Dr. Candace Kerr is a member of the ICE Stem Cell Program. She holds the academic appointment of assistant professor in Gynecology/Obstetrics and Medicine.
After receiving a PhD degree in Genetics and Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1998, Dr. Ker r has been working on reproductive biology and st em cell research at Johns Hopkins with Dr. John Gearhart. Dr. Kerr studies pluripotent stem cells as a model for identifying factors regulating pluripotency and early human development. For this purpose, Dr. Kerr’s laboratory studies three well-established types of pluripotent stem cells: embryonic stem cells derived from blastocyst-staged embryos, embryonic germ cells derived from progenitors of the germ line, and embryonal carcinoma cells isolated from adult testicular tumors called teratocarcinomas. By studying common pathways among these populations, shared mechanisms define their pluripotent nature as well as regulatory pathways involved in neural differentiation for potential uses in cell-based therapies. Ongoing work involves collaborative efforts with several PI’s from the Institute to perform genome-wide RNA, microRNA and proteomic-based analyses to compare among undifferentiated populations and those differentiated along neural subtypes. She is also involved in studying the clinical applications of these neural cell types in models of spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis with other investigators in ICE and in the JHU Biomedical Engineering.
Publications (since 2004)
- C L. Kerr, Raghothama Chaerkady, Arivusudar Marimuthu1, Dhanashree S. Kelkar, Manoj Kumar Kashyap, Marjan Gucek, John D. Gearhart and Akhilesh Pandey. Temporal analysis of neural differentiation using quantitative proteomics. J Proteome Res. 2009 Jan 27. [Epub ahead of print].
- C L. Kerr and J. D. Gearhart. Chapter 8. “Pluripotent Stem Cells from Germ Cells: Derivation and Maintenance.” In Essential Stem Cells, Elsevier, St. Louis, MO 2009, in press.
- Heechul Kim, Candace Kerr, and Jeff W.M. Bulte. Chapter#: IX. In vivo magnetic resonance tracking of human embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte precursors after transplantation into mouse brain. In Methods in Stem Cell Bioengineering, Elsevier, St. Louis, MO 2009, in press.
- C. L. Kerr, Christine M. Hill, Paul D. Blumenthal and John D. Gearhart. (2008) Expression of Pluripotent Stem Cell Markers in the Human Fetal Testis. Stem Cells. 2008 Feb;26(2):412-21.
- C. L. Kerr, Christine M. Hill, Paul D. Blumenthal and John D. Gearhart. (2008) Expression of Pluripotent Stem Cell Markers in the Human Fetal Ovary. Hum Reprod. 2008 Mar;23(3):589-99.
- C. L. Kerr, J. D. Gearhart, A. M. Elliot and P. J. Donovan. “Embryonic Germ Cells: When Germ Cells Become Stem Cells”, in Seminars in Reproductive Medicine. ed. Bruce Carr, Thieme Publishers, Norwalk, Connecticut, 2006.
- C. L. Kerr, M. Shamblott, and J. D. Gearhart. “Derivation and Maintenance of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Germ Cells” in Methods of Enzymology, Vol 2, ed. R. Lanza, Elsevier, St. Louis, MO, 2006.
- M. Shamblott, C. Kerr, J. Axelman, J. Littlefield, G. Clark and J. Gearhart. “Derivation and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Germ Cells”, in Handbook of Stem Cells, ed. R. Lanza, Elsevier, St. Louis, MO, 2004.
- C. L. Kerr, William F. Hanna, Joel H. Shaper and William W. Wright. (2004) Lewis X-containing neoglycoproteins mimic the intrinsic ability of the zona pellucida glycoprotein ZP3 to bind capacitated mouse sperm, Biol. Reprod. 71(3):770-777.
- William F. Hanna, C. L. Kerr, Joel H. Shaper and William W. Wright. (2004) Lewis X-containing neoglycoproteins mimic the intrinsic ability of the zona pellucida glycoprotein ZP3 to induce the acrosome reaction in capacitated mouse sperm, Biol. Reprod. 71(3):778-89.
Members of Lab
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