Humans produce hundreds of billions of blood cells every day, thanks to the incredible regenerative potential of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). To create all those oxygen-carrying red blood cells and pathogen-fighting white blood cells, HSCs follow very specific development pathways. IRM researchers are exploring how to control these pathways and use HSCs to treat disease.

The IRM’s HSC Program investigates the fundamental properties of normal and malignant adult HSCs, the origin of hematopoietic cells in the embryo, and methods for safely producing blood cells for use in the clinic. This scientists and clinicians of the HSC Program are working to understand how blood cells normally develop and the deviations underlying leukemia, Fanconi anemia, and other blood disorders.

View HSC Program faculty