Special to The Hays Daily News

On June 4, Jason Ross, son of Walter and Deborah, Hays, successfully defended a dissertation entitled "Requirement for Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR1) in Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Under Stress but not During Homeostasis" to a committee of his faculty advisers.

Ross was awarded a doctorate of philosophy in pathology and laboratory medicine from the University of Kansas on Aug. 1. This represents the culmination of six years of research conducted in Linheng Li's lab at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research as a graduate student at KU Medical Center in Kansas City.

Ross' project, currently in submission to the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell, characterized a requirement for FGFR1 in the expansion and mobilization, i.e. the directed movement of cells from the bone marrow into the peripheral blood circulation, of blood stem cells (HSCs).

His work increases the understanding of stem cell regulation, and could effect clinical transplantation therapies with blood stem cells.

Ross is a 1997 graduate of Thomas More Prep-Marian High School received a bachelor's of science in biology from Fort Hays State University in 2001. He plans to pursue a career in stem cell-related research in San Diego.