Mentor Areas
The Kurre laboratory has longstanding expertise in Fanconi Anemia (FA), a rare inherited genetic condition with prominent hematologic complications. We hope to improve our understanding of the progressive hematopoietic failure that occurs in patients with FA, with origins before birth. The lab is developing strategies that will ameliorate those losses, with the long term goal of reversing the successive erosion of the stem cell pool in children.
Additional projects in the lab are focused on the emergence of an epigenetically specified inflammatory memory in hematopoietic stem cells.
Description:
Kurre Laboratory - AVAILABLE RESEARCH PROJECTS
1) Mechanisms of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Failure and Preclinical Gene Repair in Fanconi Anemia.
Recent studies by our lab (Kovuru et al., Nature Communications 2024) have identified the origins of hematopoietic failure in FA during development. In a series of experiments we identified proteotoxcity as a novel mechanism of failure. In this project we will delve into the molecular and cellular underpinnings of our observation and and develop pharmacological and genetic strategies to reverse stem cell losses. These studies will leverage new FA animal models, drug discovery and involve studies of genome stability.
2) Development of a durable memory of the cancer environment in healthy hematopoietic stem cells.
Our studies in mouse models and patient derived samples (Chen et al., LEUKEMIA 2024) revealed inflammatory activation of hematopoietic stem cells exposed to the leukemic microenvironment. Inflammation is inextricably linked with cancer and we recently discovered the surprising role of healthy hematopoietic stem cells in sustaining inflammation. With implications for drug resistance, relapse and systemic diseases, this project will explore the mechanisms by which cancer, leukemia specifically converts stem cells to long lasting inflammatory hubs.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in molecular biology, tissue culture, bioinformatics (ATAC Seq, Ribo-Seq, RNA Seq)
Project Website
Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here. https://www.research.chop.edu/kurre-laboratory
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Spring, Summer
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Yes
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No
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Yes
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