The prestigious Wellcome Career Development Awards Scheme provides funding for mid-career researchers from any discipline who have the potential to be international research leaders.
The awards are intended to help scientists develop their research capabilities, drive innovative programmes of work and deliver significant shifts in understanding related to human life, health and wellbeing.
Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology Adam Wilkinson and his team in the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit are working to uncover the biological mechanisms that control blood stem cell activity.
The blood and immune systems are crucial for our health, and they're primarily supported by a rare cell type called blood stem cells. These cells are also vital in treating severe blood disorders, such as immunodeficiencies and blood cancers, through a procedure called stem cell transplantation.
Understanding how these stem cells work has been challenging because of their scarcity and difficulties in growing them outside the body. Adam has developed a new polymer-based approach that supports the long-term growth of blood stem cells outside the body, making it easier to study them. He will now use this new model to uncover the biological mechanisms that control blood stem cell activity.
Adam says:
This award will allow us to develop new stem cell therapies and find new targets for treating blood disorders. I hope that this research will ultimately help to improve treatment options for patients with blood disorders.
Read the full story from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine here: https://www.rdm.ox.ac.uk/news/wellcome-career-development-awards-for-betty-raman-and-adam-wilkinson