Professor Marius Wernig profile page

Dr. Marius Wernig was born in Innsbruck, Austria and received his MD from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2000. At the University of Bonn, Germany he then obtained medical residency training in neuropathology and surgical pathology. After an ensuing postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA he joined the faculty of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative at Stanford University in 2008. There he has been ever since and is now a professor of pathology and, by courtesy, of chemical and systems biology. Dr. Wernig’s lab focuses on two areas of stem cell biology: epigenetic reprogramming to generate complex human cell models of the central nervous system and the development of next generation cell therapies for the brain. The Wernig Lab aims to transform patient cells such as skin or blood cells functional neurons. These cells can be obtained from patients with brain diseases and can be used to capture underlying disease processes. The lab also developed defined brain-tissue microsphere, i.e. complex three-dimensional cultures containing the major cell types of the brain which allow to study how the different brain cell types work together in health and disease conditions. The lab is also highly interested in utilising these insights into the development of innovative cell therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.