Vijay G. Sankaran, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Vijay Sankaran’s laboratory studies how human genetic variation impacts human blood cell production or hematopoiesis in health and disease.

The Sankaran Laboratory utilizes human genetics to refine our understanding of hematopoiesis and how this process goes awry in human disease. We are particularly interested in gaining molecular insights into how hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are able to produce various blood cell lineages normally and how this process is perturbed in disease, how the hemoglobin genes (including fetal hemoglobin) are regulated, and how hematopoiesis varies in humans. We are also interested in identifying opportunities to use the insights we gain from our studies to develop improved therapies for a variety of blood disorders, including sickle cell disease, thalassemia, Diamond-Blackfan anemia, aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative disorders, and childhood leukemia. We utilize modern human genetic studies, including exome and genome sequencing, as well as functional studies of human hematopoiesis and hemoglobin gene regulation in vitro and in vivo. We are also developing technologies to enable better studies of human hematopoiesis in vivo, including lineage tracing and single cell genomic approaches.

Biosketch

Vijay G. Sankaran, MD, PhD is the Jan Ellen Paradise, MD Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, an Attending Physician in the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute. Dr. Sankaran's lab seeks to understand the influence of human genetic variation on blood and immune cell production in health and disease. Their work has resulted in a number of therapies for blood diseases, including work that led to the development of Casgevy for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. Dr. Sankaran has received a number of awards for his work including the 2019 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research from the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the 2022 E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research, and 2024 Paul-Gallin Trailblazer Prize from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Investigation.