simply blood

Imagine you’ve got a two-year grant to study a particular hematologic phenotype, or you are a PhD student whose project has just gained traction, but your remaining time is limited by your program. You know generally what experiments you want to do, so isn’t that enough? Sure, if you want to increase the risk of not completing your project on time and within budget. All of us know that science is not the same as building a bridge; there’s a higher level of serendipity involved wherein an experiment can negate the hypothesis or open an unexpected avenue to be pursued. However, developing a strategy that orders experiments logically and in a way that fully takes advantage of the time available can ensure efficiency regardless of the scientific outcome. Below are some steps to take to help devise a timeline for your project: Revisit the project scope. In the first part of this series we discussed the scope of the project; i.e., what the project involves. This is defined based on wh...

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 Bonifer Lab at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, UK. Image: Bonifer / Cockerill Lab How long have you had your lab? I have been an independent investigator since 1990, always in the field of gene regulation. First at the University of Freiburg in Germany, then at the University of Leeds, UK. In 2011 we moved to the University of Birmingham, UK How many members make up your lab?  Students/postdocs? We are currently 5 students, 6 postdocs and two technicians. What is the major research theme of your lab? Our major research theme is to understand how the gene regulatory machinery and outside signals program a transcriptionally active chromatin structure and drive cell fate decisions in the hematopoietic system. We...

Exploring Experimental Hematology: CD34 and EPCR coordinately enrich functional murine hematopoietic stem cells under normal and inflammatory conditions In this issue of Simply Blood, Grant Challen is exploring Experimental Hematology by highlighting and deconstructing one of his favorite manuscripts from the ISEH society journal: " CD34 and EPCR coordinately enrich functional murine hematopoietic stem cells under normal and inflammatory conditions ." Gene expression profile and principal component analysis of SLAM HSC subpopulations after chronic IL-1 treatment.  Adapted from Rabe et al Figure 2. Exp Hematol. 2019 Dec 18. Rabe JL, Hernandez G, Chavez JS, Mills TS, Nerlov C, Pietras EM. In a recent study in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Pietras (University of Colorado), Rabe et al use the cell surface markers EPCR and CD34 to coordinately distinguish HSCs with distinct functional and molecular properties within the SLAM (Lineage- c-Kit+ Sca-1+ CD48- CD150+) gate u...