Prof Shahragim Tajbakhsh obtained his PhD in Biology from Carleton University in 1988. He then moved to the Institut Pasteur for postdoctoral work on skeletal myogenesis and genetically modified mice. He initiated an independent group in 2001 called "Stem Cells and Development" where he has been interested in how stem cells establish and regenerate organs and tissues, with a particular focus on skeletal muscle. He is currently the Head of the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Vice-Director of the CNRS Unit URA2578 and Director of a "Laboratory of Excellence" Consortium, Revive, regrouping leading labs working on stem cells at the Institut Pasteur.
Prof Tajbakhsh’s research continues to focus on identifying and characterizing skeletal muscle stem cells. The aim of his laboratory is to characterize stem cells and their daughters during embryonic and postnatal development of skeletal muscle to understand how this tissue is established, and how it regenerates during disease, and after injury. They are examining the genetic networks that regulate myogenic stem cell emergence, and relating this to how cell order is established in this lineage. They are also investigating how stem and progenitor cells self-renew, essentially via symmetric vs. asymmetric cell divisions, and how the stem cell niche is defined.
Prof Tajbakhsh was selected as a laureate of the Grand Prize for research on stem cells by the French Academy of Sciences in 2014. He is a member of the scientific councils of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM) and the Générale de Santé Foundation.
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