importance, the paucity of HSCs and lack of tractable ex vivo HSC culture systems means that the mechanisms that regulate HSC activity are incompletely understood.
HSCs are also used in clinic therapy with HSC transplantation therapy currently represents the only curative treatment option for numerous haematological malignancies. Additionally, HSC-based gene therapies are being developed and used to correct various hereditary blood diseases. While potentially curative, these HSC transplantation therapies still represent a high-risk procedure and are not available to all patients. The Wilkinson Group are aiming to improve the safety, availability, and potential applications of HSC-based therapies through developing new tools to expand and modify HSCs ex vivo.
Towards this goal, they have pioneered new methods to expand transplantable HSCs long-term ex vivo (Wilkinson et al, Nature 2019; Igarashi et al, Blood Advances 2023; Sakurai et al, Nature 2023) and to evaluate the consequences of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing on functional HSCs in transplantation models (Wilkinson et al, Nature Communications 2021; Becker et al, Cell Stem Cell 2023).
The Wilkinson laboratory is currently leveraging this technology to (1) investigate the molecular regulation of HSC self-renewal and lineage commitment, (2) better understand how HSC dysfunction can drive blood cancer initiation, and (3) develop novel HSC-based therapies.
To Apply:
We encourage prospective PhD students to reach out directly to Dr Wilkinson, acw63@cam.ac.uk to discuss potential projects and supervision.
Applicants must secure the support of a Supervisor within a laboratory before submitting an application. Please contact the project Supervisor(s) to discuss potential supervision, proposed research project and funding options, which should then be used to write your formal application.
Applications will be submitted to the 'PhD in Stem Cell Biology' and full course details can be found at https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/blscpdscp
Funding Notes
This is not a core-funded PhD programme, and candidates are therefore required to secure their own funding.
Please visit Postgraduate Funding | Cambridge Stem Cell Institute for funding available via the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.
Funding options should be discussed on an individual basis with the proposed Supervisor before submitting an application.
Applicants are recommended to apply to the University funding scheme by ticking 'Yes - I wish to apply for funding ' in the funding section of the Applicant Portal, by the funding deadline. You will then automatically be considered for any University funding that you are eligible for.
To learn more about how to apply for University funding, please visit Postgraduate funding | Postgraduate Study
