Professor Derek van der Kooy has used stem cells from humans and mice to restore sight to blind mice, an important step towards restoring lost human sight and possibly curing blindness. The results so far signal a new era in medicine, not just of the eye, but of the human brain, the pancreas and other organs.

Professor van der Kooy heads the Neurobiology Research Group at the University’s Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research. His work is leading the way to new medical therapies and to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. With his team he is exploring the ways in which functional cells develop from stem progenitors. By understanding this process he hopes to find ways to switch on adult stem cells to produce new neurons to treat human neurological disorders and new pancreatic cells to treat diabetes. In other studies, Professor van der Kooy is revealing the genetic basis of memory and learning—highly developed human attributes—and the way the brain responds to opiates at the cellular and molecular level. This research might one day contribute to new treatments for addiction.

As he seeks the basis of human development, Professor van der Kooy revels in the opportunities for collaboration that the University of Toronto provides. “The Donnelly Centre facilitates community and communication, staves off intellectual isolation and opens up a world of new possibilities and discoveries.” That world is just beginning to be visible. Derek van der Kooy is bringing it to light.