Chad Cowan is on a quest for the universal donor, which would make cell therapy available to populations – not just individuals.

• Harvard scientist Chad Cowan aims to make off-the-shelf cellular products, and democratize access to new medicines.
• His lab is working to make cellular therapies that can work for anyone, not just a single patient. 
• Their ambitious goal is to modify therapeutic cells that can be transplanted into many people, without being rejected.

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HSCI physician-scientists Daniel Tenen and Li Chai want to turn off a gene to stop cancer without poisoning the patient.

• The ideal cancer drug would harm cancer cells without hurting normal cells.
• In their quest to discover one good therapy, HSCI scientists Dan Tenen and Li Chai have zeroed in on SALL4, a gene that is essential for growth in both embryos and cancers.
• A cellular therapy that deprives cancer cells of SALL4 would stop a third of cancers in their tracks.

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Therapeutic has applications in treating liver cancers and leukemias

Advances in engineering blood cells, treating diabetes, regenerating joints, and growing organs

On May 31, 2018, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) faculty members shared their research updates at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Alumni Reunion symposium. Their work showcased the breadth of research being conducted across the HSCI network, both at Harvard University and its...

HSCI, a network of the nation’s top stem cell and regenerative medicine researchers, gathers to exchange ideas and forge new collaborations to advance biomedical research.

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Zebrafish help solve an evolutionary puzzle, and may help make blood stem cell transplants safer

This still image, from an HHMI video about the work of the Zon laboratory, shows how blood ...

Adapted from a Boston Children's Hospital Vector blog post by Nancy Flieser

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New technique raises possibility of making all types of blood cells to treat disease

By Nancy Fliesler, Boston Children's Hospital Communications

Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital have, for the first time, generated blood-forming stem...

Bone marrow from a young boy diagnosed with Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) shows a reduced number of erythroid precursor cells. In this case, an unusual gene mutation in the hormone EPO was identified and found to cause the anemia. Photo courtesy...

^{Red blood cells were successfully made via induced pluripotent stem cells from a Diamond-Blackfan anemia patient. Image: Daley lab, Boston Children’s}

For first time, iPS cells flag potential drug for blood disease

By Nancy Fliesler 

Harvard Stem Cell...

Immature (undifferentiated) cells are on the left panel and cells that have differentiated in response to treatment with brequinar are on the right panel. Photo courtesy of Scadden Lab.

Simple compound could provide first new therapy for AML in four decades...

HSCI codirector David Scadden has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 

This year 391 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be...

Photo courtesy of Vionnie Yu, Scadden Lab. 

Color-labeling helps Harvard researchers track the development and behavior of individual cells

By Hannah Robbins

Harvard Stem Cell Institute...