News | Stem Cell Program Research | Research Programs | Research

2024

Event • October 2024
Join the Stem Cell Program on Tuesday, October 29th at 1:00 – 5:00pm in the BCH Folkman Auditorium for Stem Cell Day. You can view the schedule of events here.

Award • October 8, 2024
Dr. Ryan Flynn of the Stem Cell Program was recently awarded the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award. This prestigious accolade highlights Dr. Flynn’s work in cell surface RNA biology —an emerging field he has played a pivotal role in establishing. This research could lead to transformative insights in cell biology and disease mechanisms.

Award • September 23, 2024
The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced $19.8 million in funding to support 15 projects driving life sciences innovation in Massachusetts. As a part of the Research Infrastructure Program, MLSC is awarding $2.5 million to support the Stem Cell Imaging and Therapeutics Center project led by Drs. Leonard Zon and Thorsten Schlaeger.

Publication • September 19, 2024
The Flynn lab in the Stem Cell Program recently published an article in Cell, reporting evidence for a covalent linkage between small RNAs and N-glycans via acp3U. They combined new MS instrumentation with classical glycobiology tools and critical organic synthesis intuition to enable evaluation of the nature of the RNA-glycan linker. Read more.

Publication • September 13, 2024
Recent work published in Science led by Leonard Zon and Cecilia Pessoa Rodrigues, shows that calreticulin — the “eat me” signal — can be induced on blood stem cells in several ways, as can a complementary “don’t eat me” signal the lab identified, beta-2-microglobulin (B2m). Read more in the Boston Children’s Answers Blog.

Announcement • August 2023
The Stem Cell Program announces a bittersweet moment; Richard Gregory will be leaving the Stem Cell Program in early December to become the new Chair of the Molecular, Cellular, and Cancer Biology (MCCB) Department at UMass Chan Medical School. Read more about Dr. Richard Gregory.

Event • August 2024
Save the date for the 2024 Stem Cell Day on Tuesday, October 29^th. This event will take place from 1:00pm – 6:00pm in the BCH Folkman Auditorium. More details to come.

Lecture • July 2024
HMS Dean George Q. Daley delivered the 33rd Marsilius Lecture of Heidelberg University in Germany. During his lecture, he discussed ways in which we can implement new biotechnological innovations with courage, creativity, and caution. Read more about Dr. Daley and his discussion on stem cell therapies and embryonic gene editing, CRISPR for somatic diseases, and artificial intelligence.

Publication • July 25, 2024
Check out this recent work led by Peiyuan Chai, Research Fellow in the Flynn lab of the Stem Cell Program. In this work, they found that surface glycoRNAs, RBPs, and heparan sulfates work together to regulate growth factors on the cell surface.

Event • July 2024
Camp Zon 2024 wrapped up at the end of July. Take a look at how the Camp went this year.

Publication • July 15, 2024
Aaron Moye, former Kim lab Research Fellow, recently published a paper in the EMBO Journal. Read more about Dr. Moye’s work while working in the Stem Cell Program.

Publication • July 10, 2024
Members of the Gregory lab in the Stem Cell Program recently published a new paper in Nature Communications. Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50161-y

Announcement • July 9, 2024
The Stem Cell Program is on Instagram! Follow us today @BCHStemCell to stay up to date on the latest information and news.

Award • July 1, 2024
George Daley selected to receive a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Translational Research Program award. Learn more.

Announcement • May 2, 2024
Irene Wong, Kim lab Graduate Student, successfully defends her thesis, “Tissue-Wide Responses to Airway Injury." Read more about Irene in the HMS student feature.

Announcement • March 28, 2024
Len Zon was presented the annual $100,000 donation from Legal Sea Foods. See more on our Facebook page.

Publication • March 13, 2024
The Scientist highlights a study published in Science Advances by the Schlaeger lab that uses synthetic genetic circuits to uncover the OCT4 trajectories of successful reprogramming of human fibroblasts.

Publication • March 3, 2024
Drs. Carla Kim and Aaron Moye publish "Early-stage lung adenocarcinoma is driven by an injury-associated, plastic cell state dependent on a KRAS-ITGA3-SRC axis" which discusses cell plasticity in lung repair.

Announcement • February 23, 2024
Dr. Carla Kim's work to accelerate research for regenerative medicine approaches to help lung disease will continue in the coming two years with Longfonds. Read more.

Publication • February 22, 2024
Dr. Carla Kim publishes "Epithelial stem and progenitor cells of the upper airway" showcasing the upper airway epithelial cells and the literature detailing the identification and roles of the progenitor cells of these regions.

Announcement • Feb 15, 2024
Dr. Len Zon has been elected to the 2024 Henry Kunkel Society at Rockefeller University. Learn more.

2023

Publication • November 29, 2023
A new Science Advances publication, “Synthetic genetic circuits to uncover the OCT4 trajectories of successful reprogramming of human fibroblasts” by the Schlaeger, Del Vecchio & Collins labs reveals a need for supraphysiological OCT4 protein levels in Yamanaka reprogramming. Read their publication here.

