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David Rowitch

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David Rowitch
FMedSci FRS
Born
USA
Education
Known for
  • Genetics of glia differentiation
  • First Neuro–NICU
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisStructure and assembly of filamentous bacteriophages (1988)
Doctoral advisorRichard Perham
Other academic advisorsAndy McMahon
Notable studentsAnna Molofsky
Websiterowitchlab.medschl.cam.ac.uk

David Rowitch, FMedSci, FRS is an American physician-scientist known for his contributions to developmental glial biology and treatment of white matter diseases. He heads the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge and is an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

Education and career

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Rowitch earned a BA in cell biology from University of California San Diego in 1982.[1] He received his PhD in biochemistry in 1988 from the University of Cambridge, where he worked with Richard Perham on filamentous bacteriophages;[2] and his MD from University of California Los Angeles in 1989. Following the completion of his degrees, Rowitch trained in pediatrics (1989–92) and neonatal-perinatal medicine (1993–96) at Boston Children's Hospital. He conducted research with Andrew P. McMahon as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University from 1994 to 1998.[1]

In 1999, Rowitch joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor of pediatrics and established his laboratory at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, where he led foundational work on the genetics of neuron and glia differentiation.[3] He was promoted to associate professor in 2004.[1]

Rowitch departed HMS in 2006, moving to San Francisco to become the Chief of Neonatology at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.[4] There, he helped to lead the formation of the first neonatal intensive care unit specializing in neurointensive care for premature infants.[4][5] He continued to conduct research and was named an HHMI Investigator in 2007.[6]

In 2016, Rowitch became the head of the Department of Paediatrics and was awarded an honorary ScD at the University of Cambridge.[7] Rowitch was appointed a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator at the Wellcome–MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. He retained an adjunct professorship of pediatrics and neurosurgery at UCSF, where he continues to have a lab in the Eli and Edyth Broad Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine.[1] He is a co-principal investigator of the Autism Prenatal Sex Differences (APEX) study funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative in 2021.[8] He returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in late 2023.

Research

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Broadly, Rowitch studies the specification of oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in the central nervous system. His work has spanned normal development as well as multiple disease areas, especially those impacting white matter such as cerebral palsy, leukodystrophy, and multiple sclerosis.[1]

His laboratory was the first to isolate Olig1 and Olig2,[9] two related bHLH transcription factors which are essential for the differentiation of both motoneurons and oligodendrocytes.[10][11] Subsequent work from his group demonstrated that Olig2 is also present in diffuse gliomas,[12] suggesting that primary brain tumor progression can share molecular mechanisms with normal neurodevelopment, such as Sonic hedgehog signaling.[3][13] Rowitch also led or co-led high-throughput screens to identify candidate genes related to neuron and glia specification, including a genome-wide library of transcription factors involved in mouse brain organization[14] and microarray-based gene expression profiling of astrocyte-specific genes.[15]

His laboratory has helped to establish the importance of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in promoting postnatal angiogenesis in white matter by delaying myelination until the appropriate developmental time via hypoxia-inducible factor activity and canonical Wnt signaling.[16][17]

Rowitch was the primary investigator of a first-in-human clinical trial funded by StemCells, Inc. to transplant neural stem cells directly into the brains of patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD).[18] Dermal fibroblasts donated by the patients were also studied to reveal that iron toxicity is primarily responsible for oligodendrocyte death in early-onset PMD, and that treatment with deferiprone could rescue myelination in vitro and in mice.[19]

