Dr. Ihor R. Lemischka is currently the Director of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute, and Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Gene and Cell Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Dr. Lemischka relocated to Mount Sinai in July of 2007 after twenty-one years as Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Dr. Lemischka received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982 under the mentorship of Dr. Philip A. Sharp.

He did his post-doctoral training with Dr. Richard C. Mulligan at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. In 1986 Dr. Lemischka assumed a faculty position at Princeton University. Dr. Lemischka is broadly interested in the biological properties of both adult and embryonic stem cells; specifically the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for controlling cell-fate decisions.

His laboratory performed pioneering studies to elucidate the in vivo functions of blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) following transplantation. Dr. Lemischka’s laboratory was the first to identify novel receptor tyrosine kinases in HSC. His subsequent efforts have defined genome-wide molecular “signatures” of HSC, and other stem cell populations. Currently, Dr. Lemischka’s research is focused on functional genomic, epigenetic, and proteomic analyses of stem cell biology. In addition, he is developing systems biology approaches to understand stem cell function. After relocating to a major medical center, Dr. Lemischka is also expanding his efforts to promote translational research in the field of stem cell biology in order to reap the clinical promise of this exciting area