Gordon M. Keller

Gordon M. Keller is a Canadian scientist recognized for his research on applying developmental biology findings to in vitro pluripotent stem cell differentiation. He is currently a Senior Scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, a Professor at the University of Toronto and the director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

Biography Keller was born in 1952 in Melville, Saskatchewan and was raised on a farm. He completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Saskatchewan. He completed his PhD in Immunology at the University of Alberta in 1979, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship with the Ontario Cancer Institute in 1983. He then began his career in Switzerland and Austria. In 1990, he moved to the United States. Initially, Keller was at the National Jewish Centre for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, CO and later moved to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, NY. In 2007, Keller returned to Canada to assume his current role and established his laboratory at the MaRS Centre/Toronto Medical Discovery Tower.

The Keller group's research includes the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to the endodermal lineage: hepatocytes, cholangiocytes and pancreatic progenitors; as well as to mesodermal cell fates: cardiomyocytes, chondrocytes, T lymphocytes and myeloid precursors.

Honours Keller holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Embryonic Stem Cell Biology (2013-2020). In addition, he is a senior editor for the journal Development. In 2025, Keller won the ISSCR achievement award for his work in "laying the foundations for all modern directed differentiation approaches".