world-class stem cell research community in the Toronto Region.
Prolonging life by understanding its beginnings
How does a human being develop from a single cell? It's a question that has long captivated Dr Janet Rossant, a world leader in developmental biology and stem cell research. Her pioneering work is shedding light on the very origins of stem cells -- how they develop and give rise to specific cell types.
Focusing on mouse embryos no bigger than specks of dust, Dr Rossant is zeroing in on how stem cells make decisions in the early embryo. "We are trying to use this information to guide stem cells to make cell types that could one day be useful for therapy," says Dr Rossant, Chief of Research and Senior Scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology program at The Hospital for Sick Children.
Dr Rossant's contributions to the field include new techniques for following cell fate and altering
genes in embryos. She also discovered a novel stem cell, the trophoblast stem cell, found in the placenta. These cells could potentially be used to treat pregnancy-related problems, which often
involve placental failure.
"I believe now is the time we can begin to see the fruits of our understanding being applied to the treatment of human disease," says Dr Rossant, Deputy Scientific Director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network, and a University Professor working in the Departments of Molecular Genetics, Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Paediatrics at the University of Toronto.
In August 2008, Dr Rossant co-published with Dr Cheryle Séguin and colleagues a groundbreaking study that revealed how to produce early endoderm tissue cells from human embryonic stem cells by manipulating the expression of transcription factors.
The next step is to coax endoderm cells to develop into lung epithelium with the ultimate goal of repairing diseased lungs. In the shorter run, this work will allow the study of diseases like cystic fibrosis in the petri dish. It will also lead to new screens for faster, easier drug testing. Dr Rossant's endoderm progenitor cell line and other work is generating industry interest.
Dr Rossant is Director of the Centre for Modeling Human Disease, housed at the $69-million Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics. She also helped develop the new Ontario Human Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cell Facility. In October 2009, the Ontario Initiative in Personalized Stem Cell Medicine, a project led by Dr Rossant received $10 million in funding from the Province of Ontario. The project that will use advanced technologies to develop cutting-edge health care products.
Born in Britain, Dr Rossant studied at Oxford and Cambridge before moving to Ontario in 1977. "The culture of collaboration and cooperation is really quite special here," she says. "We can compete with the rest of the world but we try not to compete with each other. It makes us stronger but it also makes us attractive to other partners too." 
With over 300 published papers and numerous awards to her name, Dr Rossant is a Fellow of both the Royal Societies of London and Canada and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr Janet Rossant awarded Premier of Ontario's Summit Awards in Medical Research, May 17, 2010
© 2010 Toronto Region Research Alliance