Who We Are

Director of CRI

Sean J. Morrison is the founding Director of Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. He holds the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics and the Kathryne and Gene Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research. Dr. Morrison completed a B.Sc. in biology and chemistry at Dalhousie University (1991), a Ph.D. in immunology at Stanford University (1996), and a postdoctoral fellowship in neurobiology at Caltech (1999). From 1999 to 2011, Dr. Morrison was a Professor at the University of Michigan, where he directed its Center for Stem Cell Biology.

Among other awards, Dr. Morrison received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2003) and a MERIT Award from the National Institute on Aging (2009). He is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (2018), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2020), and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO, 2023). Dr. Morrison served as the President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (2015–2016) and has been active in public policy issues surrounding stem cell research, testifying before the U.S. Congress, and serving as a leader in the successful “Proposal 2” campaign to protect and regulate stem cell research in Michigan’s state constitution.

Board of Directors

Christopher J. Durovich

President and Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Health

Jorge Bezerra, M.D.

Chair, Department of Pediatrics, UTSW Medical Center

David W. Biegler

Retired Chairman, Southcross Energy Partners

Robert A. Chereck

Retired Executive Chairman, Southwest Securities, FSB

Joan Conaway, Ph.D.

Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research, UTSW Medical Center

W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean, UTSW Medical School

Sean Morrison, Ph.D.

Director, CRI

Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D.

President, UTSW Medical Center

Michael Serber, MBA

Vice President of Finance, UTSW Medical Center

Mark Weinzierl

Founder and Chairman, Anelto

Scientific Advisory Boards

Internal

Michael Brown, M.D.

Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine, UTSW Medical Center; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1985

Joan Conaway, Ph.D.

Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research, UTSW Medical Center

Helen H. Hobbs, M.D.

Director, McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, UTSW Medical Center; Member, National Academy of Sciences

W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D.

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean, UTSW Medical School

Eric N. Olson, Ph.D.

Chair, Department of Molecular Biology, UTSW Medical Center; Member, National Academy of Sciences

External

Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Member, National Academy of Sciences

Stuart H. Orkin, M.D.

Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; Member, National Academy of Sciences

Charles L. Sawyers, M.D.

Chair, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Member, National Academy of Sciences

Owen N. Witte, M.D.

Professor, UCLA; Director Emeritus, Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research, UCLA; Member, National Academy of Sciences

Faculty

Administration

Laura Clarke

Procurement and Faculty Support

Xandra Damon, MBA, MHA

Faculty Support

Diana Fonseca, MPA

Grants Management Support

Sarah Helfer, MHA

Grants Management Support

Teresa Hui, MBA, M.S.

Administrative Director

Ashlei Johnson, B.S.

Financial Manager

Libia Recktenwald, B.S.

Faculty Support

Brandi Smith, M.S.

Office of the Director

Kennedy Stephens

Lab Technical Assistant

Misti Wheat, B.S.

Human Resources and Grant Management Support