{"id":377,"date":"2025-07-02T17:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T17:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/?page_id=377"},"modified":"2025-08-21T23:21:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T23:21:39","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"377\" class=\"elementor elementor-377\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-57bbf7dd elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"57bbf7dd\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ad5eb4f\" data-id=\"ad5eb4f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3988fd2c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3988fd2c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">know us better<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-758caefc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"758caefc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">About us<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-52ac1854 elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-phone\" data-id=\"52ac1854\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d4a9c00 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jkit_button\" data-id=\"d4a9c00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jkit_button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div  class=\"jeg-elementor-kit jkit-button  icon-position-before jeg_module___69f2de1c69b00\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/\" class=\"jkit-button-wrapper\">Home<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-36221409 elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"36221409\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3c2f18c1\" data-id=\"3c2f18c1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-41645501\" data-id=\"41645501\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ca3876b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3ca3876b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">About Derek van der Kooy<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f5855e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6f5855e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Derek van der Kooy received a M.Sc. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D in Anatomy, first at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and finishing in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto. Dr. van der Kooy gained postdoctoral research experience at Cambridge University in England and at the Salk Institute in California. In 1981, Derek became an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1986, then served as Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto from 1991- 2002, and has since become a Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-345c64d5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"345c64d5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3b7ba9a3\" data-id=\"3b7ba9a3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ca75f3c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4ca75f3c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The van der Kooy lab works on various stem cell biology and developmental biology research projects; specifically, stem cells in organisms from Drosophila to humans. With his lab, Derek van der Kooy produced the first report of stem cells in the adult mammalian eye, published in 2000 in Science. Further work, which was published in the journal, Neuron, 2001, documented how embryonic stem cells were shown to differentiate directly to neural stem cells through a default mechanism. Derek&#8217;s lab continues to investigate the nature of stem cells, embryonic and adult, the concept of immortal cells, and the differentiation of embryonic stem cells, capable of forming any tissue in the body, to neural stem cells. Outside of the van der Kooy lab, Derek is both a founding and planning committee member of the Ontario Stem Cell Initative (OSCI), the head of the Pancreas Program for Regenerative Medicine at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, serves on the project management committee for the Ontario Consortium for Regeneration inducing Therapeutics (OCRiT), and serves on numberous editorial boards and review committees.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fae6fd0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1fae6fd0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">VDK Lab<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-8d282fc elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-phone elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8d282fc\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-38e7c4f\" data-id=\"38e7c4f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-54fe55c jkit-equal-height-disable elementor-widget elementor-widget-jkit_icon_box\" data-id=\"54fe55c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jkit_icon_box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div  class=\"jeg-elementor-kit jkit-icon-box icon-position-top elementor-animation- jeg_module__1_69f2de1c6cc88\" ><div class=\"jkit-icon-box-wrapper hover-from-left\"><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-header elementor-animation-\"><div class=\"icon style-color\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-map-marker1\"><\/i><\/div><\/div><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-body\">\n                <h2 class=\"title\">Address<\/h2><p class=\"icon-box-description\">160 College Street, 11th floor\nDonnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research\nUniversity of Toronto<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n            \n            <\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-4fac084\" data-id=\"4fac084\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c57295b jkit-equal-height-disable elementor-widget elementor-widget-jkit_icon_box\" data-id=\"c57295b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jkit_icon_box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div  class=\"jeg-elementor-kit jkit-icon-box icon-position- elementor-animation- jeg_module__2_69f2de1c6dae2\" ><a href=\"tel:+14169784539\" class=\"icon-box-link\" aria-label=\"Read More\"><div class=\"jkit-icon-box-wrapper hover-from-left\"><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-header elementor-animation-\"><div class=\"icon style-color\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-phone1\"><\/i><\/div><\/div><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-body\">\n                <h2 class=\"title\">Contact<\/h2><p class=\"icon-box-description\">+1 (416) 978-1960<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n            \n            <\/div><\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-50bb49b\" data-id=\"50bb49b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-367fd54 jkit-equal-height-disable elementor-widget elementor-widget-jkit_icon_box\" data-id=\"367fd54\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jkit_icon_box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div  class=\"jeg-elementor-kit jkit-icon-box icon-position- elementor-animation- jeg_module__3_69f2de1c6e29e\" ><a href=\"mailto:brenda.coles@utoronto.ca\" class=\"icon-box-link\" aria-label=\"Read More\"><div class=\"jkit-icon-box-wrapper hover-from-left\"><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-header elementor-animation-\"><div class=\"icon style-color\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon icon-envelope1\"><\/i><\/div><\/div><div class=\"icon-box icon-box-body\">\n                <h2 class=\"title\">Lab Manager: Brenda Coles<\/h2><p class=\"icon-box-description\">+1 (416) 978-4539<br>\nbrenda.coles@utoronto.ca<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n            \n            <\/div><\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>know us better About us Home About Derek van der Kooy Derek van der Kooy received a M.Sc. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D in Anatomy, first at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and finishing in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto. Dr. van der Kooy gained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-377","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":70,"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":962,"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/377\/revisions\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-3.com\/university\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}