Markus Grompe

Dr. Grompe received his medical degree (Dr. med.) in 1983 at the University of Ulm Medical School in Germany. His interest in Human Genetics started with a one year research project abroad during medical school. From 1984-1987 Dr. Grompe was trained in Pediatrics at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon, USA and then moved to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. There he was a fellow sponsored by the Pediatric Scientist Training Program in the Institute for Molecular Genetics from 1987-1991 and worked on gene therapy for inherited diseases, particularly metabolic liver disorders.

In 1991, Dr. Grompe joined the faculty at Oregon Health & Sciences University and he is currently Professor in the Departments of Molecular and Medical Genetics and Pediatrics.

He is a recipient of the E. Mead Johnson award for pediatric research and the Merit Award of the Fanconi Anemia Research Foundation. He is involved in the clinical care of patients with genetic diseases as well as scientific investigation. In 2004 he became the first director of the newly founded Oregon Stem Cell Center.

His research has focussed on the use of in vivo selection to enhance gene and cell therapy, particularly stem cell therapy. The two model diseases being studied are hereditary tyrosinemia type 1, a childhood liver disease and Fanconi Anemia (FA), a blood disorder. In 1996, his laboratory showed that gene therapy in combination in vivo selection could be used to replace > 90% of cells in a diseased mouse liver. Since then, his work has focussed on the biology of intra- and extrahepatic liver stem cells and their use in therapeutic liver repopulation.

The Fanconi anemia pathway is involved in the maintenance of genomic stability and stem cell integrity in mammals. The Grompe Lab cloned a novel Fanconi Anemia gene, FANCD2, which has been shown to link the Fanconi Anemia pathway to BRCA1 and BRCA2, genes involved in familial breast cancer. Preclinical gene therapy experiments in murine models of FA have been used to demonstrate in vivo selection at the level of hematopoietic stem cells.
For a complete list of scientific publications please click here.