Margaret H Baron, MD, PhD
- SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR BASIC AND CLINICAL RESEARCH TRAINING
- PROFESSOR | Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology
- PROFESSOR | Oncological Sciences
- PROFESSOR | Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology
Research Topics:
Cancer, Cellular Differentiation, Cytokines, Developmental Biology, Embryology, Endothelial Cells, Gene Regulation, Genetics, Growth Factors and Receptors, Hematopoiesis, Imaging, Knockout Mice, Microarray, Migration, Molecular Biology, Morphogenesis, Nucleus, Organogenesis, Protein Complexes, Regeneration, Signal Transduction, Stem Cells, Transcription Factors, Transcriptional Activation and Repression, Transgenic Mice, Transplantation, Vascular Development
Margaret H. Baron, MD PhD, is Irene and Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine; Senior Associate Dean for Basic and Clinical Research Training, Director of a new Office of Physician-Scientist Training, and former Director of the MD-PhD Program; former Program Director of Mount Sinai's NIH-funded T32 Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP); and a member of the Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) and Black Family Stem Cell Institute (BFSCI). She now serves as Director Emeritus of the Mount Sinai MD/PhD Program (MSTP). Dr. Baron is an established scientist who has over 30 years of continuous, independent NIH-sponsored research funding in hematopoiesis and gene regulation and a publication record spanning protein biochemistry, virology, cell biology, developmental biology, and stem cell biology. She is known for her work on the plasticity of the differentiated state, globin gene regulation, and developmental hematopoiesis.
Dr. Baron is a graduate of the Harvard-M.I.T. Program in Health Sciences and Technology (H.S.T.) and holds degrees from Harvard (A.B.), Harvard Medical School (M.D.) and M.I.T. (Ph.D.). She trained in the laboratories of David Baltimore (Ph.D. thesis) and Tom Maniatis (postdoc). Her first independent faculty position was in The Biological Laboratories at Harvard University, where she was an assistant and then associate professor before moving to a tenured position at Mount Sinai in 1997. She served for 18 months (2006-2007) as Interim Co-Director of the BFSCI and as Director of Hematology Research (6 years) and of Research in Hematology and Blood Disorders (2 years) for the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology of the TCI and Department of Medicine.
Dr. Baron is a dedicated educator, having developed and directed courses for undergraduates, PhD and MD/PhD students at Harvard and Mount Sinai. She was co-founder and former co-Director for the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology (DSCB) Multidisciplinary Training Area (MTA) for PhD and MD/PhD students as well as a former co-director of the former Mechanisms of Disease and Therapies Multidisciplinary Training Area (MTA).
To read more about Dr. Baron's research, please visit the Baron Laboratory website.
Multi-Disciplinary Training Areas
Cancer Biology [CAB], Development Regeneration and Stem Cells [DRS]Education
AB Summa cum laude, Harvard University
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MD, Harvard Medical School (Harvard-M.I.T. Program in Health Sciences and Technology)
Residency, Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Postdoc, Harvard University
-
2012-13
Fellow -
2011
Elected Member -
2004
Research Recognition Award -
2001
Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine -
2000
Elected Member -
1989-92
Basil O'Connor Scholar Award -
1987-94
Scholar Award
Our lab is interested in molecular mechanisms of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate specification and differentiation using mouse and human primary cell and ES cell models and animals. We have a longstanding interest in developmental hematopoiesis in mammals. One focus of the lab is to study signaling pathways in embryonic hematopoiesis and erythropoiesis (red blood cells) in the mouse. A second focus is on definitive (adult type) hematopoietic and erythroid progenitor development (mouse fetal liver or bone marrow, human progenitors from peripheral blood or bone marrow). We are developing a high throughput screen for regulators of erythroid progenitors as well as later stages of maturation, including enucleation, and are targeting specific ligand-activated transcription factor pathways for detailed analysis. Experimental approaches include classical cell and molecular biology techniques, small interfering RNA viral technologies, RNA profiling and RNAseq, computational analyses, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and genetic manipulation of mice. This work has the potential to reveal new approaches for regulating erythropoiesis and to suggest options for the development of novel therapies to improve the body’s ability to rapidly replenish its red blood cells. They may also lead to the discovery of new targets in progenitors that could be exploited to develop methods for more efficient production ex vivo of red blood cells for transfusion.
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Below are financial relationships with industry reported by Dr. Baron during 2022 and/or 2023. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Royalty Payments:
- Curis Inc.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.