Event • November 2023
On November 20th, the Stem Cell Program held the “Stem Cell Therapies Town Hall” sponsored by the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Thank you to everyone involved in this event! Read more.
Before the event, on November 19th, some of the speakers and panelists gathered at Legal Seafoods Harborside for dinner! Read more.

Event • November 11, 2023
On November 11^th, Len, and Becky Zon, along with Chloé Baron and Gabriela Arias Alpízar rode for Team Zebrafish at the BCH Ride to Cure Kids! Len Zon was this year’s key speaker. See more from Chloé Baron and Len Zon’s Twitter pages.

Event • October 31, 2023
The Stem Cell Program and Hematology/Oncology celebrated Halloween by throwing a successful Halloween Event with lots of desserts, costumes, and funny lab videos. Congratulations to our competition winners and thank you to all of our attendees!
Check out some of our desserts and costumes here.

Award • October 30, 2023
Aaron Moye from the Kim Lab received the LabCentral Golden Ticket, which will help support Cellforma, a start-up co-founded by Aaron, with Carla Kim. Read more.

Publication • October 17, 2023
The Camargo Lab publishes “A mouse model with high clonal barcode diversity for joint lineage, transcriptomic, and epigenomic profiling in single cells” in Cell. Read their publication here.

Event • October 2023
On October 17th the Stem Cell Program, supported by the Harvard Initiative for RNA Medicine (HIRM), hosted the RNA Biology and Disease Symposium. Thank you to everyone involved! Read more.
Following the event, some of the speakers gathered at Abe & Louie's in Boston for a delicious dinner. Read more.

Award • September 27, 2023
Len Zon was named the 2023 recipient of the EvansMDS Discovery Research Grant, which will help study a new quality assurance mechanism for stem cells to help find potential therapies for MDS. Learn more about Len and his research.

Award • September 13, 2023
Ran Jing from the Daley Lab receives the Pathway to Independence Award from the NHLBI. Read more about his research.

Event • July 2023
For two weeks in July, Camp Zon hosted 38 high school students and 5 college mentors, who were able develop a research hypothesis, design laboratory experiments, and present their findings on the last day of the camp. See how Camp Zon 2023 went this year.

Award • July 2023
Carla F. Kim, PhD was appointed the inaugural incumbent of the BCH Professorship of Pediatrics in the Field of Regenerative Medicine. Upon his retirement, it will be renamed the Leonard Zon, MD, Professorship of Pediatrics in the Field of Regenerative Medicine. Learn more.

Announcement • July 12, 2023
Legal Sea Foods donates $100,000 to the Stem Cell Program

Event • July 14, 2023
The Stem Cell Program enjoyed a fun day touring the city on a Duck Boat Tour!

Publication • June 2023
Len Zon and Elliott Hagedorn publish “Transcription factor induction of vascular blood stem cell niches in vivo” in Developmental Cell.

Learn more: https://answers.childrenshospital.org/blood-stem-cell-niche/

Event • June 10, 2023
Dr. Len Zon was honored by the Longwood Symphony Orchestra for his pioneering research accomplishments in stem cell biology and cancer genetics. Learn more.

Event • June 11, 2023
The Stem Cell Program participates in the BCH Eversource Walk for Kids

Award • May 2023
On May 9th, the Stem Cell Program hosted Stem Cell Research Day, featuring our keynote speaker, David R. Liu, and three abstract competition winners. Check out our award winners from Stem Cell Research Day 2023.

Publication • April 4, 2023
Len Zon, Sahar Tavakoli, and Amy Wagers publish “Transplantation-based screen identifies inducers of muscle progenitor cell engraftment across vertebrate species" in Cell Reports.

Event • April 2023
Stem Cell Research Day, May 9, 2023, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. featuring our keynote speaker, David R. Liu, and our three abstract competition winners, Chloé Baron, Brandon Gheller, and Aaron Moye. More details surrounding the event can be found here..

Award • April 2023
Len Zon gets inducted to the National Academy of Sciences

Publication • April 21, 2023
Leonard Zon and Megan Insco publish “Oncogenic CDK13 mutations impede nuclear RNA surveillance” in Science

Award • March 2023
Brandon Gheller, 2023 Recipient of the Research Grant and Fellowship Awards by the Prevent Cancer Foundation

Event • February 7, 2023
Esteban Orellana Vinueza of the Gregory Lab awarded the Damon Runyon-Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists!

Event • February 2023
Camp Zon applications are now open!

Announcement • February 2023
Save the Date: Stem Cell Research Day May 9, 2023

Award • January 19, 2023
Ryan A. Flynn, MD, PhD received 2023 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award

Event • January 5, 2023
Richard White, MD, PhD presents at the 4th annual Barry Paw Lectureship

2022

Announcement • December, 2022
Carla Kim, PhD appointed Regenerative Medicine Chair at Harvard Medical School

Announcement • December, 2022
Trista E. North, PhD promoted to Professor

Event • December 15, 2022
The Stem Cell Program celebrated holiday parties with Yankee Swaps and the Zon Lab enjoyed a holiday dinner at Bisuteki Tokyo