Prof. Jacob (Yaqub) Hanna

We are an interdisciplinary group of scientists interested in understanding embryonic stem cell biology, early development and advance human stem cell based disease modeling. Specifically, we investigate the process of cellular reprogramming, in which induced pluripotent stem cells are generated from somatic cells, and we investigate how pluripotency is maintained throughout development in mouse and human and how it can be coaxed to generate gametes in the petri dish.

In parallel, we develop engineered artificial platforms that enable capturing natural or synthetic mammalian embryogenesis from early stem cell stages until advanced complete organogenesis entirely outside the uterus (ex utero), and use them for understanding basic principles of development as well as developing applied approaches for tissue regeneration and transplantation.

We utilize in our studies a diverse arsenal of biological experimentation methods, advanced tissue culture, live microscopy, bioengineering, genome engineering, embryo micro-manipulation and genomic analyses. We also seek to combine biological experimentation with computational biology, theory and modeling to better elucidate the biological processes involved.