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Bruce R. Conklin, M.D.

Gladstone Institutes and University of California, San Francisco

Bio:

Bruce R. Conklin is a Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes and a Professor in the Medical Genetics and Molecular Pharmacology department at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Conklin’s research focuses on the human genetics that cause diseases like cardiomyopathy and blindness. His lab uses induced pluripotent stem cells that are engineered to test the role of specific genetic changes on disease.

Conklin began his research career by working for two years with Nobel Laureate Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., at the National Institutes of Health. He then completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Henry Bourne, MD, at UCSF. In 1995, Conklin joined the Gladstone Institutes, where he went on to found the Gladstone Genomics Core, the Gladstone Stem Cell Core, and the Gladstone Stem Cell Training Program. He currently serves as the Gladstone Scientific Officer for Technology and Innovation.

Conklin pioneered the use of designer G protein coupled receptors (RASSLs) for tissue engineering. He is also the founder of several public stem cell and genomics projects, including BayGenomics, GenMAPP, AltAnalyze, and WikiPathways, and he has a leadership role in the Innovative Genomics Initiative headed by Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D. Conklin is the principle investigator on multiple research grants from the NIH and serves on multiple advisory boards. He is a member of several honorary societies including the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and he is a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences.