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Preprint Watch: March

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This month, we're featuring a special edition of the Preprint watch, focused exclusively on pathological and malignant hematopoiesis. If you want your research to be featured here, submit this brief form . From the Simply Blood Community: RUNX1::RUNX1T1 Depletion Eliminates Stemness and Induces Bidirectional Differentiation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.13.637937v1 From the authors: “The relevance of continuing expression of fusion genes in primary leukaemic cells has remained unclear. Silencing RUNX1::RUNX1T1 expression in primary AML cells using siRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles induces substantial changes in chromatin accessibility and therewith associated transcriptional networks linked with granulocytic and eosinophilic differentiation at the complete expense of LSC-enriched populations.” Contact address: o.t.heidenreich@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl Wnt-dependent spatiotemporal reprogramming of bone marrow niches drives fibrosis https://ww...
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Alternative Careers Beyond Academic Science

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To science or not to science?  Research in academia is difficult and challenging, but it is also extremely rewarding. We explore the depths of biology to discover something new and exciting. We dream of bringing new concepts to textbooks, or to discover a cure for a disease that impacts us and the people we love. We are constantly learning new things, even long after we have completed our graduate studies. Sometimes, our research goes in the direction we hoped for, but we are often blown away by new findings that challenge the field and what we learn from textbooks. We have a degree of freedom that can be difficult to achieve in other scientific career paths.  Research in academia has a lot of upsides, but like any career, it also comes with downsides. Firstly, salaries in academia are often lower than what the industry can offer us. We work a lot of extra hours that are, most of the time, unaccounted for financially. Finally, there is a constant stress of finding money to fin...
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ISEH 2025 Society Award Winners

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  On behalf of the Awards Committee, ISEH would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2025 ISEH Society Awards which will be presented at the  ISEH 54th Annual Scientific Meeting . Donald Metcalf Award Winner - Constanze Bonifer The recipient of the 2025 Donald Metcalf Award is Dr. Constanze ‘Conny’ Bonifer, for her outstanding work in the fields of epigenetic and gene regulatory processes regulating blood cell development and differentiation, and how these processes go astray in the development of blood cancer. Dr. Bonifer has been a pioneer and world leader in these areas and a source of inspiration and guidance for many scientists working in experimental hematology.  Dr. Bonifer started her scientific career in Germany where she completed her BSc in Cologne and her PhD in Heidelberg. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and the National Institute of Medical Research, London, UK, Dr. Bonifer returned to Germany as an Assist...
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ISEH Highlights Women in Science

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On March 8th every year, the achievements of women are celebrated worldwide in conjunction with International Women's Day. It highlights the contributions of women in all fields and promotes equal opportunities in research and academia. We reviewed recent publications in Experimental Hematology with a specific focus on contributions from female experts in the field. Here is a brief summary of some of the articles. The special edition “Making blood: Mechanisms of early hematopoietic development” is edited by two leading experts in the field; Anna Bigas and Elaine Dzierzak 1 . The area of developmental hematology has evolved enormously the last decades. The issue features outstanding reviews covering the latest research on the emerging blood system.  The review by Alina Sommer and Elisa Gomez Perdiguero focuses on extraembryonic hematopoiesis and its role in fetal development 2 . The yolk sac is the first site of blood production in the embryo. It gives rise to transient hematopoieti...
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Lab Spotlight: Ganuza Lab

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The Ganuza lab has recently reported a germline NOTCH3 mutation, associated with vascular dementia (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy, a.k.a. CADASIL), which is capable of driving expansion of clonal haematopoiesis. This work has made major inroads to answering questions in the role of Notch signalling regulation and how this can favour clonal haematopoiesis (a disorder still very much lacking a deep understanding of the mechanistic drivers) where only vascular dementia has been studied before. We encourage you to read this new research article and interact with the Ganuza lab in the future. Hear from what Miguel has to say below. How long have you had your lab? I started my lab in January 2020. There are currently 5 people in the lab including two PhD students and two Postdocs, from England, Greece and Spain.   What is the major research theme of your lab? Our lab is very interested in the interface between ageing, leukemia...
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Preprint Deep Dive on AML Biology

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Publications Committee Member Alessandro Donada (Institute Curie, Paris, France) recently sat down to interview Dorien Pastoors (Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Travis Fleming (Broad Institute, Boston, USA) and discuss their recent preprints on AML Biology. Watch the brief interview and check out their preprints below.  MECOM is a master repressor of myeloid differentiation through dose control of CEBPA in acute myeloid leukemia Dorien Pastoors, Marije Havermans, Roger Mulet-Lazaro, Leonie Smeenk, Sophie Ottema, Claudia Erpelinck-Verschueren, Stanley van Herk, Maikel Anthonissen, Tim Grob, Bas J. Wouters, Berna Beverloo, Torsten Haferlach, Claudia Haferlach, Johannes Zuber, Eric Bindels, Ruud Delwel CEBPA repression by MECOM blocks differentiation to drive aggressive leukemias Travis J. Fleming, Mateusz Antoszewski, Sander Lambo, Michael C. Gundry, Riccardo Piussi, Lara Wahlster, Sanjana Shah, Fiona E. Reed, Kevin D. Dong, Joao A. Paulo, Steven P. Gygi, Claudia Mimoso, Seth...
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Science Over Troubled Waters

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Surprisingly, all scientists go through harsh times. Even the most successful geniuses, like Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie, said: "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this must be attained." Hence, we must all expect and prepare for troubled times. I started my laboratory at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, exactly 12 years ago. After a challenging postdoc in Boston, I expected just exciting science, like my joyful years as a PhD student. As you all know, initial excitement inevitably meets reality. After more than 20 years in science, we do not talk about our troubles as much as we should; everybody is happy to share success (and we should!), but not all days are shining. Our training system focuses on the bright side, but the dark side is not confined to a far, far away galaxy – it's always lurking nearby. A scientific career ...
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