Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz
Developmental & Stem Cell Biologist
Magdalena carried out her Ph.D. studies in mammalian development at the University of Warsaw and the University of Oxford, and post-doctoral studies in stem cell biology with Martin Evans at the University of Cambridge. She was awarded a Senior Research Fellowships from the Lister Institute, Sidney Sussex College and the Wellcome Trust to establish her group at the University of Cambridge. She became Professor of Development and Stem Cell Biology in Cambridge in 2010. In 2019 she established her group at Caltech as the Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering.
In her early work, Magdalena developed ways of tracking and modulating cell fate in the living embryo, leading her to discover molecular mechanisms directing cell fate specification and its timing.
She found that when abnormal cells arise in the embryo, they are eliminated through programmed cell death immediately before and during implantation and only in the part of the embryo that creates new organism. They are tolerated in the extra-embryonic tissues.
With her team, she established the first methods for culturing and studying human embryos beyond implantation in vitro, until day 14 and used this approach to uncover mechanisms behind human development and the defects that result from specific aneuploidies. This work won the public vote for the Scientific Breakthrough of the year and is one of the directions of her current research.
Building upon her knowledge of natural development, she pioneered methods through which multiple stem cell types are directed to assemble into complete “synthetic embryos”. These are able to recapitulate post-implantation development through gastrulation to the neurulation stages, providing unprecedented opportunities for dissecting the genetic and physical parameters governing organogenesis.
Magdalena‘s lab has given rise to many scientific leaders throughout the world. She is active in promoting equality through her work with scientific academies and non-profit charities. She has two children and the interplay of her personal and scientific journey is described in her biography, The Dance of Life (Penguin Random House and Basic Books, 2020).
Awards & Recognition
2023
Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize
Gladstone Institutes
2022
Conklin Award
Society of Developmental Biology
2020
Number ten, The world’s top 50 thinkers for the COVID-19 age
Prospect Magazine
2020
Pioneer Award, NIH
2017
Lifetime Contribution to Reproductive Medicine Award
2017
Best Basic Research in Reproductive Medicine Award
2017
Foreign Member of Polish Academy of Science
2016
Winner of Scientific Breakthrough
Science Magazine, People’s Vote
2016
Foreign Member Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
2013
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, FMedSci
2007
Member EMBO
2001
Young Investigator Award, EMBO