Vera Mikhaĭlovna Danchakoff (born 1879, last publication 1950) was a Russian anatomist, cell biologist and embryologist. In 1908 she was the first woman in Russia to be appointed as a professor and she become a pioneer in stem cell research. She emigrated to the United States in 1915 where she was a leading exponent of the idea that all types of blood cell develop from a single type of cell. She has sometimes been called "the mother of stem cells". She later returned to Europe to continue with her research.