Isamar Pastrana-Otero

Blood cancers result from anomalies during the process of producing all the blood and immune cells in the body via hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. Bone marrow transplantation is often used to replace the defective HSCs in the cancer patient with the donor’s healthy HSCs. I work on the understating of the effects of various cytokines and extracellular matrix components on hematopoietic stem cells differentiation in a noninvasively manner. My research will ultimately enable the expansion of hematopoietic stem cells outside the body for blood and bone marrow disease treatment.