Research Areas:
The
pediatric hemato-oncology research lab is focused on hematologic diseases,
blood cell disorders and
blood cancer. Both the research lab and the Hemato-Oncology department in Schneider Children's Hospital are headed by
Prof. Shai Izraeli, this proximity allows unique interaction – from bad to
bench and back to the clinic.
We
are studying the fundamental question of hematological malignancies; how normalblood development is disturbed? What are the genetic and biochemical abnormalities that block cell differentiation,
enhance proliferation and survival and confer the unique
stem cell properties of self-renewal to leukemic cells?
We
focus on the pathogenesis of childhood hematological malignancies in a verity
of topics. The molecular mechanisms leading to the
development of early pre-B-cell and early T cell malignancies, the mutations
evolution of pediatric AML development and relapse in attempts to identify biomarkers for residual disease
and the involvement of the CNS in leukemia.
In
our studies, we use transformation of primary human and mouse stem cells, mouse
models including transgenic, transplantation and explants of humanleukemia. We harness advanced molecular and cellular biology
technologies utilizing in-vitro and in-vivo models with the ultimate goal of
improving the care of children.