Lab Spotlight: Tremblay Lab

Tremblay Lab

Each month, Simply Blood spotlights a lab contributing to the fields of hematology, immunology, stem cell research, cell and gene therapies, and more. Get to know groups doing cutting edge research from around the world! This month, we are featuring the Tremblay Lab out of the University of Manitoba, Canada.

How long have you had your lab? 

2.5 years already (time flies when having fun!)

How many members make up your lab?

6 students – 1 undergrad, 3 MSc, 2 PhD

What is the major research theme of your lab? 

My laboratory focuses on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), which accounts for almost 25% of all cases of leukemia in that age group. Although 85% of children can be cured, chemotherapy induces life-long complications, which remain of major clinical concern and are extremely debilitating for patients. Furthermore, therapeutic options for relapsed disease remain limited and rarely curative, with a 5-year survival of less than 10%. Therefore, there is a critical urgent unmet need to develop better therapeutic strategies to improve the outcome for children living with T-ALL. 
 
What is the most exciting project in your lab right now? 

We are using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of T-ALL to understand how leukemia adapts and escapes from killing by chemotherapy. Using these avatars of T-ALL, we are tracking the cells responsible for driving relapse and using multi-omic approaches (e.g., RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, propteomics) to identify how they adapt to chemotherapy. Our translational research project will identify new vulnerabilities in T-ALL that will inform new therapeutic strategies for patients with refractory disease. 

What's your best approach to mentoring students in the lab? 

Overall, my mentoring strategy can be encapsulated in one word: listening. Thus, I work closely with each individual to identify the most effective training strategies for their success. I encourage students to join tailored mentoring programs, and attend conferences that include sessions on career development like the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) annual conference and the Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH).

What's the biggest accomplishment your lab has had recently?

We just published an amazing story identifying FLT3 as a predictive biomarker for ETP-ALL, an aggressive subtype of T-ALL. We have shown that the surface level of FLT3 (measured by flow cytometry) predicts how each tumour will respond to the FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib. We also showed that combining gilteritinib with chemotherapy leads to improved therapeutic response in PDX models of ETP-ALL. 

What is the key to running a successful lab? 

Success can be defined in many ways. For some, it’s the recognition; for some, the funding; for others, the accomplishments of the students and postdocs who were trainees in the lab. For me, a successful lab is a happy lab. There are 2 things that keep me wanting to go to work each day: 1) my goal of making a positive impact in the lives of people affected by leukemia, and 2) witnessing my trainees grow personally & professionally, every single day.  

What facilities or equipment does your lab absolutely depend on?

1) Cancer modelling and imaging facility (e.g., animal models, animal care & health service), 2) flow cytometry, and 3) Quantitative Imagining, Phenotyping & Sorting (QuIPS) platform (e.g., microscopy, RNA-seq, ATAC-seq). Without those key platforms, nothing can happen in the lab. 

What has been your greatest challenge in managing your lab? 

Finding students was relatively easy. Finding the right technician is the most challenging part. As they are the ‘living memory’ and the core of the whole laboratory, their role is crucial. So overall, managing personnel has been very challenging given that a set of skills that we are not really trained for during undergraduate and graduate studies. 

What advice do you have for new investigators just opening their lab? 

Trust your gut. There’s no fits-all model. Listen to your instinct, invest into developing an extensive network of mentors, collaborators and friends. Connect with great mentors who will give you some tips. But at the end of the day, each journey is different and you have the opportunity to define your own journey.

What was the most exciting part about starting your new lab?

You can do whatever you want! Lead and design projects that you are passionate about, share that passion with your trainees and answer the questions that you are really interested to answer. That’s the best feeling ever!

 
Does your lab attend the ISEH annual meeting? 

I have been regularly attending ISEH for 15 years! Several students I have supervised while I was in Australia have attended ISEH over the years. I encourage my students to attend ISEH meetings when they have story to tell. My current graduate students have joined my laboratory quite recently, so most projects are still in the development stage. Soon they will have incredible stories to tell  – so stay tuned!

What is the most beneficial aspect of ISEH membership for your lab? 

ISEH is my scientific family. My home. My core network. I would not be where I am today without the support of the friends and mentors I have met at ISEH throughout the years. And I can’t wait to share that experience with the trainees I currently have in my lab! 

How do members of your lab celebrate accomplishments? 

Well… to quote Napoleon Bonaparte: “In victory, one deserves Champagne; in defeat, one needs it.”

Does your lab have any fun traditions?

We have an annual Tremblay_Lab photoshoot. Each year, we draw a different color from a hat. Last year was blue, this year, violet. Next year, it’s a surprise!

Blog post contributed by Kavita Bisht of the ISEH Publications Committee.

Please note that the statements made by Simply Blood authors are their own views and not necessarily the views of ISEH. ISEH disclaims any or all liability arising from any author's statements or materials.