Dr. Rudnicki’s research is aimed at studying the function of genes involved in stem cell determination, proliferation and differentiation. Long-standing research efforts have focused on the study of both embryonic skeletal muscle development (myogenesis) and the function of stem cells in adult skeletal muscle, during tissue regeneration. This includes analyses of factors involved in the specification of adult stem cells into skeletal muscle, including both signaling and transcription factors.

Research initiatives include international collaborations in the areas of transcriptional regulatory networks that control the function and lineage determination of both embryonic and adult stem cells, and also studying muscle progenitor cells specifically during embryonic development.

Dr. Rudnicki is Senior Scientist and Director of the Regenerative Medicine Program and the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, at the University of Ottawa. He also holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Genetics and is Scientific Director of the Stem Cell Network and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar. Dr. Rudnicki’s honours and awards include a Premier's Research Excellence Award from the Province of Ontario and being elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He received a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Ottawa in 1988.