Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci

Dr. Ratajczak is the Henry and Stella Hoenig Endowed Chair in Cancer Biology and the director of the Developmental Biology Research Program at the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center. Dr. Ratajczak earned his M.D. degree at the Pomeranian Medical University, his Ph.D. and D.Sci degrees at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland, and completed fellowships at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is an internationally known investigator in the field of adult stem cell biology. His 2005 discovery of embryonic-like stem cells in adult tissues has the potential to revolutionize the field of regenerative medicine. This discovery provides an avenue to guide the development of new treatments for cancer, heart disease, eye disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Ratajczak has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers and is the recipient of several prestigious national and international awards.