Nathalie Brouard, Ph.D.
Instructor, Centre for Stem Cell Research
phone 713.500.3431; fax 713.500.2424
Nathalie.Brouard@uth.tmc.edu
Nathalie Brouard received her PhD from Denis Diderot University -Paris VII. and pursed her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr Paul Simmons at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She joined the newly created Centre for Stem Cell Research at the IMM in December 2006.
Stem cells reside in specific locations in the adult that is commonly referred to as the stem cells niche. The nature and localization of the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) niche changes during development. The prospective isolation and characterization of the different cellular elements presenting in the stem cell niche will allow us to understand the nature and mechanisms of the interactions between the stem cells and their niche as they occur in vivo.
The hematopoietic stem cell niche provides a different stimulus that varies during development. During the embryonic stage hematopoiesis takes place in the liver where a large expansion of the hematopoietic stem cell pool occurs. The factors produced in the fetal liver at this stage are of particular interest to the clinic as cell numbers for bone marrow or cord blood transplant are critical.
Dr Brouard is using transcriptome profiling of the different cellular elements present in the HSC niche during development to identify novel hematopoietic regulators. Several candidate genes have been identified and are now subjected to in vitro and in vivo test to validate their potential for therapeutic application.