Our lab is interested in molecular mechanisms of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate specification and differentiation using mouse and human primary cell and ES cell models and animals.  We have a longstanding interest in developmental hematopoiesis in mammals.  One focus of the lab is to study signaling pathways in embryonic hematopoiesis and erythropoiesis (red blood cells) in the mouse.  A second focus is on definitive (adult type) hematopoietic and erythroid progenitor development (mouse fetal liver or bone marrow, human progenitors from peripheral blood or bone marrow).  We are developing a high throughput screen for regulators of erythroid progenitors as well as later stages of maturation, including enucleation, and are targeting specific ligand-activated transcription factor pathways for detailed analysis.  Experimental approaches include classical cell and molecular biology techniques, small interfering RNA viral technologies, RNA profiling and RNAseq, computational analyses, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and genetic manipulation of mice.  This work has the potential to reveal new approaches for regulating erythropoiesis and to suggest options for the development of novel therapies to improve the body’s ability to rapidly replenish its red blood cells.  They may also lead to the discovery of new targets in progenitors that could be exploited to develop methods for more efficient production ex vivo of red blood cells for transfusion.