simply blood

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...

Welcome to our monthly Preprint Watch, where we highlight some of the most relevant preprints for the ISEH community! This month we cover some exciting findings on immunotherapy, hematopoietic fetal development and erythropoiesis. If you would like to see your preprint highlighted here, complete this brief form . We are also happy to chat with Dr. Jane Xu, she will tell us more about chromatin accessibility and leukemia development!  From the Simply Blood Community: Ontogeny Dictates Oncogenic Potential, Lineage Hierarchy, and Therapy Response in Pediatric Leukemia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.19.643917v1 From the authors: We developed humanized models to investigate how the developmental origin of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells influences leukemia initiation, lineage plasticity, and therapeutic response in pediatric leukemias driven by NUP98 fusion oncoproteins. Our study reveals fundamental developmental differences underlying lineage potential and dru...

Espin 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  Espin Lab   which is based out of Iowa State University. How long have you had your lab? I started my lab in August 2019, so 5.5 years. How many members make up your lab? In the last year, the lab has reduced its size due to four graduations, one retirement, and one postdoc who transitioned to a faculty position, so we are in the process of hiring. Currently, in my lab there are two PhD students, a lab manager, and four undergraduate researchers. However, our lab operates together with the lab of Dr. Clyde Campbell, husband and Assistant Professor at ISU, which adds two more PhD students to the group. Both of our labs work as a team, sharing research resources and mentorship. It is therefore hard to separate the memb...

  This week on Simply Blood, we interviewed last year's Award Winner for Leadership in Mentorship, Ross Levine, MD . Dr. Levine shares lessons learned, advice for those who are beginning with their first hires, and words of wisdom for helping mentees set long-term goals. Learn more about the Levine Lab . Ross Levine, MD Senior Vice President Memorial Hospital Translational Research Blog post contributed by members of the ISEH Junior Investigator 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.