HSCI's Eggan Named MacArthur Fellow

Kevin Eggan, a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Principal Faculty and, at only 32, a leader in the field of human embryonic stem cell research, has received a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, the MacArthur Foundation today announced.

"I'm in shock," said Eggan, who is attending a scientific meeting in France. "But my feeling of amazement (when I heard) slowly gave away to feeling extremely grateful and happy, and ecstatic, not just for myself but for the people who work in my laboratory and for the field in general."

Eggan, an assistant professor of Molecular and Cell Biology in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is currently focused on using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to create disease-specific stem cells containing the genome of individuals with diabetes, and also plans to create similar cell lines to advance the study and treatment of ALS and other diseases.
Said Jeremy R. Knowles, acting dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, "Kevin Eggan's work is intellectually daring, technically astonishing, and has the potential to yield enormous therapeutic benefits. We congratulate him on this splendid honor."

In explaining why Eggan was chosen to be a MacArthur Fellow, the Foundation said that his work "is moving us an important step closer to developing therapeutic applications for diseases such as Parkinson's and insulin-dependent diabetes, as well as providing an experimental platform for investigating genetic and environmental factors that give rise to such diseases."

HSCI Co-Director Doug Melton said he was "delighted to hear that the MacArthur Foundation has recognized a young investigator who is trying to establish truly novel approaches in stem cell biology. Stem cells are, of course, an important frontier in biomedicine," Melton said, "and Kevin is poised to become one of the world's leaders in this field." Eggan and Melton are collaborating on a number of projects.

The MacArthur Fellowships are truly unique, because the recipients - who may not apply for the Fellowships and do not know who nominated them - are selected as much or more for their future promise than for their past accomplishments.

"Our call comes as a complete surprise," MacArthur President, Jonathan Fanton said in a press release, "and offers the new Fellows the gift of time and an unfettered opportunity to reflect, explore, and create."

The Fellows received $500,000 of completely unrestricted funds, in quarterly payments over five years. "I see a real opportunity to use these funds for science education and education surrounding human embryonic stem cell research," said Eggan. "This is particularly useful in our NIH-unfundable hESC (human embryonic stem cell) research, and that's where the lion's share will go. It's something I'll be thinking about much more carefully in the days ahead."

David Scadden, M.D, HSCI Co-Director, called Eggan "one of those rare individuals who clearly and immediately sees the big picture, can seemingly instantly scope out a way forward, and then delivers on his ideas. It's wonderful that the MacArthur Foundation has recognized his talents and we are delighted that he is a dedicated member of our community."

Told of the news, Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman, M.D., said he was "delighted that the MacArthur Foundation has chosen to honor Kevin Eggan by naming him a MacArthur Fellow, recognizing the enormous promise he has already shown in this early phase of his career in stem cell research. It is also reassuring to see an organization of the MacArthur Foundation's stature invest in the promise of human embryonic stem cell research."

Eggan noted what he, too, sees as the import of having the MacArthur Foundation support embryonic stem cell research: "The thing that makes me the happiest is the supportive main stream message of support for embryonic stem cell research and SCNT research," he said. "The fact that the MacArthur Foundation, an organization whose name you hear every day on NPR, is willing to support and stand behind this research - that for me is the most wonderful, amazing thing. This is one more reason to believe that the tide is turning in support of this important research."

Eggan, received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in 1996 and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research from 2002-2003 and a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows beginning in 2003. He was named an assistant professor in 2005 and an investigator of the Stowers Medical Institute this year.

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