Rhea Bhalla

I am DPhil student at the Psaila lab. My research focuses on megakaryocyte biology and understanding how their cell biology affects the bone marrow microenvironment. 

My research interests lie at the intersection of cancer biology and haematology. The complexity of hematopoietic stem cells and their dynamic interaction with the tumour microenvironment fascinates me. I want to study the intricacies of the bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell niche in blood cancers and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the cross-talk between the cells and how this affects disease progression. 

I graduated with a MSc in Molecular Medicine from Imperial College London in 2023. My postgraduate thesis focussed on understanding the relationship between haemostatsis and innate immune inflammatory pathways. Following this, I worked as a Research Associate at MiNA Therapeutics where I worked as part of the team developing RNA therapeutics for the treatment of sickle cell disease.