“It may be that, some ages hence... the restoration of grey hairs to juvenility and the renewing of the exhausted marrow may at length be elicited without a miracle”
Joseph Glanvill,
1661AD
Professor Peter W Andrews: Chief Scientist, Biomedical Research
Professor Peter Andrews studied a cancer-derived equivalent of embryonic stem (ES) cells, embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells for more than 20 years, first in the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and more recently in Sheffield. As a recognised leader in the field, he is co-ordinating the International Stem Cell Initiative under the auspices of the International Stem Cell Forum, a consortium of 16 countries and agencies involved in the characterisation, comparison, and validation of existing HESC lines held throughout the world.
Professor Andrews was the first researcher in Britain to receive and study the first human ES cell lines, derived by Dr James Thomson in the University of Wisconsin. His work on ES cells follows pioneering work in the study of human EC cells, a malignant equivalent of ES cells, which defined many tools that now underpin the study of human ES cells. He showed that HESCs differ significantly from the equivalent mouse cells and therefore the latter are inadequate for predicting the behaviour of HESCs. He has over 100+ publications mostly dealing with topics pertinent to human EC and ES cell biology.
Professor Andrews has held the Arthur Jackson Chair of Biomedical Science in the University of Sheffield since 1992 and has served as Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Science (awarded 5* rating in the Government's recent Research Assessment Exercise) from 1995 - 2003.
Together with Professor Harry Moore he has established the Centre for Stem Cell Biology in the University of Sheffield to consolidate resources and provide a focus for research into human ES cell biology within the University. Current the Centre has funding totalling approximately £6 million and comprises 38 scientists.