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Todd McDevitt, PhD
Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease
Todd McDevitt's research focuses on engineering technologies to direct the differentiation and organization of stem cells to create functional tissues. His team is creating models of human tissues that can be used to study embryonic development and develop new approaches to treat diseases that afflict the cardiovascular, neurological, and immunological systems. McDevitt's group was the first to show they could create a new type of spinal cord neuron from human pluripotent stem cells that might be useful to treat spinal cord injuries. They are now examining the therapeutic potential of these cells in animal models and developing novel organoid models of the central nervous system.
Disease Areas
Immune Diseases
Stem Cells and iPS Cells
Lab Focus
Discovering critical mechanisms that regulate differentiation and morphogenesis of pluripotent cells during tissue development.
Creating functional 3D models of human tissues—such as heart, hindbrain, and spinal cord—from pluripotent stem cells.
Investigating the ability of stem cell–secreted factors to rejuvenate aged cells and tissues.
Human tissue constructs and organoids derived from stem cells offer novel model systems for probing mechanisms of embryonic development. In addition, engineered human microtissues provide valuable biological substrates to interrogate infectious and genetic diseases and the effects of exposure to other environmental factors.
McDevitt's lab uses a bottom-up approach to understand how cells cooperatively interact to form complex tissues and dictate multicellular organization and subsequent physiologic function. They have developed systems to achieve spatiotemporal control of morphogen presentation from biomaterials incorporated within 3D environments of stem cell aggregates, and established 3D computational models of stem cell differentiation and morphogenesis. More recently, they have also used CRISPR-based technologies to engineer multicellular organization of stem cells in a self-directed manner. The group has a long-standing interest in harnessing the potency of molecules produced by pluripotent stem cells in different manners for regenerative and rejuvenative applications.
It Takes Guts to Make a Heart
Gladstone scientists create novel organoids that open new doors for understanding crosstalk between tissues during human development
How Do Developing Spinal Cords Choose "Heads" or "Tails"?
A new human organoid developed by Gladstone scientists mimics one of the key steps in early embryonic development
How COVID-19 Is Changing Academic Publishing
While the practice of placing papers on preprint servers ahead of peer review remains controversial in the scientific community worldwide, many Gladstone investigators are using bioRxiv to advance…
Teaching a Computer Program to Track Cells
Gladstone researchers design a new artificial intelligence approach to simultaneously follow hundreds of cells in the lab as they divide, move, and interact
Research Associates in Their Own Words
Three Gladstone research associates describe their work and why they love working at Gladstone
New Insights into How COVID-19 Causes Heart Damage
Gladstone scientists discover how the novel coronavirus damages heart muscle cells, and create a system that can be used to screen potential therapies
Behind the Scenes of a COVID-19 Lab
Two Gladstone scientist share their recent COVID-19 research
Long COVID: The Evidence of Lingering Heart Damage
The Guardian—Recent work from Senior Investigators Todd McDevitt, PhD, and Bruce Conklin, MD, documenting the damaging effect of SARS-CoV-2 on heart cells is mentioned in a detailed review of the long-term impact…
Gladstone Researchers Awarded $3.2 Million to Study Cellular Energy
Ken Nakamura and Todd McDevitt will study how to boost cells' energy and how the strategy can best treat disease
Some Covid-19 Patients Show Signs of Heart Damage Months Later
The Wall Street Journal—Senior Investigator Todd McDevitt, PHD, comments on the damage SARS-CoV-2 can inflict on heart cells, which he and Senior Investigator Bruce Conklin, MD, recently reported in an article deposited on…
How COVID Hits the Heart and What That Means
The New Indian Express—The New Indian Express integrates the recent findings of Senior Investigators Todd McDevitt, PhD, and Bruce Conklin, MD, in an opinion piece about the effects of COVID-19 on the heart.
If You've Just Had COVID, Exercise Might Not Be Good for You
Wired—In an article about the potential dangers of strenuous exercise for people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, Senior Investigator Bruce Conklin, MD, is quoted for likening to "carnage…
Novel Coronavirus Could be Slicing Heart Muscles Cells into Pieces, Eating up DNA: Study
The Times of India—The Times of India reports the recent discovery by Senior Investigators Todd McDevitt, PhD, and Bruce Conklin, MD, that SARS-CoV-2 can inflict severe damage to heart cells, and puts it in the context…
What Is COVID-19 Doing to Our Hearts?
The New Republic—Senior investigator Todd McDevitt, PhD, explains how his recent discovery that SARS-CoV-2 inflicts severe damage on heart cells could explain why some people experience symptoms of heart malfunction…
Post-COVID Heart Damage Alarms Researchers: "There Was a Black Hole" in Infected Cells
Yahoo! News—Some individuals who survive the initial bout with COVID-19 experience heart damage weeks or months later. Gladstone Investigator Todd McDevitt explains how his recent research shows that SARS-CoV-2…
Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes
Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, UC San Francisco
Program Director, Graduate Program in Bioengineering, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley
Todd C. McDevitt is a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes. He is also a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at UC San Francisco, as well as the program director for the joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley.
McDevitt graduated with a bachelor's degree in biomedical and electrical engineering from Duke University. He earned a PhD in bioengineering from the University of Washington, where he worked on methods to engineer cardiac and skeletal muscle tissue. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington, in which he studied signaling pathways that affect the proliferation of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells. He has received several awards, including a New Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, and a Young Investigator Award from the Society for Biomaterials, and was inducted into the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows in 2014.
McDevitt's lab integrates fundamental principles of cell and tissue engineering, biomaterials, and systems approaches with stem cell and development biology expertise to determine how to create functional models of human tissues for regenerative medicine therapies and enable new biological discoveries. Their long-term goal is to create robust models of complex human biological systems that can faithfully recapitulate dynamic morphogenic processes and facilitate the translation of biomedical therapies for congenital, degenerative, and infectious human diseases.
How Did You Get Your Start in Science?
"My initial interest in science was sparked by my AP chemistry teacher, Lee Marek, in high school."
2014 CIRM Research Leadership Award, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
2014 Elected to American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows
2014 Top Medical Researcher, Atlanta Business Chronicle
2013 "40 Under 40," Georgia Trend magazine
2013 Best Advisor Award, Georgia Tech Bioengineering Graduate Program
2013 Carol Ann and David D. Flanagan Professorship, Georgia Tech
2013 Best of BIOT (invited webinar), American Chemical Society
2011 "Above and Beyond" (Eagle) Award, Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering Society
2011 Most Influential Georgians (Notables), Georgia Trend Magazine
2011 UK-US Collaboration Development Award
2010 Young Investigator Award, Society for Biomaterials
2010 Junior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, Georgia Tech
2009 Petit Institute Interdisciplinary Research and Education Award, Georgia Tech
2009 Petit Faculty Fellow, Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Tech
2008 UK-US Stem Cell Collaboration Development Award
2004 New Investigator Award, American Heart Association, Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences
Todd McDevitt
McDevitt Lab Website
Sue Cammack
Senior Administrative Specialist
Ana de Andrade e Silva, PhD
Nick Elder
Olaia Fernandez Vila, PhD
Serah Kang, PhD
Jasmine King
Oriane Matthys
Vaishaali Natarajan, PhD
Ivana Vasic
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