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Panel 10 – medicine | Laboratory
impact. Group leaders Jörg Cammenga, Jonas Larsson and Johan Richter
are also innovative, competitive and internationally respected. Together
their contributions have resulted in international recognition of Division
of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy.
2.5.4 Collaboration
The Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy are strongly
interacting with other research groups in the Department of Laboratory
Medicine, Lund including the Lund Stem Cell Centre, Division of
Clinical Genetics.
2.5.5 Research activity
The research activities at the Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene
Therapy are focused on two main areas: the cellular and molecular
mechanisms of hematopoiesis, and development of cell and gene therapies
for patients with malignant or genetic blood disorders. The two research
areas hematopoiesis and cell and gene therapy are well integrated and
interlinked.
The hematopoiesis area covers several topics including hematopoietic
stem cell self-renewal, Smad signaling, regulation by Hox proteins and
stem cell expansion. In these projects the genetic control of hematopoietic
stem cell proliferation, self-renewal, differentiation and commitment is
investigated at the molecular and cellular level.
The cell and gene therapy area covers various genetic diseases that
disturb normal function of blood cells and malignant disorders of the
blood, bone marrow and lymphnodes. These diseases would be strong
candidates for stem cell gene therapy. Examples are Gaucher disease,
Diamond-Blackfan anemia, osteopetrosis and various immune defects as
well as leukemias and lymphomas. In these projects the long-term goal is
to develop hematopoietic stem cell expansion for cell and gene therapy.
2.5.6 Evaluation of future plans
No detailed planning provided in the material.
2.5.7 Future potentials and possibilities
The Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy has an optimal
size of a research centre with >10 researchers with one PI. This meets the
criteria of critical mass for competitive research at an international level.
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