simply blood

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I write this message to you in the last few days of December, reflecting on the past year and pondering the year ahead.  Looking back at 2018, a real highlight for me was the 47th annual meeting of the ISEH in LA.  As I see it, our research field of experimental haematology is going through a sustained period of positive growth and momentum.  It is pleasing therefore to see that the ISEH meeting is doing such a fabulous job at capturing this sense of excitement, ranging from breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental principles that control blood development, all the way to achieving real clinical impact from the application of new technologies and harnessing the underlying biology.

I firmly believe that one of the main reasons behind ISEH’s ability to capture the excitement in our field is the strong emphasis on, and contribution from, our junior members.  I am delighted to see the continued enthusiasm emanating from our junior investigator c…

Each month, Simply Blood spotlights a lab focused on the research of basic hematology, immunology, stem cell research, cell and gene therapy, and other related aspects.  Get to know these different labs around the world! This month, we are featuring the Kent Labat the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.


About the PI
David Kent earned a B.Sc. in Genetics and English Literature at the University of Western Ontario, Canada (1999-2003). He obtained his Ph.D. in normal adult blood stem cell biology at the University of British Columbia, Canada (2003-2009) under the supervision of Connie Eaves. Then, he moved to the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Anthony Green, where he primarily studied malignant blood stem cell biology. In 2015, he started his own research group at the University of Cambridge. His group studies fate choice in single blood stem cells and how changes in their regulation lead to cancers.

David is currently the Cambridge Stem Cell Ins…

On behalf of the ISEH Publications Committee, we would like to wish you Happy Holidays!  

Visit www.iseh.org for more information on ISEH's membership, events and webinars. Don't forget to save the date in 2019 for the ISEH Annual Scientific Meeting, 22 - 25 August 2019. 

In this issue of Simply Blood, Anna Beaudin is Exploring Experimental Hematology and highlighting and deconstructing one of her favorite manuscripts from the ISEH society journal: "Tet2 restrains inflammatory gene expression in macrophages" By Cull et al.

My reason for reading this paper:
It provides a new perspective on mechanisms of pathology attributed to Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP), which is so hot right now.  CHIP has been implicated not only in blood disorders including leukemias, but also more recently in cardiovascular disease.  The mechanisms that drive clonal hematopoiesis from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells is of intense interest in the field, and the study of mutations that drive clonal dominance have identified mutations in TET2 as a driver of CHIP. TET2 encodes an epigenetic regulator of hydroxymethylation, and loss of TET2 function results in hypermethylation, particularly in enhancer regions.  The negative impact of TET2 mut…

Each month, Simply Blood spotlights a lab focused on the research of basic hematology, immunology, stem cell research, cell and gene therapy, and other related aspects.  Get to know these different labs around the world! This month, we are featuring the Doulatov Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington (USA).



How long have you had your lab? 
It has been just over two years since I started at the University of Washington.

How many members make up your lab?  Students/postdocs?
Currently, our group consists of two postdocs, a student, a research scientist, an undergraduate, and a lab manager.

What is the major research theme of your lab?
We use primary human stem cells and pluripotent stem cells to understand basic biology of hematopoiesis, blood development, and disease.

What is the most exciting project in your lab right now?
Our most exciting projects uses patient iPS cells to model neoplasia, such as myelodysplastic syndromes and leukemias. Existing mouse or cell line mode…

I have to say right at the beginning that this is not a blog. I would say that this is just a collection of positive, happy thoughts from people who love ISEH and enjoy the annual meeting (Don’t we all!). We asked one simple question:

“What did you like most about the ISEH meeting in Los Angeles?”

Here are some opinions from different people from different places including students, postdocs and faculty. Read it and maybe next time you can join us!

Timm Schroeder: 'Open air poster session with great science and under the California sun'

Peggy Goodell: “The best moment for me was realizing that 4 of my former trainees, now well-respected independent investigators in the field  (Challen, Bowman, King, McKinney-Freeman), were there, along with some of their trainees and friends and colleagues. I enjoyed getting to know their networks and hearing about their trainees’ work.”

Eva Fast: “Best moment of ISEH was definitely the poster session outside. The science (+ a little bit the Cal…