Awards and honors

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Rowitch was elected to the Association of American Physicians in 2012,[1] the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2018,[20] and the Royal Society in 2021.[21] He was appointed to the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council in 2020.[1][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "David Rowitch, MD, PhD". UCSF Profiles. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  2. ^ Berry A, Radford SE (29 August 2018). "Richard Nelson Perham. 27 April 1937—14 February 2015". Biogr. Mem. Fellows R. Soc. 65. The Royal Society: 317–339. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2018.0004. S2CID 81280537.
  3. ^ a b "Childhood brain tumor traced to normal stem cells gone bad". Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  4. ^ a b "Envisioning a Neuro ICU for Preemies at UCSF". UCSF. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  5. ^ Brown, Phyllis (14 May 2007). "New Clinical Director Envisions "Fully Connected" Intensive Care Nursery". UCSF. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  6. ^ "UCSF's Rowitch Selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Patient-Oriented Research Investigator". UCSF. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  7. ^ "Cambridge Stem Cell Institute Annual Review 2016". University of Cambridge. 28 February 2017. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  8. ^ "2020 SFARI Collaboration on Sex Differences in Autism awardees announced". Simons Foundation. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  9. ^ Lu QR, Yuk D, Alberta JA, Zhu Z, Pawlitzky I, Chan J; et al. (2000). "Sonic hedgehog-regulated oligodendrocyte lineage genes encoding bHLH proteins in the mammalian central nervous system". Neuron. 25 (2): 317–29. doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80897-1. PMID 10719888. S2CID 14558569.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Lu QR, Sun T, Zhu Z, Ma N, Garcia M, Stiles CD; et al. (2002). "Common developmental requirement for Olig function indicates a motor neuron/oligodendrocyte connection". Cell. 109 (1): 75–86. doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(02)00678-5. PMID 11955448. S2CID 1865925.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Ligon KL, Kesari S, Kitada M, Sun T, Arnett HA, Alberta JA; et al. (2006). "Development of NG2 neural progenitor cells requires Olig gene function". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 103 (20): 7853–8. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.7853L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0511001103. PMC 1472534. PMID 16682644.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Ligon KL, Alberta JA, Kho AT, Weiss J, Kwaan MR, Nutt CL; et al. (2004). "The oligodendroglial lineage marker OLIG2 is universally expressed in diffuse gliomas". J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 63 (5): 499–509. doi:10.1093/jnen/63.5.499. PMID 15198128.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Maher EA, Furnari FB, Bachoo RM, Rowitch DH, Louis DN, Cavenee WK; et al. (2001). "Malignant glioma: genetics and biology of a grave matter". Genes Dev. 15 (11): 1311–33. doi:10.1101/gad.891601. PMID 11390353. S2CID 19359819.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Gray PA, Fu H, Luo P, Zhao Q, Yu J, Ferrari A; et al. (2004). "Mouse brain organization revealed through direct genome-scale TF expression analysis". Science. 306 (5705): 2255–7. Bibcode:2004Sci...306.2255G. doi:10.1126/science.1104935. PMID 15618518. S2CID 43092315.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Bachoo RM, Kim RS, Ligon KL, Maher EA, Brennan C, Billings N; et al. (2004). "Molecular diversity of astrocytes with implications for neurological disorders". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101 (22): 8384–9. Bibcode:2004PNAS..101.8384B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0402140101. PMC 420403. PMID 15155908.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Yuen TJ, Silbereis JC, Griveau A, Chang SM, Daneman R, Fancy SPJ; et al. (2014). "Oligodendrocyte-encoded HIF function couples postnatal myelination and white matter angiogenesis". Cell. 158 (2): 383–396. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.04.052. PMC 4149873. PMID 25018103.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Chavali M, Ulloa-Navas MJ, Pérez-Borredá P, Garcia-Verdugo JM, McQuillen PS, Huang EJ; et al. (2020). "Wnt-Dependent Oligodendroglial-Endothelial Interactions Regulate White Matter Vascularization and Attenuate Injury" (PDF). Neuron. 108 (6): 1130–1145.e5. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2020.09.033. PMC 7769920. PMID 33086038.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Norris, Jeffrey (11 February 2011). "Pace Picks Up for Clinical Trials to Evaluate Stem Cell Therapies". UCSF. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  19. ^ Weiler, Nicholas (3 October 2019). "Stem cell studies offer hope for childhood neurological condition". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  20. ^ "Professor David Rowitch FMedSci". The Academy of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  21. ^ "Royal Society elects outstanding new Fellows and Foreign Members". The Royal Society. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  22. ^ "National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council Roster". NICHD. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
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