Fellowship / Fellows

Christine Mummery

  • 2007–2008
  • Biological Sciences
  • Harvard Stem Cell Institute Radcliffe Fellow
  • Hubrecht Laboratory (Netherlands)
Headshot of Christine Mummery
Photo by Tony Rinaldo

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Christine Mummery is a group leader at the Hubrecht Laboratory at the Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology. She is a developmental biologist and a leading stem cell expert specializing in the conversion of embryonic stem cells into cardiac and vascular cells.

The heart and blood vessels are subject to cyclic changes in flexibility and pressure as they pump blood around the body. Cells of the cardiovascular system in culture respond to stretch and shape changes rather like the heart and real vessels. By forcing these cells to undergo work in two- and three-dimensional structures under laboratory conditions, Mummery hopes to learn more about cardiovascular physiology. More specifically, heart cells derived from stem cells are often immature; Mummery will test the hypothesis that forced shape changes and cyclic work will make them mature in culture. This method will be applied in the future to develop alternatives to animals for testing cardiac drugs and identifying other drugs with unwanted side effects in the heart and vascular system.

Mummery became the ICIN Professor of Developmental Biology in 2002 and has been awarded two Royal Society (UK) Fellowships and multiple European Union and Netherlands Heart Foundation grants. She serves on the ethical councils of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science and the Netherlands Ministry of Health, providing specialized advice on research with human embryos and embryonic stem cells.

Fall term only.

Stem Cells May Enhance Capability of Heart Cells to Regenerate (Harvard Gazette, 10/4/07)

Our 2023–2024 Fellows

01 / 09

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