Leukaemia Biology Group

Human acute myeloid leukaemias (AMLs) are heterogeneous with respect to the function of the cells that make up the disease. A minority of the cells are so called leukaemia stem cells (LSCs) which have the ability to self-renew for an extended, if not indefinite, period, while maintaining and expanding the disease.

In order to cure a patient these cells must be eliminated completely, because if they are not, they have the ability to regenerate the disease and induce clinical relapse. Understanding the cellular mechanisms that regulate the self-renewal of the LSC compartment represents a critical current problem in leukaemia biology.

The aim of my lab is to further the understanding of the biology of human LSCs, in order to identify genes and cellular pathways that are critical for their function and which could be targeted by novel therapies.