Keynote speaker

Jim Wells received his Ph.D. degree in Genetics from the State University of NY at Stony Brook and performed his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He became an Assistant professor at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the Division of Developmental Biology in 2002, was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and full professor in 2012. Dr. Wells is a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation endowed professor in the Division of Developmental Biology and is the Director for Basic Research in the Division of Endocrinology. He is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine.

Dr. Wells' research focuses on the processes by which gastrointestinal and endocrine organs form in the developing embryo and how they maintain systemic metabolic homeostasis. His work in developmental biology has provided the basis for the efforts to generate human cells and tissues from pluripotent stem cells. His lab has pioneered approaches to generate gastrointestinal (GI) tissue organoids of the esophagus, stomach, intestine, and colon from human pluripotent stem cells. His lab uses human organoids and mouse models to study congenital defects of the digestive tract, as well as digestive and metabolic diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes. In addition, Dr. Wells and his colleagues are using organoids as a basis for tissue engineering efforts to generate functional tissues for transplantation.

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