Ann Tsukamoto facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ann Tsukamoto
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| Born | July 6, 1952 California, United States
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| Alma mater | University of California San Diego University of California Los Angeles |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Stem cell biology |
| Institutions | University of California San Francisco SyStemix, Inc. StemCells, Inc. |
Ann S. Tsukamoto Weissman (born July 6, 1952) is a leading scientist and inventor. She is known for her work with stem cells. In 1991, she helped create a way to find and separate human stem cells. This discovery showed how these cells could help treat patients with breast cancer that had spread.
Dr. Tsukamoto's research has greatly advanced our understanding of stem cells. Her work has especially helped us learn about the blood systems of people with cancer. Her discoveries offer new hope for treating cancers and brain and nerve problems. Before her work, many thought these conditions had no real treatments.
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Ann Tsukamoto's Early Life and Education
Ann Tsukamoto was born in California on July 6, 1952. She studied at the University of California, San Diego. There, she earned her first degree. Later, she got her Ph.D. from the University of California Los Angeles. Her advanced studies focused on how the body fights disease (immunology) and tiny living things (microbiology).
She then did important research at the University of California, San Francisco. Here, she studied a special gene called wnt-1. She also created a way to study breast cancer in a lab setting. Scientists later learned that wnt-1 is very important for how stem cells grow and repair themselves.
Discovering Stem Cells
From 1989 to 1997, Dr. Tsukamoto worked at a company called SyStemix. She helped discover the human hematopoietic stem cell (hHSC). These are special cells that make all other blood cells. She also played a key role in starting studies on these cells in people.
Scientists found that hHSCs could be cleaned to remove cancer cells. This was true even when taken from patients whose blood was affected by cancer. After strong chemotherapy treatments, these purified hHSCs helped patients rebuild their blood-forming systems. This was a major step forward in cancer treatment.
Leading Stem Cell Research
In 1998, Ann Tsukamoto joined StemCells Inc.. She took on several leadership roles there. Her teams worked on finding and using human stem cells from the brain and liver. These cells could help treat different diseases.
She led the team that found the human central nervous system stem cell. This cell is important for the brain, spinal cord, and eye. Under her guidance, these brain stem cells began early tests in people. The tests showed that these cells could work in patients, just as they did in lab studies.
Patents and Inventions
As of 2017, Dr. Tsukamoto was listed as an inventor on seven U.S. patents. Six of these patents were about the human hematopoietic stem cell. By 2021, she had a total of 13 patents. These patents protect her important inventions and discoveries in stem cell science.
See Also
