Engineering a novel human bone marrow organoid to target myelofibrosis.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) are rare bone marrow cells which are responsible for making platelets - cells which make our blood clot on injury. In a rare bone marrow cancer called myelfibrosis, MKs drive scarring of the bone marrow which results in the loss of its ability to make healthy blood cells. Myelofibrosis remains a severe condition with limited treatment options, and like many other bone marrow cancers, is difficult to study because of a lack of models which re-create a very complex and carefully organised organ. We urgently need better systems with which we can look for and test novel therapies for conditions like myelofibrosis. During this fellowship, I will create a completely novel artificial bone marrow 'organoid' to study MKs in myelofibrosis. This system will not only help us develop and test new treatments for myelofibrosis, it will also be applicable to other bone marrow conditions like leukaemia.