Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is used to treat a broad range of cancer and blood disorders, mainly leukemia and lymphomas. This therapeutic approach is effective because HSCs are able to produce all the cell types circulating in the blood, which allows the immune system to recover after chemotherapy. There are many challenges associated with HSC transplantation, in particular, their source. HSCs are a rare occurrence and are mainly found in adult bone marrow or umbilical cord blood; this means a limited supply for medical treatment. The need for compatible donor can also delay transplantation procedures. Several groups have tried to make HSC, but these attempts have failed because our current knowledge is insufficient. The goal of this project is to broaden our understanding of the genes involved in hematopoietic stem cell formation and assist with the production of stem cells for curative strategies. Our preliminary findings reveal that Meis1 gene is highly expressed in cells having the potential to become HSC during development. My data suggests that the absence of Meis1 interferes with the ability to produce stem cells. Therefore I hypothesize that Meis1 plays a key role in promoting hematopoietic stem cell formation. My objectives are to 1) understand the requirement for Meis1 in HSC development and 2) determine which genes are controlled by Meis1 during this process. I will trace and knock-down Meis1 expression with the use mouse models to look at cell fate and gene expression during the normal development of HSC. Ultimately, this study will build knowledge for molecular programming needed to make hematopoietic stem cells for medical treatment, disease modeling, and testing therapies without risking the lives of patients.