Distinguished Biologist to Lead Molecular Biology Seminar Series at UW

The University of Wyoming's Department of Molecular Biology will host an upcoming seminar series featuring world-renowned biologist Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, who is president, chief scientific officer and investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

Sánchez Alvarado, a pioneer in the field of developmental biology and regeneration, will visit the Laramie campus to deliver a series of lectures highlighting groundbreaking research into the cellular and genetic mechanisms that allow organisms to regrow tissue and repair organs, while highlighting entirely new principles of biology.

He will present seminars Monday, June 29, through Thursday, July 2, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each day in Room 138 of the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center. Todd Schoborg, a UW assistant professor of molecular biology, will serve as host of the speaker series. The seminars are free and open to UW faculty and students, and the broader community.

Redefining the boundaries of regeneration

Sánchez Alvarado's landmark work has fundamentally shifted how scientists understand tissue regeneration and stem cell pluripotency. Notably, his lab successfully established the planarian flatworm (Schmidtea mediterranea) as a premier modern model organism for genomic and cellular research.

By investigating how these organisms use adult pluripotent stem cells, or neoblasts, to completely regenerate after injury, his research provides critical insights that may one day unlock regenerative capabilities in humans, and transforming treatment of damaged organs, missing limbs and degenerative diseases.

The seminar series will explore:

-- "The Problem of Regeneration": This seminar will define the phenomenon of regeneration and provide a historical overview of the experiments that shaped the field, framed in the context of modern thinking of the process and the many open questions that have yet to be answered.

-- "Stem Cells and Potency": Not all stem cells are created equal. This seminar will provide an overview of cellular and molecular properties that define a stem cell, and the modern view of "stem cells" as an ensemble of distinct populations with unique molecular features that determine their capacity to rebuild tissue.

-- "Building the Blastema": This seminar will focus on the importance of the wound-healing response and the cellular signals that coordinate the behavior of the blastema, the mass of tissue that serves as the building block for regenerating lost tissue and appendages.

-- "Regeneration in Evolution and Medicine": This seminar is a discussion of what evolution teaches about the regeneration process; lessons from nontraditional "model organisms" as experimental systems relevant to human biology; and an honest assessment of what it will take to apply these regenerative principles in humans for therapeutic purposes.

About the speaker

Sánchez Alvarado received his B.S. in molecular biology and chemistry from Vanderbilt University and his Ph.D. in pharmacology and cell biophysics from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. A recipient of the prestigious Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science in 2023 and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, he has dedicated his career to solving the mysteries of regeneration. Before leading the Stowers Institute, Sánchez Alvarado served as an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2005-2023 and was a faculty member at the University of Utah School of Medicine.