Sally Temple facts for kids

Sally Temple is an American scientist who studies the brain and nervous system. She is a leader in the field of neuroscience, especially when it comes to stem cells. Dr. Temple helped start and now directs The Neural Stem Cell Institute in Albany, New York. She is also a professor at Albany Medical College. Her lab works on understanding neural stem cells and finding new ways to treat brain and nerve problems.

About Sally Temple

Sally Temple studied at some famous universities. She earned her first degree from Cambridge University in England. Then, she got her PhD from University College London. After that, she did more research at Columbia University in the United States. Early in her career, she focused on how the optic nerve, which connects your eye to your brain, develops.

Discovering Stem Cells

Dr. Temple made a big discovery in stem cell research. She found a special type of stem-like cell in the brains of very young mammals. This was a huge step forward! After this, she focused on neural stem cells. These are special cells that can turn into different types of brain cells. She studies how they grow and create new cells over time.

Helping Others with Stem Cells

Because of her work, Dr. Temple is known as a pioneer in stem cell research. Her discoveries about neural stem cells could help people with injuries like a damaged spinal cord. They might also help those with diseases where brain cells are lost, like neurodegeneration. She is also the president and co-founder of a company called StemCulture, LLC. This company helps create new products and supports scientific research.

Awards and Recognition

In 2010, Dr. Temple received the Citizen Laureate Award. This award honors leaders in different fields, including science. She shares this award with John J. Nigro. Dr. Temple also works as the scientific director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute. She teaches at Albany Medical College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and SUNY Albany. Dr. Temple is married to Dr. Jeffrey Stern, who is also a co-founder of the Neural Stem Cell Institute.

Sally Temple's Research

Dr. Temple's lab mainly studies neural stem cells. They want to find new treatments for problems affecting the eyes, brain, and spinal cord.

Key Discoveries

One of her major achievements was finding and growing a specific type of progenitor cell called glia. These cells are like early versions of brain cells. She found that these cells have an "internal counting mechanism." This means they know how many times they can divide. Her research also helped identify special markers on these cells. These markers and outside signals help keep neural stem cells healthy.

Future of Stem Cell Treatments

Dr. Temple's research has also shown why some stem cell treatments haven't worked well. It might be because the cells were used at the wrong stage of their development. This idea could greatly improve how we use stem cells to treat brain and nerve diseases in the future. She also found that progenitor cells slowly lose their ability to divide. She showed that a gene called Foxg1 is important for this process. If this gene's activity is lowered, the cells can keep dividing for longer.

New Products and Eye Research

As president of StemCulture, LLC., Dr. Temple is working on a product called StemBeads FGF2. This product helps grow stem cells more effectively. She also recently found an important human central nervous stem cell. This discovery could lead to new ways to treat eye diseases. In 2015, she spoke about her research on retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells. She explained how her team is growing human retinal stem cells. They are also exploring how RPE cells can help treat age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition that affects vision.

Patents

Dr. Temple holds many patents. These are like official documents that protect her inventions. Her patents are related to neural stem cells and ways to grow these special cells in the lab.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Temple has received several important awards for her scientific work.

In 2003, she was given the Jacob Javitz Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health. This award recognizes outstanding research.

In 2008, she received the MacArthur Fellowship. This is a very special award often called a "genius grant." It gives money to creative people to support their work without many rules.

She also received the 2010 Citizen Laureate Award from The University at Albany Foundation. This award honored her research into treatments for eye conditions like macular degeneration and brain diseases like Parkinson's disease.