Ken Zaret, PhD (he/him/his)

Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States

Kenneth S. Zaret, PhD is the Joseph Leidy Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at UPenn. Dr. Zaret discovered and named “pioneer factors,” regulatory proteins that target silent chromatin to initiate new genetic networks, enabling cell fate changes. Dr. Zaret discovered a signaling network in the embryo that induces a liver versus pancreas fate and that blood vessel cells promote tissue outgrowth independent of blood flow; the principles are now used to create liver and pancreas organoids from stem cells. Recently, his research has revealed diverse ways that genes are silenced by heterochromatin and which serve as mechanisms to overcome for cell fate control.

Presentation(s):

• REVOLUTIONIZING THERAPIES FOR CHRONIC DISEASES

  Thursday, June 12, 2025
  8:30 AM – 10:00 AM HK Time