Nexxus Scotland

Advances in stem cell science propel young researcher to Nexxus Award

25 November 2009

Dr Keisuke Kaji has won the 2009 Nexxus Annual Young Life Scientist of the Year Award (East) for his work in cellular reprogramming, changing adult cells into stem cells. His advances in laboratory-based cell manipulation represent a significant advance towards generating custom made tissues from patients' own cells that can be used to repair damaged or diseased organs.

"It is a great honour to win this award," said Dr Kaji of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.  "The reprogramming research area is very competitive and I am proud that although my lab is small, we have been able to make a contribution to improve the technology."

The focus of Dr Kaji's work involves in-depth expertise in embryology, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology. In this competitive and fast-moving field of cell reprogramming, researchers must also quickly assimilate new ideas and technologies. With these skills, Dr Kaji has managed to take adult cells and induce pluripotency, namely turn them back into a stem cell-like state from which they might grow into any type of cell, aided by a few precise tweaks of the molecular milieu around them. 

The reprogramming method Dr Kaji has developed was published in Nature last March, and represented the beginning of his fruitful collaboration with Professor Andras Nagy, a researcher based at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada.  Both researchers had been working in the same area and had made complementary discoveries. By collaborating, their work on this new method of reprogramming cells became even stronger and more robust. 

"When Andras and I met in Edinburgh, we didn't know that we both had been developing new strategies to reprogram cells. It was lucky we could meet at the right time to start the collaboration," said Dr Kaji. "The different approaches we took complemented each other and enabled us to ‘repair' genetic modification that was necessary to generate stem cells in the lab."
Dr Kaji is now working on discovering the delicate molecular orchestration underlying the process by which these cells revert to stem cells. As Dr Kaji and his research group learn which signals control these steps, the group will fine-tune the technology and can hold much tighter control over the cells' fate.

Dr Kaji grew up in Japan and completed his Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He was determined to go abroad for his post-doctoral work to experience differences in lifestyle and research and has been running a laboratory at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh since 2008.

"I decided to be a scientist because this job allows me to travel around the world and meet different people," said Dr. Kaji. "After my PhD, I decided to do a Post Doc in Edinburgh, because I was interested in the research topic.  Later, I realised how lucky I've been. Stem cell research is an exciting area to work in, the Centre is very multicultural, and the Edinburgh environment is excellent. I really appreciate the support I got from other researchers in Edinburgh."

For further information contact Kate Fink, Marketing Communications Assistant, Nexxus  T: 0131 200 6412,E : k.fink@nexxuscotland.com.

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