Characterisation of inflammation-driven responses in human haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells

Elisa is a molecular and cellular biologist who studies how blood is formed in humans. Her main focus is to understand the molecular regulation of haematopoietic stem cells, the cells responsible for the continuous production of blood throughout a lifetime. After having described the molecular circuitry of these cells in normal steady-state conditions, she now aims to determine how they react to stress, in particular to inflammation. Determining which inflammatory signals act directly on human haematopoietic stem cells, and how, will be important for developing new therapies aimed at palliating the impaired blood production seen in chronic inflammation.