Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Surgical Director, Craniofacial Center
Director, Pomerantz Lab
Contact Information
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
(415) 353-4389 phone
(415) 353-4330 fax
Education
- 1990-1994 University of Pennsylvania, B.A. Biology
- 1994-2000 Albert Einstein College of Medicine, M.D.
Residencies
- 2000-2001 University of California-San Francisco, Intern General Surgery
- 2001-2003 University of California-San Francisco, Residency General Surgery
- 2006-2008 University of California-San Francisco, Residency Plastic Surgery
Fellowships
- 1996-1998 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Researh Training Fellowship
- 2008-2009 University of Washington, Seattle, Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship
Postdoctoral Training
- 2003-2006 Stanford University, Postdoctoral Fellowship
Board Certifications
- American Board of Plastic Surgery 2010
Clinical Expertise
- Cleft lip and Palate
- Congential Deformities
- Craniofacial Surgery
- Craniosynostosis
- Pediatric Plastic Surgery
- Traumatic facial injuries
Research Interests
- Cancer
- Cellular Growth Control
- Muscle Regeneration
- Nuclear Reprogramming
- Stem Cell Biology
Biography
Jason Pomerantz, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Surgical Director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center, and Director of the Pomerantz Lab. Dr. Pomerantz is an expert craniofacial surgeon specializing in pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgery and repair of craniofacial anomalies. He treats children and adults with congenital or acquired deformities, especially the head and face, including cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis and traumatic facial injuries.
Dr. Pomerantz earned his medical degree at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed a residency at UCSF, a postdoctoral research fellowship in regeneration biology at Stanford University, and a fellowship in craniofacial surgery at the University of Washington.
As a physician-scientist, Dr. Pomerantz is exploring ways to address problems that cannot be treated surgically, such as amputations and lost heart muscle. A major focus of his research is to understand why primitive organisms such as newts and salamanders have the ability to regenerate limbs, while humans and other mammals do not.
Dr. Pomerantz is a researcher at the UCSF Program in Craniofacial Biology (PCB), and has affiliations with the UCSF Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Program, and The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.
His scientific collaboration with the Blau Laboratory, Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology at Stanford University, resulted in a paper in the journal Cell Stem Cell that has garnered considerable public interest. (see also First Steps in Unlocking the Human Ability to Regenerate).
Ultimately, Dr. Pomerantz and colleagues hope to identify the genes responsible for regeneration, genes that have evolved differently between species. This has implications for the reconstruction of damaged or missing tissue resulting from congenital abnormalities and those acquired as a result of trauma.
Research Overview
The research program of our lab is closely intertwined with regenerative medicine. With foundations in muscle and cancer biology, we are investigating regenerative mechanisms including stem cell development and de-differentiation. By employing model organisms such as zebrafish and mouse and extending discoveries to human cells and tissues, we hope to gain fundamental insight that can be translated into clinical advances, most notably solving the structural and reconstructive problems of the limbs, face, and head, whether congenital or acquired.
Publications
Most recent publications from a total of 27
- , Garcia S, Tamaki S, Liu X, Lee S, Jose A, , Feeley BT. Muscle Stem Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Rotator Cuff Injury. J Orthop Res. 2017 Aug 08. View in PubMed
- Niethamer TK, Larson AR, O'Neill AK, Bershteyn M, Hsiao EC, Klein OD, , Bush JO. EPHRIN-B1 Mosaicism Drives Cell Segregation in Craniofrontonasal Syndrome hiPSC-Derived Neuroepithelial Cells. Stem Cell Reports. 2017 Feb 22. View in PubMed
- Garcia SM, Tamaki S, , . Human Satellite Cell Isolation and Xenotransplantation. Methods Mol Biol. 2017; 1668:105-123. View in PubMed
- Cho GJ, , Garcia SM, Viner J, , McDermott MW, . Recalcitrant Invasive Skin Cancer of the Scalp: Combined Extirpation and Microsurgical Reconstruction Without Cranioplasty. J Craniofac Surg. 2016 Dec 30. View in PubMed
- Hesse RG, Kouklis GK, Ahituv N, . The human ARF tumor suppressor senses blastema activity and suppresses epimorphic tissue regeneration. Elife. 2015; 4. View in PubMed
