About
Amander Clark PhD is the Director of the UCLA Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education and Professor of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology. Professor Clark is an award-winning scientist and internationally recognized expert on topics in stem cell biology and reproductive science. Professor Clark is regularly invited to appear as a subject matter specialist for media outlets including the New York Times, the Economist, the New Yorker and Public Radio. From 2017 Professor Clark served as Department Chair of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology before becoming Center Director in 2022. In addition to her role at UCLA, Professor Clark also serves on the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine Board of Health Sciences Policy, and in July 2023 she began her elected role as President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, a global non-profit that promotes excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.
Background
Dr. Clark’s work in stem cell biology began in 2002 as a Postdoctoral fellow in laboratory of Dr. Renee Reijo Pera at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). There, she studied not only the basic biology of human embryonic stem cells but also the molecular mechanisms of human germ cell formation. During that time only a small number of laboratories worldwide were performing research with human embryonic stem cells due to the technical challenges with expanding and differentiating these cells, and the uncertain national and international policy climate for research in this area. Despite these challenges, Dr. Clark and Dr Reijo-Pera were the first to report that human germline cells could be differentiated from human embryonic stem cells. This landmark paper has been cited more than 650 times and was used as the basis for Dr. Clark’s research program at UCLA.
UCLA
Dr. Clark joined the UCLA faculty in 2006 as an Assistant Professor, was awarded tenure in 2012, Associate Professor and Vice Chair in 2013, Professor and Vice Chair in 2015 and Department Chair of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology from 2017-2022. She is currently the inaugural Director of the Center for Reproductive Science, Health and Education. Results from the Clark Lab provide the basis for translational projects related to identifying new genes involved in human fertility, creating new stem cell-based models for contraceptive discovery and engineering models of the ovary for understanding ovarian development, disease and dysfunction which affect millions of women and girls around the world. Dr Clark has authored more than 100 articles in her career, and her work has earned more than 17,000 citations
Amander Clark
(photo Credit Don Liebig)
clarka@ucla.edu
Mailing Address
Box 957246, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Office
Room No 490 B, 615 Charles E Young Drive South, Biomedical Sciences Research Building (BSRB)