simply blood

This week on Simply Blood we are kicking off our 2025 Interview Spotlight Series. In Part I we are featuring the ISEH 2025 New Investigator Invited Speaker: Shalin Naik, PhD. Prof. Naik dives into his current work, career inspirations, life outside of the lab, and looks towards the future of hematologic research. Interested in hearing more about Prof. Naik's fascinating work? Don’t miss his session at the ISEH 54th Annual Scientific Meeting this September ! Prof. Shalin Naik The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Laboratory Head Blog post contributed by Kohei Shiroshita, MD, PhD of the ISEH New Investigators Committee. Please note that the statements made by Simply Blood authors are their own views and not necessarily the views of ISEH. ISEH disclaims any or all liability arising from any author's statements or materials.

  Welcome to this month’s Preprint Watch, where we highlight some of the latest and most interesting preprints for the ISEH community. This time, we’re diving into studies using less explored animal models, new angles on normal and pathological lymphopoiesis, and several exciting technologies pushing the boundaries of advanced cell culture. We’re also thrilled to chat with Christiana Georgiou from the Lo Celso Lab in London, UK, who will share more details about her recent work on HSC heterogeneity in the context of malaria infection! As usual, we are more than happy to highlight your new preprint, you just have to submit it at https://www.iseh.org/Preprintwatch !  From the Simply Blood Community: Heterochromatin fidelity is a therapeutic vulnerability in lymphoma and other human cancers https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.31.635709v1 From the authors: We identified the KDM4 family of H3K9 demethylases as subtype-agnostic therapeutic targets for diffuse large B-cel...

Read highlights of the following articles from Experimental Hematology, volumes 143 and 145. A distinct alternative mRNA splicing profile identifies the oncogenic CD44 transcript variant 3 in KMT2A-rearranged pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. Ramilo Amor, Amanda et al. Experimental Hematology, Volume 145, 104712 The recent FDA approval of menin inhibitors targeting key genetic drivers of myeloid leukemia, such as KMT2A (lysine methyl transferase 2A) rearrangements and NPM1 mutations, has drawn attention to a recent article in press in Experimental Hematology.  KMT2A rearrangement (KMT2A-r) is associated with a poorer prognosis in myeloid and lymphoid leukemia. The study is focused on the KMT2A rearrangement in T-ALL and how it is distinct from KMT2A-negative (KMT2A-wt) T-ALL.   The authors performed transcriptome profiling on 171 primary T-ALL samples (n=161 wt vs n=10 KMT2A rearranged samples). They found that 15% of the genes were significantly differ...

Tremblay Lab 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 Tremblay Lab out of the University of Manitoba, Canada. How long have you had your lab?  2.5 years already (time flies when having fun!) How many members make up your lab? 6 students – 1 undergrad, 3 MSc, 2 PhD What is the major research theme of your lab?  My laboratory focuses on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), which accounts for almost 25% of all cases of leukemia in that age group. Although 85% of children can be cured, chemotherapy induces life-long complications, which remain of major clinical concern and are extremely debilitating for patients. Furthermore, therapeutic options for relapsed disease remain limited and rarely curative, with a 5-year survival of less than 10%. Therefore, there is a...

Who am I at this moment? Figuring out my research identity “The search for identity is the ongoing struggle to arrest or slow down the flow, to solidify the fluid, to give form to the formless.” – Zygmunt Bauman (2000) Our research identity is about how we see ourselves, and how others see us. As we go through university and beyond, we slowly figure out what we’re really interested in, what we value, and what’s worth putting our time into. This usually happens where our passion and skills meet, and often with the help of a good mentor. But it’s not always clear: What should we focus on? Which questions are really worth answering? To help explore this, I looked at the journeys of two scientists, Prof. Leonard Zon and Assistant Prof. Li Li —to see how they found their way. ________________________________________ Undergrads: Trying things out Things really start in Undergrads. It’s a time to explore. We take all sorts of classes and try different experiences, and over time, we start to ...

  The ability to expand hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) ex vivo has broad clinical and translational potential, and there has been substantial progress in the development of advanced culture systems. Experimental Hematology offers a timely special issue “New Culture Methods in Experimental Hematology”, and two of the reviews specifically address the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment and ex vivo HSC expansion technologies respectively. Busch et al[1] provide a comprehensive summary of the BM microenvironment, covering cellular as well as extracellular components and how these interact. The complexity and challenges of three-dimensional approaches to model the BM niche are described.  The review by Meaker and Wilkinson[2] provides an in-depth analysis of ex vivo expansion of HSCs. This is a key technology for basic research questions and has the potential to improve HSC transplantation and gene therapies in the future. Along these lines there have been important steps taken to a...