The ISSCR Celebrates Martin Pera for Transformative Leadership and Lasting Contributions to Stem Cell Reports as he Steps Down from the Journal’s Editorial Team
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and Stem Cell Reports are celebrating the remarkable contributions of Martin Pera as he concludes his long tenure with the journal following years of leadership that helped shape Stem Cell Reports into a leading voice in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
Dr. Pera served as the journal’s second Editor-in-Chief beginning in 2018, succeeding Christine Mummery, and led the journal for six years during a period of significant growth and evolution for both the field and the publication. Under his leadership, Stem Cell Reports expanded its scientific reach, strengthened its commitment to rigor and reproducibility, and elevated the visibility of researchers and emerging voices across the stem cell community.
“Martin has been an amazing contributor to the success of Stem Cell Reports,” said Janet Rossant, the journal’s editor-in-chief. “His eye for the right papers that would impact the field is impeccable. And his decision to establish the Early Career Editorial Board was inspired. It brought new ideas and new perspectives to the editorial team while also giving early career investigators great new experiences. A hard act to follow!”
Among Dr. Pera’s many contributions to the journal was the conception and launch of The Stem Cell Report podcast in April 2021. The podcast recently marked its five-year anniversary and has become an important platform for highlighting the people and stories behind stem cell discoveries. A strong advocate for early-career researchers, Dr. Pera championed featuring first authors on the podcast—often graduate students and postdoctoral fellows—alongside senior investigators to provide insight into the inspiration, challenges, and personal journeys behind published research.
In 2022, Dr. Pera helped launch the journal’s Early Career Editorial Board, creating a mentorship and professional development pathway for rising investigators in the field. Since its inception, the initiative has welcomed 22 early-career editors who contribute strategic insight, participate in editorial review, and gain hands-on experience in scientific publishing.
Dr. Pera also oversaw important initiatives to strengthen research standards and scientific rigor within the journal. In 2023, Stem Cell Reports introduced the ISSCR Standards Checklist, based on the ISSCR Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research, to support transparency, reproducibility, and best practices in studies involving human stem cells.
Throughout his editorial tenure, Dr. Pera worked to recruit and cultivate an editorial team that reflected the breadth and evolution of the stem cell field. He expanded the journal’s aims and scope to encompass emerging areas of science and encouraged commentary addressing scientific, ethical, and societal questions shaping the future of regenerative medicine.
While leaving the Stem Cell Reports editorial team, Dr. Pera is an active ISSCR member and continues to advance the field as a Professor at The Jackson Laboratory, where his laboratory studies self-renewal, pluripotency, and the genetic factors that influence neural regeneration and repair.
"Martin's leadership and scientific judgment are foundational to what Stem Cell Reports is today: a journal as rigorous as the science it publishes, and as connected as the community it serves. His contributions reach well beyond the journal, across the ISSCR and the field he's shaped for years," said Keith Alm, ISSCR CEO. "Thanks, Martin, for all you've done for the journal and across the ISSCR. We look forward to all that's still ahead together."
About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. Stem Cell Reports is a Cell Press partner journal. Find the journal on X: @StemCellReports.
About ISSCR
Across more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to advancing stem cell research and its translation to medicine.