Dr. Gordon Keller, one of the world's leading stem cell scientists, is coming back to Canada to head a new research centre in Toronto.

Keller will be the director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University Health Network, which was launched on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, New York magazine called Dr. Gordon Keller one of the top six medical minds that the city did not want to lose.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Keller left his native Saskatchewan 16 years ago to work in the U.S. Earlier this year, New York magazine called the embryonic stem cell researcher one of the top six medical minds the city didn't want to lose.

Stem cells are immature cells that do not yet have a specialized function and are able to form cells of any tissue in the body.

As for why he's coming back, Keller cited the opportunity to work with leading stem cell researchers with a broad range of expertise in areas including biology, cancer research and organ repair.

"One of the unique features, I think, is the existing strength of both stem cell biology and regenerative medicine in Toronto in a very defined area," Keller said. "A lot of the institutes are close to each other … with each of them housing really superb scientists."

Keller's lab has shown how to turn stem cells into many kinds of specialized cells, the starting point for trying to cure diseases, said Dr. Christopher Paige, vice-president of research at the University Health Network.

"There is hope in a very, very broad set of diseases," Paige told CBC Newsworld.

"The diseases of the brain, the diseases of the heart, even the diseases of hip and knees, because if stem cells can be turned into the kinds of cells that make the cartilage, that would reduce the need for hip and knee replacement."

The research already has one clinical application: bone marrow transplants for cancer patients. High doses of chemotherapy kill cancer cells but blood cells also die off. By giving patients an infusion of adult stem cells, the blood-forming cells can be saved, Paige said.

Singer and activist Bob Geldof, a proponent of stem cell research, also attended the opening.

"This absolutely is where the future is occurring here and now, and it must have some element of pride for Canadians that it's happening here," said Geldof.

Embryonic stem cell research is controversial because the cells must be harvested from embryos. Under Canadian law, researchers must use embryos that are donated from couples — they cannot be created or cloned.

The centre was given $10 million in startup funding by Rob and Cheryl McEwen. Rob McEwen is the founder of the gold mining company Goldcorp Inc., and Cheryl McEwen founded Andrew’s for Women in Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes fashion district. 

The centre's initial staff of 15 researchers hope their work will advance the treatment of disease.To launch the centre, 10 internationally renowned scientists gave a symposium highlighting their research.

With files from the Canadian Press