Grant: Operating Grant

It is predicted that almost 6000 Canadians will be diagnosed with leukemia this year alone and that over 2,700 persons will die from the disease. In children, one fourth of all new cancers and one third of cancer deaths are the result of some form of leukemia. Therefore, leukemia is the most common form of childhood cancer. In general, leukemia's results from a disruption or alteration in the normal formation of the different types of blood cells (red cells, white cells, immune cells). All blood cells are derived from a common cell called the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) that can be converted into the other types of blood cells. The process by which the HSC is converted to the other blood cells is referred to as hematopoiesis. The conversion of the HCS to the over 15 other blood cell types requires a series of highly regulated signals. Although tremendous advances have been made in our understanding of how the various signals lead to specific types of blood cells, there is still much about the process that is poorly understood. However, it is clear that the body must maintain a certain balance between the different types of blood cells. In this project, I will be investigating how the signals convert the HSC to red blood cells and how the body maintains a balance between the different types of blood cells. This information is crucial to the development of new therapeutic strategies for treatment of leukemia's and other blood related diseases including anemia's. Our goal is that these studies will help in the development of these new therapeutic strategies.