Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology

The focus of my laboratory is the basic mechanisms that regulate hematopoietic stem cells. Stem cells reside in the bone marrow in a quiescent state, but rapidly become activated to regenerate the hematopoietic system. We are studying several genes involved in different aspects of stem cell activation, including some that transduce initial signals, and others that regulate self-renewal and differentiation.

We are also interested in the effects of age on hematopoietic stem cells, using gene expression profiling to examine the changes that occur in mouse stem cells over time. Additionally, we are using human embryonic stem cell differentiation to examine the genes that regulate human hematopoietic stem cell development.