Posts

Lab Spotlight: Tamplin Lab

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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 Tamplin Lab which is based out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States ( https://tamplin.crb.wisc.edu/staff/tamplin-owen/ ). How long has your lab been open and who is in your lab currently? The lab first opened in January 2016 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and we moved to the University of Wisconsin Madison during the pandemic in 2020. The lab currently has three graduate students, five undergraduates and one research technician. What is the overarching research goal for your group? The main research theme is the hematopoietic stem cell microenvironment. We use zebrafish and mouse and models. We are interested in utilizing new technologies through collaboration to apply to our interest in the microen

Getting Involved in Science Policy (as a Scientist)

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What is science policy? Science policy is a broad term encompassing a range of different career paths relevant to governmental allocation of resources towards scientific research. This can include job roles such as science communicator, science policy analyst, and scientific advisor for government agencies. Because of the large amount of funding needed for scientific research, legislation concerning scientific policy in most countries is often approved at a national or international level, and only a few countries have a provincial or state-level scientific policy apparatus. How do different science policy roles fit together? Science policy often starts with an advocacy group (such as scientists in ISEH) having a special interest in passing a piece of legislation (such as governmental funding to study a disease, or modifying regulations surrounding a research topic). In the US, an advocacy group starts by meeting with the staff of an elected representative who sits on the relevant comm

What I Have Learned in My First 3.5 Years as Principal Investigator

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What I Have Learned in My First 3.5 Years as Principal Investigator I am a physician scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Our lab studies the changes that occur in blood formation across the lifespan and how this impacts age-biased blood diseases – this work is strongly driven by my perspective as a pediatric hematologist. In this post, I share some of the lessons that I have learned over the first 3+ years as a PI. This advice is not one-size-fits-all – you can take it or leave it, and I am sure everyone’s situation is different in one way or another. You must spend money to make money. When you start a lab, your institution may provide you with startup funds. What funding you receive is variable and open to negotiation. This funding is crucial to support your pet projects that are not externally funded, fill gaps in salary support, and in many cases, to support your own salary. Early on, I was overly protective of my startup., then I realized that the point of this money is

ISEH 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting – Highlights from the New Investigators Committee

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The 52nd ISEH Annual Scientific Meeting took place at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge from 17-20 August 2023. Our Annual Scientific Meeting brought together more than 540 scientists and ISEH members from 25 different countries from around the world. This meeting in New York City was planned for 2020, but it had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 emergency. After three years, we finally got to roll our suitcases down the streets of NYC, which is a fantastic playground for networking. We were extremely happy and grateful to bring the community together again! The Science The meeting included many events that were targeted to a broad audience of scientists at various stages of their careers (from trainees to PIs). We had 31 invited speakers, 26 short talk presenters, 15 featured poster presentations and 217 poster presentations. The scientific sessions covered a wide range of topics from the molecular mechanisms of developmental and adult hematopoiesis, the role of the micro

Living Medicine – lessons for the experimental hematologist

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As a clinical hematologist, the publication of Living Medicine - a history of the development of bone marrow transplantation in humans - was required reading. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dr. Appelbaum carefully reviews the history of the fundamental basic science of hematopoietic stem cells, the understanding of which forms a required basis for clinical transplantation. From the perspective of an experimental hematologist, it was fascinating to learn how the pioneers of clinical transplantation leveraged fundamental science done in mice into translational studies and iterative clinical trials to progressively develop, improve, and optimize allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Laboratory based research was vital in the iterative trials that moved bone marrow transplantation from a high-risk intervention for patients with no other options to now a much safer front-line therapy for many blood diseases. Although Dr. Appelbaum justifiably emphasizes the foundatio

Lab Spotlight: Laurenti Lab

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The Laurenti Lab, at Wellcome Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, UK 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 Laurenti Lab which is based out of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, at the University of Cambridge in the UK ( https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/people/pi/laurenti ). How long have you had your lab? And how many members make up your lab? I have started my group in September 2014, and currently our group is composed of seven people. Three postdocs, two PhD students and one research assistant, in addition to several students shared between our group and other research groups including; one bioinformatician and two postdocs. What is the major research theme of your lab? Our lab is interested in deciphering human haematopoiesis across the lifetime, ideally at single

Lessons from Two Physician Scientists: Navigating the Transition to Independence

Lessons from Two Physician Scientists: Navigating the Transition to Independence Transitioning from a postdoctoral position to independence is a complex undertaking that requires careful planning and the support of mentors and mentees alike. While some researchers have experienced a smooth transition, for others, it has been more challenging. In order to gain insight into effectively managing the numerous issues that arise during this period, we turned to Drs. Ross Levine and Aaron Viny, who recently engaged in a webinar discussion with us on their relationship as mentor-mentee and their own experiences transitioning to independence. Dr. Ross Levine, having completed his MD at Johns Hopkins University, pursued hematology/oncology fellowship and residency at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before joining Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City to establish his own lab. Dr. Viny, a physician scientist, earned his MD at Case Western Reserve University, followed by an internal medicine