Heinrich Jasper
Principal Fellow, Regenerative Medicine, Research Biology · Genentech
South San Francisco, CA, United States
Impact
Heinrich Jasper studies how stress and inflammatory signalling pathways influence tissue homeostasis, regeneration and longevity. Educated in Germany, he ran an academic laboratory for 12 years at the University of Rochester and then the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, using model organisms to study the age-related decline of somatic stem cell function. His work examined intrinsic, local and systemic cues controlling stem cell behaviour, and in particular how age-associated chronic inflammation perturbs regeneration in barrier epithelia such as the intestine; for example, his group reported that calcium signalling integrates signals regulating intestinal stem cell activity (Nature, 2015). He moved to Genentech, where he is a Principal Fellow in Regenerative Medicine, Research Biology. Work there has included immune modulation to promote retinal repair and improve cell replacement therapy (Science, 2016), maladaptive inflammatory signalling impairing colonic regeneration in old mice (Aging Cell, 2026), and perspectives on partial reprogramming and tissue healing. His career illustrates a route by which fundamental aging biology in model organisms is being carried into pharmaceutical research and development focused on regeneration and age-related disease.
Metrics
- h-index 63 · google scholar as of 2026-09-23 source ↗
Research output
151 works · 12,630 citations · h-index 60 OpenAlex ↗
Selected publications
- Fly Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult fruit fly ↗ 2022 · 899 citations
- JNK Activity in Somatic Stem Cells Causes Loss of Tissue Homeostasis in the Aging Drosophila Gut ↗ 2008 · 621 citations
- JNK Extends Life Span and Limits Growth by Antagonizing Cellular and Organism-Wide Responses to Insulin Signaling ↗ 2005 · 552 citations
- Anatomy and Physiology of the Digestive Tract of Drosophila melanogaster ↗ 2018 · 524 citations
- PGRP-SC2 Promotes Gut Immune Homeostasis to Limit Commensal Dysbiosis and Extend Lifespan ↗ 2014 · 493 citations