Rudolf Jaenisch receives the 2025 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize

Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch has been honored with the 2025 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize.

Awarded by Gladstone Institutes, the prize recognizes Jaenisch’s seminal role in establishing and advancing the field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—adult skin or blood cells that can be reprogrammed into an embryonic stem cell–like state.

These reprogrammed cells can mature into nearly any cell type in the body, making them powerful tools for investigating molecular mechanisms of disease, developing cell therapies, and improving drug discovery and testing.

In announcing the award, Gladstone Institutes emphasized that Jaenisch’s “pivotal discoveries” have deepened scientific understanding of gene regulation, cellular reprogramming, and the promise of regenerative medicine. His work in iPSCs, they noted, “has opened the door to the development of therapies for a wide range of genetic and degenerative diseases.”

Jaenisch, who is a U.S. National Medal of Science recipient and a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is renowned for co-creating the first transgenic mice. Early in his career, his experiments demonstrated that viral DNA sequences could be integrated into the mouse genome and passed onto their offspring, offering researchers a powerful avenue for investigating biological function of specific genes.

Over the course of his career, Jaenisch has focused on investigating genetic and epigenetic factors that underlie neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Rett Syndrome. Epigenetic changes influence when and to what extent genes are switched on or off without altering the underlying DNA sequence itself.

His lab has used iPSCs to study these neurological diseases in conditions mimicking cells’ natural environment to drive discoveries that could lead to new diagnostics and treatments. More recently, the Jaenisch lab has expanded this approach to study the biology of coronavirus infection.

Established in 2015 with a philanthropic gift from Betty and Hiro Ogawa, and now supported by their sons Marcus and Andrew, the Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize is administered by Gladstone Institutes in partnership with Cell Press. The prize recognizes scientists whose work has advanced cellular reprogramming technologies and their application in regenerative medicine, and celebrates Nobel laureate and Gladstone Senior Investigator Shinya Yamanaka, who first discovered how to reprogram adult cells into iPSCs.

Since its initiation, the prize has recognized eight leading scientists in the field, selected by an independent committee of international stem cell experts. Jaenisch is the ninth honoree and will receive an unrestricted prize of $150,000. He will formally accept the prize and deliver a scientific lecture at a ceremony to be held in San Francisco, California, in November 2025.