WHS Session A: Thomas K. Hunt Honorary Lecture
60 min
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
8:15 AM - 9:15 AM
The Thomas K. Hunt Endowed Lecture, established in 2013, honors the legacy of Dr. Thomas K. Hunt, a pioneering leader in wound healing research and a founding member of the Wound Healing Society. This annual lecture aims to inspire and educate wound healing researchers by highlighting innovations in related fields.
Each year, the Wound Healing Foundation selects an honorary speaker, not limited to those directly involved in wound healing research but inclusive of investigators who demonstrate the ability to bridge scientific gaps and apply fundamental physiological principles to understand healing processes across multiple organ systems.
This year, the Thomas K. Hunt Lecturer will be a distinguished stem cell biologist Dr. Fiona Watt. Dr. Watt, obtained her DPhil from the University of Oxford and completed her postdoctoral research at M.I.T., Cambridge, USA. She established her first laboratory at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in London before moving to the London Research Institute. From 2006 to 2012, she served as Deputy Director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and the Welcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research at the University of Cambridge.
In September 2012, she joined King’s College London as the Director of the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. In 2021, the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine (CSCRM) merged with the Centre for Cell and Gene Therapy to form the Centre for Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Watt's research focuses on cell fate decisions and the skin microenvironment, with current projects exploring self-renewal and lineage selection by human and mouse epidermal stem cells, the role of stem cells in tumor formation in the epidermis and oral tissues, and the assembly and function of the epidermal cornified envelope.
In 2022, Dr. Watt became the Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, where she continues to lead a research group focused on these critical areas of study.
Each year, the Wound Healing Foundation selects an honorary speaker, not limited to those directly involved in wound healing research but inclusive of investigators who demonstrate the ability to bridge scientific gaps and apply fundamental physiological principles to understand healing processes across multiple organ systems.
This year, the Thomas K. Hunt Lecturer will be a distinguished stem cell biologist Dr. Fiona Watt. Dr. Watt, obtained her DPhil from the University of Oxford and completed her postdoctoral research at M.I.T., Cambridge, USA. She established her first laboratory at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in London before moving to the London Research Institute. From 2006 to 2012, she served as Deputy Director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and the Welcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research at the University of Cambridge.
In September 2012, she joined King’s College London as the Director of the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. In 2021, the Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine (CSCRM) merged with the Centre for Cell and Gene Therapy to form the Centre for Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Watt's research focuses on cell fate decisions and the skin microenvironment, with current projects exploring self-renewal and lineage selection by human and mouse epidermal stem cells, the role of stem cells in tumor formation in the epidermis and oral tissues, and the assembly and function of the epidermal cornified envelope.
In 2022, Dr. Watt became the Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, where she continues to lead a research group focused on these critical areas of study.
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Moderator
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Sundeep Keswani MD, MBA, FACS, FAAP -
Susan Volk VMD, PhD, Dipl ACVS
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Speaker
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Fiona Watt PhD
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Room
- Grapevine A