- , Wilschut KJ, Kouklis G, Tian H, Hesse R, Garland C, , Hansen S, Seth R, Knott PD, , . Human Satellite Cell Transplantation and Regeneration from Diverse Skeletal Muscles. Stem Cell Reports. 2015 Sep 8; 5(3):419-34. View in PubMed
- Balkin DM, Chen I, Oberoi S, . Bilateral Coronoidectomy by Craniofacial Approach for Hecht Syndrome-Related Trismus. J Craniofac Surg. 2015 Sep; 26(6):1954-6. View in PubMed
- Tamaki S, Nye C, Slorach E, Scharp D, Blau HM, Whiteley PE, . Simultaneous silencing of multiple RB and p53 pathway members induces cell cycle reentry in intact human pancreatic islets. BMC Biotechnol. 2014; 14:86. View in PubMed
- , Blau HM. Tumor suppressors: enhancers or suppressors of regeneration? Development. 2013 Jun; 140(12):2502-12. View in PubMed
- Garland CB, . Regenerative strategies for craniofacial disorders. Front Physiol. 2012; 3:453. View in PubMed
- View All Publications
In the News
- Pomerantz Lab - - June 09, 2017UCSF News reports on research in the UCSF Program in Craniofacial Biology using stem cells from patients with craniofacial deformities to better understand how these design flaws occur in fetal development. Among other research projects, the article reported on the work of Jason H. Pomerantz, M.D., Surgical Director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center, who is using stem cells and regenerative techniques to reconstruct tiny muscles in the face using a humanized organ in a mouse model. Together, [...]
- Pomerantz Lab - - December 22, 2016Alvin Wong, M.D., a plastic surgery research fellow in the Pomerantz Lab, was awarded a grant by the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) to study "skeletal muscle regeneration by human satellite cells following denervation". The award, funded by a National Endowment for Plastic Surgery Grant, was one of eleven representing the "newest, clinically relevant research in plastic surgery". The grant to Dr. Wong is also notable in that most such awards go to established principal Investigators with [...]
- Pomerantz Lab - - November 01, 2016UCSF News reports on research by Xiaoti Xu, M.D. and a team in the Pomerantz Lab showing that human muscle stem cells could be transplanted into a new environment and have the capacity to regenerate lost muscle tissue. Dr. Xu is a UCSF Plastic Surgery Resident and former research fellow in the lab. The image shows cross-sectioned muscle fibers as black shapes outlined in green. The catch: these are human muscle fibers, grown from human stem cells. Xiaoti Xu, MD, a resident physician in UC [...]
- UCSF Pomerantz Lab - November 18, 2015UCSF News reports on new research of the Pomerantz Lab suggesting that future efforts to regrow or regenerate human tissue may require blocking the activity of a tumor-suppressor gene, ARF. The research involved adding the human ARF gene to a zebrafish, which prevented its normal ability to regenerate tissue, here the fish's tail fin that had been cut off. The research was led by Jason Pomerantz, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Surgical [...]
- UCSF Department of Surgery - - November 18, 2015The Department of Surgery recently launched a new website for the Pomerantz Lab. The site showcases the laboratory's research focused on harnessing regeneration biology to drive clinical advances in reconstructive and craniofacial medicine. Led by Jason Pomerantz, MD, Associate Professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Surgical Director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center, the laboratory studies basic and translational aspects of tissue regeneration. Its research is [...]
- UCSF Pomerantz Lab - September 25, 2015UCSF News reports on the work of a research team, led by UCSF plastic and reconstructive surgeon Jason Pomerantz, MD, in which human muscle stem cells were successfully isolated with the potential to replicate and repair damaged muscles when grafted onto an injured site. UC San Francisco researchers have successfully isolated human muscle stem cells and shown that the cells could robustly replicate and repair damaged muscles when grafted onto an injured site. The laboratory finding paves [...]
- UCSF Pomerantz Lab - August 06, 2010A research group at Stanford University, led by Helen M. Blau, Jason H. Pomerantz (pictured left), now an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCSF, and Kostandin V. Pajcini, has, as reported by the NY Times, "taken a possible first step toward unlocking the human ability to regenerate. By inactivating two genes that work to suppress tumors, they got mouse muscle cells to revert to a younger state, start dividing and help repair tissue."