Derrick Rossi

Immune Disease Institute
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Dept. of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
200 Longwood Ave
Warren Alpert Bldg., Room 134
Boston MA 02115

Phone: (617) 278-3015
Fax: (617) 278-3131
email: rossi@idi.harvard.edu

Although aging is one of the most recognizable aspects of human physiology, it remains one of the least understood. With this said, decades of studies using diverse methodologies, systems and model organisms have shown that aging is invariably associated with a diminished capacity to maintain normal tissue homeostasis, and to adequately regenerate tissues after injury. The fact that these two processes are normally mediated by tissue-specific stem cells has implicated age-dependent stem cell decline in the aging process.

My lab is interested in understanding the extent to which stem cell aging contributes to the age-dependent pathophysiological conditions arising in the hematopoietic system which include: diminished immuno-competence, attenuated stress response, and the increased incidence of hematological malignancies. We are particularly interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms controlling stem cell behavior and determining how the deregulation of such mechanisms contribute to stem cell decline during aging. Two areas we are focusing on include exploring the contribution of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms to hematopoietic stem cell biology and aging, and studying the mechanisms through which stem cells maintain genomic integrity during aging.

Papers & Publications:

Rossi, DJ, Jamieson, CH, and Weissman, IL Stems cells and the pathways to aging and cancer. Cell, 132(4):681-96 2008.

Rossi, DJ, Seita,, J, Czechowicz A, Bhattacharya D, Bryder D and Weissman, IL Hematopoietic stem cell quiescence attenuates DNA damage response and permits DNA damage accumulation during aging. Cell Cyle, Aug;6(19):2371-6, 2007

Pronk, CJH, Rossi, DJ, Månsson, R. Attema, JL, Norddahl GL, Chan, CKF, Sigvardsson, M, Weissman IL, and Bryder D. Elucidation of the phenotypic, functional and molecular topography of the myeloerythroid progenitor cell hierarchy. Cell Stem Cell, 1(4), 428-442, 2007

Rossi, D.J., Bryder, D., Seita, J., Nussenzweig, A, Hoeijmakers, JH, Weissman I.L. Deficiencies in DNA damage repair limit the function of haematopoietic stem cells with age. Nature, Jun 7;447(7145):725-9, 2007.

Rossi, D.J., Bryder, D., Zahn, J., Ahlenius, H, Sonu, R, Wagers, A.J., Weissman, I.L. Cell intrinsic alterations underlie hematopoietic stem cell aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102(26):9194-9, 2005