Kharas Laboratory

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) must negotiate a delicate balance between symmetric division and asymmetric division in order to maintain self-renewal of the HSC compartment and continued development of terminally differentiated hematopoietic effector cells. However, the programs that modulate the switch from symmetric division to asymmetric division are not well understood. Lending particular urgency to the study of this cell-fate switch is recent work suggesting that these same cellular programs are critical to the fundamental process of stem cell disorders. Mechanistic insights into the regulation of cell fate decisions may inform approaches to bone marrow failure syndromes, differentiation therapy of hematopoietic malignancies, and stem cell expansion for therapeutic benefits. My focus in the lab has been to identify novel factors that regulate symmetric division and differentiation of HSCs and how this program becomes altered in hematological malignancies. My research is supported by the National Institute of Health NIDDK and the American Society of Hematology.

COMING NOV 1ST 2011 NYC!!!