simply blood

This week on Simply Blood we are continuing our 2020 Interview Spotlight Series. In Part III we are featuring the inaugural ISEH Janet Rowley Award Winner: Jennifer Trowbridge, Ph.D.. Dr. Trowbridge’s lab studies cell fate regulation within the hematopoietic system, with a current focus on the epigenetic regulation of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cell lineage commitment. Here, she answers questions about her work, trends in hematology, mentorship, and more. Have additional questions for Dr. Trowbridge? Don't miss her session at this year’s Virtual Scientific Meeting! 1. What was the biggest challenge that you had to face in your career so far?   Recruiting a team of scientists that I fully believed in, and felt inspired by, took much longer than I anticipated after starting my lab. It was a significant challenge starting a laboratory in a fairly remote location and there were times when I honestly thought this dream would not happen. What it took for me to get through th

Exploring Experimental Hematology : Engineering of targeted megabase-scale deletions in human induced pluripotent stem cells In this issue of Simply Blood, we are highlighting and deconstructing one of the journal’s latest manuscripts by first author Andriana G. Kotini.  This paper is an extension of the Papapetrou Lab’s ongoing work focused on modeling myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). [ https://www.exphem.org/article/S0301-472X(20)30193-4/ ] Reason to read this paper: AML is one of the most common malignancies of adulthood, comprising about 1/3 of all new leukemia cases diagnosed in the United States each year. AML often develops from MDS, a preleukemic condition of HSC failure caused by recurrent somatic mutations and chromosomal aberrations in HSC clones that impair their effective differentiation. MDS occurs sporadically in older adults but can frequently affect younger people with inherited bone mar

This week on  Simply Blood  we are continuing our 2020 Interview Spotlight Series. In Part II we are featuring the ISEH 2020 New Investigator's Invitee:  Elisa Laurenti, MBS; PhD . Dr. Laurenti answers questions about her work, trends in hematology, mentorship, and more. Have additional questions for Dr. Laurenti? Don't miss her session at this year's  Virtual Scientific Meeting . 1. How would you describe your science? Ultimately, I want to contribute to the understanding of how such a complex cellular system as blood production is set up and maintained. Currently my laboratory is particularly interested in how haematopoiesis changes throughout a human life, starting from the embryo all the way to the old age. From my PhD, I have been fascinated by cellular quiescence, and why its molecular regulation is such an important feature to maintain healthy blood production. Now my laboratory looks at how understanding quiescence networks can contribute to gene therapy and ex vivo

This week on Simply Blood we are beginning our 2020 Award Winner Spotlight Series. In Part I we are featuring the ISEH 2020 McCulloch & Till Award Winner: Mark Dawson, MBBS; BMedSci; FRACP; FRCPA; PhD . Dr. Dawson answers questions about his work, trends in hematology, mentorship, and more. Have additional questions for Dr. Dawson? Don't miss his session at this year's Virtual Scientific Meeting . 1. What key question would you like to answer with your science? My research has primarily focused on understanding the role of chromatin / epigenetic regulators in the initiation & maintenance of cancers (especially haematological malignancies). We have also been particularly interested in understanding how epigenetic regulators may facilitate acquired resistance to cancer therapies. Our interest in this area has been shared by many labs across the work and over the last 10-years work from a number of labs, including mine, have contributed substantial insights into all these

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 Machlus Lab at Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women’s Hospital!  1. How long has your lab been open?  The Machlus Lab has been open for about 2.5 years!  2. What is the current composition of the Machlus lab?  We are still small, with 2 postdocs and 2 research technicians. However, we are part of a larger group- the BWH Platelet Group- with 4 different PIs working on platelets, megakaryocytes, and hematopoiesis. We share space and have lab meetings together, so it feels like one big happy family! 3. What are the overarching research goals of the Machlus Lab? Ultimately, we aim to determine what triggers megakaryocytes to make platelets in both normal physiology and inflammatory conditions such as autoimmune diseases. If we can unders