Speakers

Austin Smith graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and pursued PhD studies in Developmental Genetics in Edinburgh. After a post-doctoral period back in Oxford, he returned to Edinburgh as a Group Leader in the Centre for Genome Research. He became Centre Director in 1995 and formed the Institute for Stem Cell Research. In 2006 he moved to Cambridge and was founding Director of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. He is a Medical Research Council Professor.

Austin’s research interest is pluripotency and in particular embryonic stem cells. His ambition is to elucidate the molecular and developmental foundations of pluripotent stem cell states. He hope to determine generic principles underlying pluripotent stem cell properties and apply this knowledge to control their derivation, expansion and differentiation.