Dr. Kyba studies self-renewal of tissue-specific stem cells with a view towards gene correction, ex vivo expansion and therapeutic transplantation.  He completed his PhD at UBC, Vancouver in 1998.  His postdoctoral work at MIT with George Daley established embryonic stem cells as a model system for genetic correction and therapeutic transplantation for hematopoietic disorders.  He joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 2003, where he developed systems for conditional gene targeting and expression, models to identify and transplant skeletal muscle stem cells, and demonstrated that the transcription factor DUX4 causes skeletal muscle pathology, thus providing a mechanism for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).  In 2008 he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota where he holds the title of Carrie Ramey CCRF Endowed Professor of Pediatrics.  His current focus is on investigating normal and pathological self-renewal in the context of regeneration, degenerative diseases and cancer.