During development and after we’re born, all of our blood cells are produced by two types of stem cells: hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and progenitor cells that arise independently of HSCs during embryonic development. Differentiating between these two types of blood-forming stem cells and determining how they function during development has proven challenging.

Teresa V. Bowman, Ph.D., has received a four-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to learn how the two types of stem cells originate during development and how they are able to generate the immune cells and other blood cells needed to sustain an organism from embryogenesis until death. Dr. Bowman recently developed several tools that can discriminate between HSCs and HSC-independent progenitor cells within living zebrafish during their embryonic/larval stage. As one of her research goals, she and her colleagues will test the hypothesis that functional differences between the two types of stem cells arise from their distinct spatiotemporal origins as well as differences in how they’re genetically regulated. The research will show how the two types of stem cells establish hierarchies of blood cells and immune cells early in development—knowledge relevant to understanding immune disorders and for gaining the ability to ‘coax’ stem cells to develop into blood-cell progeny that can be used for treating a variety of disorders.

Dr. Bowman is an associate professor of developmental and molecular biology, of oncology, and of medicine at Einstein and a member of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine and National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center. (1R01DK141169-01)