Dr. Rossi’s research focuses on the biology and therapeutic applications of adult stem cells, and specifically on the role of inflammation in regeneration and on the role of stem cells in degenerative disease. After completing his medical education in Genoa, Italy, he obtained a Ph.D. in Thomas Graf’s laboratory at the European Molecular Biology Laboratories in Heidelberg, Germany were he first started working on bone marrow derived stem cells. During his postdoctoral work with Helen Blau at Stanford University he developed several novel tools and methods to study biological events (e.g. protein-protein interactions) at the single cell level. This work is at the basis of Discoverex’s highly successful series of GPCR reporter cell lines. He was the first to demonstrate that microglia can self renew within the CNS and provided the first description of the role of fibro/adipogenic progenitors in muscle regeneration and degeneration. His current research focus is on the crosstalk between innate immune cells, stromal stem/progenitors and tissue specific stem cells, how it regulates the response to damage in skeletal and cardiac muscle, and how these mechanism go awry and contribute to fibrotic degeneration in chronic disease. Dr Rossi has also been active in the community, founding and currently directing the BC Regenerative Medicine Initiative, focussed on fostering colaborative endeavours and knowledge translation among Regenerative Medicine Researchers throughout BC and the Cascadia region.