Abstract

Gerard Wagemaker was trained in medicine, and in radiation, transplantation and stem cell biology. His current research focuses on stem cell regulation by hematopoietic cytokines and on preclinical evaluation of gene therapy for inherited immune deficiencies, lysosomal enzyme storage diseases and mitochondrial disorders. He has a long record as coordinator of European collaborative projects in the EURATOM and Health areas, in the ‘90s evaluated the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident for the Dutch government and for EURATOM , from 2001-2010 coordinated the European Commission’s collaborative research projects on stem cell gene therapy for monogenic inherited diseases and till 2016 participated in these projects. From 2007-2008 and 2011-2012 he was Visiting Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute, Israel, and is currently professor at the stem cell transplant centers of Pavlov State Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia, supported by the Gorbachov Foundation, and of the Children’s Hospital of Hacettepe Medical University, Ankara, which is the national referral hospital for rare diseases in Turkey. He has been a member of the European Union Committee of Experts on Rare Diseases (EUCERD), is President of the Netherlands’ Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (NTVGC) and was recently awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the St. Petersburg Pavlov University.