The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is honoring Sean J. Morrison, Ph.D., Director of Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI), USA, with the 2022 ISSCR Public Service Award. The prize recognizes the outstanding contributions of public service to the fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The award will be presented at the Presidential Symposium on 15 June during ISSCR 2022 San Francisco + Virtual, the world’s leading meeting of global innovators in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
“Sean has long been a strong and vocal advocate for the ISSCR,” Melissa Little, Ph.D., ISSCR President, said. As a former ISSCR president as well as chair of the Society’s Policy Committee since its inception in 2015, Sean has dedicated extensive time and experience identifying opportunities and challenges facing the global stem cell research community and raising the effectiveness and visibility for the ISSCR’s advocacy efforts. This includes his long-standing leadership of the committee, vigilance on unproven and unapproved cellular therapies, and unwavering support of fetal tissue research. It is such a privilege to honor Sean for his myriad contributions to the ISSCR and to stem cell science as an accomplished and respected researcher and an ambassador for the field.”
Dr. Morrison said, “The people who understand the science have to explain it to the public and to policy makers or we will have policies that undermine public health and the development of new therapies. I am grateful to the ISSCR for this recognition, but mostly for all the work it, and its members, have done over the past 20 years to promote good research and the development of new therapies that are now saving lives.”
Dr. Morrison studies the mechanisms that regulate stem cell function and the role these mechanisms play in cancer. He 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). He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (since 2000) and Director of CRI (since 2011). At UT Southwestern he is a Professor of Pediatrics and holds the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics and the Kathryne and Gene Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research at CRI. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences and is a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar in Cancer Research. Dr. Morrison served as the President of ISSCR (2015-16), is founding chair of the ISSCR Public Policy Committee (since 2015), has testified before the U.S. Congress, and was a leader in the “Proposal 2” campaign that protected stem cell research in Michigan’s state constitution (2008).
Award-winner biographies and photos are available upon request.
About the International Society for Stem Cell Research (www.isscr.org)
With nearly 4,000 members from more than 65 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health. Additional information about stem cell science is available at A Closer Look at Stem Cells, an initiative of the Society to inform the public about stem cell research and its potential to improve human health.
