Our lab studies how the cells of the immune system are formed from blood stem cells.
Stem and progenitor cells make ‘decisions’ in order to generate our various tissues and organs. Without these decisions, we would be undifferentiated blobs without eyes and ears, livers and hearts, skin and bone.
To discover the steps of how a stem cell divides and ultimately turns into an organ, we utilise new technologies that interrogate the individual cells, rather than the population as a whole. This is akin to understanding the role of each player in a football team – not only the team’s result.
Our ultimate goal is to advance strategies for manipulating blood stem cells that may have future applications for stem cell therapy or immune therapy, and provide insights into cancer formation.