While at HMS

Who he is

Stefan Thor received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Umea University, Sweden, in 1988. He trained in developmental biology as a graduate student with Thomas Edlund, also at Umea University and received his PhD in 1994. His post-doctoral training in Drosophila developmental biology was conducted at the Salk Institute, with John B. Thomas.

In 1999, he moved to Harvard Medical School and established his first independent lab, in the Department of Neurobiology. In 2004, he moved back to his native country Sweden, and is currently a Professor of Developmental Biology at Linkoping University.

What he does

During the last two decades the field of developmental biology has made substantial progress with respect to identifying the molecular genetic mechanisms generating neuronal diversity.

In contrast, less is known regarding the control of proliferation during nervous system development. This includes proliferation control not only of neural progenitors (neural stem cells) but also of different classes of daughter cells.

Moreover, how proliferation control is integrated with cell fate specification, such that the precise cell number of each neuronal sub-type is generated, is essentially unknown.

News from the Lab

Current research in the lab focuses on proliferation control in the developing nervous system, and how proliferation is integrated with cell fate decisions to ensure that the proper number of each cell type is generated.