Research Faculty

Mathew William Lensch, PhD

Department Hematology/Oncology
Hospital Title Research Instructor
Academic Title Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Phone 617-919-2011
Fax 617-730-0222
Email Mathew William Lensch
Location 300 Longwood Avenue
Karp 07004
Boston
MA 02115

Research Overview

M. William Lensch, Ph.D., is an Instructor in Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School, Principal Faculty Member and Faculty Director of Education of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and Senior Scientist in the laboratory of George Q. Daley, M.D., Ph.D. His degree was obtained from Oregon Health Sciences University in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics where he studied clonal evolution in congenital and acquired bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition syndromes.

Lensch’s current laboratory research revolves around the use of human stem cells as platforms for understanding genetics, development, and disease, primarily of the blood-forming system. He is also interested in the origins and pathophysiological mediators of germ cell-related malignanciesincluding teratomas, teratocarcinomas, and similar masses as these naturally-occurring entities originate from pluripotent cells. This research involves the use of a variety of different types of stem cells including hematopoietic and pluripotent (ESC, iPSC, and ECC) stem cells. The specific use of pluripotent stem cells is centrally important to this work for at least two reasons: (1) an ability to understand human genetic diseases that impact development enormously benefits from the study of cellular lineage commitment in vitro (2) pluripotent stem cells are capable of making any type of cell in the body, but have yet to do it; they are a blank slate. Adult blood stem cells are eventually made in nature from cells originating in the early embryo that have several properties of pluripotent stem cells. The incredible developmental plasticity and scalability of pluripotent stem cells makes them perfect platforms for studying how one cell (the fertilized egg) is able to divide and make the myriad types of cells in the body. Understanding how genetic and environmental information directs the specification of multiple cellular lineages is the central question of developmental biology.

In his role as Faculty Director of Education at the HSCI, Lensch leads programming for a variety of outreach efforts including the summer internship program for undergraduates (HIP). As of 2011, HIP has welcomed over 250 interns from 80 different international colleges and universities for hands-on research experiences. Dr. Lensch additionally directs both the HIP Companion Course on Stem Cells and the HIP Faculty Seminar series which complement the laboratory portion of the internship program.   

Lensch is also a past gubernatorial appointee to the Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee for the State of Connecticut, the Ad Hoc Committee to Establish a Public Umbilical Cord Blood Bank for Connecticut, and is a founding member of the Interstate Alliance for Stem Cell Research – a voluntary multi-state consortium dedicated to fostering effective interstate collaboration and responsible use of public funds. Lensch currently sits on the Editorial Advisory Board for the international journal Stem Cells and the Public Education Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). He has commented internationally in scientific, medical, government, religious, and general public forums on the science, conduct, and policy of stem cell research in venues ranging from the New York Times to The Salt Lake City Tribune (Utah), Forbes Magazine to Sports Illustrated, and the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum (Rome) to the Temple Ohabei Shalom (Massachusetts).

About Mathew William Lensch, PhD

M. William Lensch, PhD (Molecular and Medical Genetics, Oregon Health Sciences University, 2002)

Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Principal Faculty and Faculty Advisor for Education, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Senior Scientist for the George Q. Daley Laboratory

Key Publications

  • Lensch MW, Tischkowitz M, Christianson TA, Reifsteck C, Speckhart SA, O’Dwyer ME, Jakobs P, Olson SB, LeBeau MM, Mathew CG, Hodgson SV, Larson R, and Bagby GC. Acquired FANCA dysfunction and cytogenetic instability in adult acute myelogenous leukemia. Blood. 2003 Jul 1;102(1):7-16. (Plenary Paper)
     
  • Lensch MWand Daley GQ. Origins of mammalian hematopoiesis: in vivo paradigms and in vitro models. Gerald Shatten ed. Current Topics in Developmental Biology. 2004;60:127-196.
     
  • Lensch MW, Schlaeger TM, Zon LI, and Daley GQ. Teratoma Formation Assays with Human Embryonic Stem Cells: A Rationale for One Type of Human-Animal Chimera. Cell Stem Cell. 2007 September, 2007: 1 (3):253-8.
     
  • Lensch MWand Ince T. The Terminology of Teratocarcinomas and Teratomas, Nat Biotechnol. 2007 Nov;25(11):1211-2.
     
  • Wu X*, Lensch MW*, Wylie-Sears J, Daley GQ, and Bischoff J. Hemogenic Endothelial Progenitors Cells Isolated from Human Umbilical Cord Blood.Stem Cells. 2007, 25:2770-6. (*co-first authors)
     
  • Park I-H, Zhao R, West JA, Yabuuchi A, Huo H, Ince TA, Lerou PH, Lensch MW, and Daley GQ. Reprogramming of human somatic cells to pluripotency with defined factors. Nature. 2008 Jan 10;451(7175):141-6.
     
  • Daley GQ, Lensch MW, Jaenisch R, Meissner A, Plath K, and Yamanaka S. Broader Implications of Defining Standards for the Pluripotency of iPSCs. Cell Stem Cell. 2009 Mar 6;4(3):200-1.
     
  • Adamo L, Naveiras O, McKinney-Freeman S, Mack PJ, Suchy-Dicey A, Yoshimoto M, Lensch MW, Yoder MC, García-Cardeña G, and Daley GQ.  Biomechanical Induction of Hematopoiesis. Nature. 2009 Jun 25;459(7250):1131-5.
     
  • Baek K-H, Zaslavsky A, Lynch RC, Britt C, Okada Y, Siarey RJ, Lensch MW, Park I-H, Yoon SS, Minami T, Reeves R, Korenberg JR, Folkman J, Daley GC, Aird WC, Galdzicki Z, and Ryeom S. Down syndrome: Protection against tumor growth and the role of the endogenous calcineurin inhibitor DSCR1 (Down syndrome candidate region-1). Nature. 2009, Jun 25;459(7250):1126-30.
     
  • Tulpule A, Lensch MW, Austin K, D’Andrea A, Shimamura A, and Daley GQ. Knockdown of Fanconi anemiagenes in human embryonic stem cells revealsearly developmental defects in the hematopoietic lineage.Blood. 2010 Apr 29;115(17):3453-62. (cover article)
     
  • Loh YH, Hartung O, Li H, Guo C, Sahalie JM, Manos PD, Urbach A, Heffner GC, Grskovic M, Vigneault F, Lensch MW, Park IH, Agarwal S, Church GM, Collins JJ, Irion S, Daley GQ. Reprogramming of T cells from human peripheral blood. Cell Stem Cell.2010 Jul 2;7(1):15-9.
     
  • LenschMWand Ince T. Assaying Pluripotency via Teratoma Formation. in Human Stem Cell Technology and Biology: A Research Guide and Laboratory Manual, Gary Stein editor, Wiley, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-470-59545-9.
     
  • Lensch MW. Science Education as Science Advocacy: A Personal View. World Stem Cell Report 2010, Genetics Policy Institute, pages 34-37. ISBN: 978-0-578-06809-1.
     
  • Zhu H, Lensch MW, Cahan P, and Daley GQ. Investigating Monogenic and Complex Diseases with Pluripotent Stem Cells. Nat Rev Genet. 2011 Apr;12(4):266-75.
     
  • Lensch MW. Public Perception of Stem Cell and Genomics Research. Genome Medicine. 2011 Jul 6;3(7):44.