Michael Underhill

Biomedical Engineering, Regenerative Therapies

Role: Scientist

Sites: CDL-Oxford, CDL-Toronto, CDL-Vancouver, CDL-Wisconsin

Streams: Advanced Therapies, Cancer

Michael is a Professor of Cellular & Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia and is jointly appointed to the School of Biomedical Engineering. He is leading foundational research on the role of a type of adult stem/progenitor in tissue renewal, regeneration, cancer and aging. Michael’s group uses a combination of single cell omics and novel genetic models to explore the function and fate of these cells, with the goal of developing therapeutics to affect tissue restoration.

Michael is the Chief Science Officer of Mesentech, a Vancouver-based biotechnology company that makes bi-specific small-molecule therapeutics. They have produced a compound that has the potential to reverse the bone loss observed in diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and osteoporosis. He also served as the Head of Target Validation (2008-15) and Co-Scientific Director (2013-15) of the Centre for Drug Research and Development.

He holds a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Western Ontario and carried out postdoctoral studies at Duke University.