Scientists have yet to learn exactly how stem cells respond to infection within the human body.  They know that stem cells can produce specialised immune cells including T cells and B cells, but they don’t understand the exact process.

A young scientists named Adnan Chowdhury is attempting to learn more about how stem cells respond to infection.  Chowdhury recently won the Hearst Fellowship, a prestigious award that will provide him with a full salary for a year so he can continue his research.

Chowdhury describes his groundbreaking research project, saying: “None of the immunologists think about the hematopoietic stem cells, and none of the hematopoietic stem cell people think about the immunology,” he continued, saying “They’re kind of separated, even though they’re very related, because the hematopoietic stem cells give rise to the immune system.”

Chowdhury has a diverse academic background, previously studying chemistry and computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  He hopes to unlock some of the mysteries of the immune system by learning how stem cells respond to infection.

The research will be carried out at the Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC — a facility that has already been responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs in stem cell research.

His research project will examine how hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) respond to acute and chronic viral infections in mice.  The project will tag and track stem cells at a molecular  level, to monitor how they interact with the immune systems of the mice.

This research project could help scientists boost the immune systems of patients and help them deal with a variety of different illnesses.

Source: Hearst Fellow Studies How Stem Cells Respond to Infection

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