simply blood

A major focus of technology development over the past years has been on increasing sensitivity to work with low cell numbers. The ultimate goal for many cell biologists is to assay cells individually. The desire to do so is in part fueled by the increasing appreciation of extensive heterogeneity in many tissues. For example, tumors are very heterogeneous, and often include not only different tumor cell clones, but also differentiated cells, infiltrating T-cells, macrophages, and fibroblasts. In the hematopoietic system, it has become apparent that even the most sophisticated flow cytometry sorting scheme has limits: highly purified hematopoietic stem cells still exhibit heterogeneous behaviors when assessed using single-cell transplantation assays (Dykstra et al., 2007; Kiel et al., 2005). In this blog, we will outline some of the most exciting developments and state-of-the-art technologies that stand to transform our understanding of tissue organization. Next Generation Sequ...

Selection period has started! As a group leader, like Eirini Trompouki for instance, you wish to recruit the best graduate students. So you will have to ask yourself: Whom of all those candidate students should I choose for my lab? On the other hand, as a graduate student, like Stylianos Lefkopoulos, you wish to earn a PhD and need to choose the appropriate supervisor and lab. Thus, you would have to ask yourself: Whom of all these mentors should I trust for my education and training ? Although the choices on both sides might sometimes be difficult and tricky, there are certain general criteria that could help you choose the right candidate or supervisor. GROUP LEADERS As a group leader you essentially always look for the following features of your future graduate student: Motivation/Passion: No matter what you decide to do in your life, you ‘d better be passionate about it, for only then do you have chances of succeeding and satisfying both yourself and the people you coop...

As our last post highlighted, scientific success is not always a straight line. In this post, we want to highlight the journey of Dr. Kateri “Teri” Moore who is an Associate Professor of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, wife of Ihor Lemischka, and mom to Chris and puppy Finley Louise. A clear theme from Teri’s path is that a sustained love of science, finding your own opportunities, and staying in it for the long haul can yield great rewards. We hope you enjoy Teri’s story and advice on how to thrive when there are bumps along the road.  We thank her so much for taking the time to share her journey with us. Career Overview: I have been working in labs since I was 16. I first worked in a small clinical lab. I married very young and had a son soon after. Going to school became secondary, so I put my plans on hold. I worked as a phlebotomist and technologist at the local hospital. Later, I started working in the Veterinary Patho...