Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Immune cells are a subset of blood cells that function to prevent and fix illnesses. Researchers are trying to control immune cells to more effectively combat cancer, infection and other diseases. Recently, one type of immune cell, a T-cell, has been successfully modified to target and clear cancer cells at levels never before seen. However, technical limitations make this therapy prohibitively expensive, and it is currently not feasible for countries with single-payer healthcare systems. These treatments, called CAR-T, require that T-cells are removed from a patient with cancer, modified to target cancer cells and then returned into the body of that same patient. My work focuses on generating new, affordable and broadly applicable sources for these treatments by allowing for production of T-cells outside of the body in mass quantities. To do this, we mimic where immune cells come from in the body. They develop from a type of stem cell, called blood stem cells, which arise from a specific blood vessel cell called hemogenic endothelium (HE). We now know that not all blood stem cells are created equal, and so far, we have been unable to produce blood stem cells that efficiently develop into immune cells. Similar to how when something changes in someone's environment - if they're at work or home, for example - it changes the way that person acts, the external environment changes how cells behave. My work is deciphering how the environment around the HE can direct the development of blood stem cells, with the intention of producing immune cells. I am focused on what types of cells are around the HE and how they will change the production and behaviour of blood stem cells. I am also investigating the physical environment: are there external forces that alter blood stem cell production and behaviour? I am using state-of-the-art two- and three-dimensional cell culture systems to understand how to change the HE environment to control the types of blood stem cells produced.