Hannele Ruohola-Baker is a Professor of Biochemistry and Associate Director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Her research focuses on the molecular biology of stem cells and on the use of Drosophila (fruit flies) as model organisms for human diseases.

Research
The Ruohola-Baker laboratory is dissecting the molecular mechanisms that control stem cell self-renewal and regeneration capacity, both in normal and pathological situations. We have identified metabolic differences between pluripotent, pre- and post-implantation ESC and are now dissecting how metabolites regulate epigenetic states. The laboratory works on three questions: 1) metabolic determinants of stem cells and regeneration 2) stem cell aging and 3) using stem cells to dissect the mechanism of disease states. The laboratory is dissecting the etiology of long chain fatty acid induced SIDS, a heart defect that can cause sudden infant death and Amelogenesis Imperfecta (AI), a defects in stem cells for ameloblasts that normally deposit enamel, the hardest tissue in our body.