HSCI researchers have identified potential drugs to treat telomere diseases such as dyskeratosis congenita (DC), in which cells age prematurely. The researchers tested over 100,000 compounds on patient stem cells, and identified several drugs that restored  the cells’ telomeres — the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that regulate how cells age.

“We envision these to be a new class of oral medicines that target stem cells throughout the body,” said Suneet Agarwal, an HSCI principal faculty member at Boston Children’s Hospital. “We expect restoring telomeres in...

Biomaterial-based vaccine protects against acute myeloid leukemia in mice

There are many more cell types than you might think. In your liver, for example, the cells in one section may be different than those in another. But researchers have only a general idea of how stem cells differentiate into broad categories (like “liver”) and divide to make new cells.

Understanding each different cell type – and how it interacts with its neighbors over time – is one of the greatest challenges in biomedical research.

A new study led by HSCI researcher Vijay...

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Blood Program invites applications for its 2017-2018 Pilot Grant cycle. The purpose of this funding program is to provide resources for projects in the field of blood stem cell biology with a basic, translational, or clinical research focus. HSCI is seeking to fund groundbreaking, innovative, high-impact research projects that could fundamentally enhance biomedical research in the field. Of particular interest to HSCI at this time is research...