News

A history of excellence in the lab

Principal Investigator

Professor Peter Zandstra, CM, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, PEng

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Post Doctoral Fellow (w/ D. Lauffenburger), Bioengineering and Environmental Health

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Doctor of Philosophy (w/ J. Piret and C. Eaves), Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Bachelor of Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Minor in Biotechnology

Current Appointments

  • Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering and Michael Smith Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (07/2017-present)
  • Chief Scientific Officer, Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), Toronto, Ontario, Canada (01/2010 – present)
  • Chief Scientific Officer, Notch Therapeutics, Vancouver Canada (2019 – present)

Honours & Awards

  • Member, Order of Canada, (12/2021-present)
  • University Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of British Columbia (07/2017-present)
  • University Professor, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, University of Toronto (06/2015-2020)
  • Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering (09/2009- present)
  • Scale-up and Manufacturing of Cell-Based Therapies Award, Engineering Conferences International (10/2016)
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (11/2014)
  • Till & McCulloch Investigator Award (10/2013)
  • Inventor of the Year Award: Biomedical and Life Sciences category, University of Toronto, Canada (03/2012)
  • Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering, Canada (02/2011-01/2016)
  • The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada – United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Award: Highest Ranked Grant in 2009 Competition (10/2009)
  • Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario – Rick Gallop Award: Highest Ranked Grant in 2009 Competition (07/2009)
  • Top 40 under 40 Award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. (05/2008-05/2009)
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (10/2007)
  • Guggenheim Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (09/2007)
  • E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (2005-2007)
  • Premiers Research Excellence Award (2002)

Personal Bio

Peter Zandstra graduated with a B.Eng. degree from McGill University in Chemical Engineering, obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and continued his research training as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In July 2017, Zandstra joined the University of British Columbia as the Founding Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering, and as the Director of the Michael Smith Laboratories. In these roles he is building programs that apply technological innovation to biology and help to educate the next generation of biotechnology leaders. In addition to his academic roles, Dr. Zandstra has been involved in founding a number of biotechnology companies, including ExCellThera and Notch Therapeutics.

Dr. Zandstra’s research focuses on understanding how functional tissue forms from stem cells, and how this information can be applied to design of novel therapeutic technologies based on living cells. He has received significant recognition for his activities. He is the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering (Tier 1) and is a recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including the Premiers Research Excellence Award (2002), the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship (2006), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2007), and the Till and McCulloch Award (2013). Dr. Zandstra is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Engineering), the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Most recently, in 2021 Dr. Zandstra was appointed to the Order of Canada for his significant contributions to stem cell bioengineering and regenerative medicine.