Michael D. West (born 28 April 1953 in Niles, Michigan) is an American biogerontologist, and a pioneer in stem cells,[3] cellular aging and telomerase.

Prior that, West was founder, director, and chief scientific officer of Geron, for which he secured venture capital investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Venrock[9] and Domain Associates.

[10] At Geron, West initiated and managed programs in telomere biology relating to aging, cancer and human embryonic stem cell technology.

[16] Geron published evidence of the role of telomerase in cancer and cell immortalization in collaboration with Woodring Wright and Jerry Shay at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

[19] West has been a keynote speaker at events including World Stem Cell and is associated with 146 patents in the United States,[20] Australia, Japan, and elsewhere.