Byeong Keun Ha, MD, PhD

Our laboratory is performing translational research in the field of hematopoietic stem cell to bring bench side scientific findings to bed side medical treatments.  Principal investigator, Dr. Ha, is a Transfusion Medicine physician, and actively participates in cellular therapy including collection of hematopoietic stem cells from peripheral blood of adult patients or donors for transplant purpose.  To make hematopoietic stem cell transplant safer and more efficient, our lab is focusing on developing a new paradigm which can expand hematopoietic stem cells ex vivo.

Traditionally hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was performed using donated bone marrow.

However, due to the invasive nature of bone marrow donation, most of the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using bone marrow has been replaced with adult peripheral blood derived hematopoietic stem cell or cord blood stem cell transplantation.

Adult peripheral blood derived hematopoietic progenitor cells are collected by apheresis.

Patients or donors are treated with G-CSF to stimulate leukopoiesis, and peripheral blood is processed to collect white blood cells that contain hematopoietic progenitor cells.  Collection products are stored until transplantation is performed.

In case of cord blood stem cell transplantation, cord blood is collected when a baby is born and stored indefinitely until matching patient shows up.

Cord blood stem cell transplantation is better option for patients with hematopoietic malignancy.  It has no danger to mother or baby during cord blood collection, and transplanted patients are less susceptible to HLA mismatch problems.  Lymphoid cells in the cord blood are immunologically naïve, so there are less GVHDs after transplantation.  Considering the fact that every child birth can be a good resource of cord blood, cord blood stem cell transplantation has tremendous potential to be future hematopoietic stem cell transplantation of choice.

However, there is a serious weak point in cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.  The number of cord blood derived hematopoietic stem cells from one cord blood is not enough for adult patients who weigh over 45 kg.  To overcome this limitation and subsequently to apply cord blood stem cell transplantation universally to all indicated adult patients, our laboratory is currently working on expanding cord blood stem cells ex vivo.

Indiana University School of Medicine has a strong academic background in stem cell research, and this prestigious environment is providing us all the necessary basic research support.  Our laboratory is collaborating with Dr. Hal Broxmeyer in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, who first established cord blood bank and participated in the first successful cord blood stem cell transplantation.

Our pioneering research to expand cord blood hematopoietic stem cells ex vivo will lead to the first clinically applicable expansion of cord blood stem cells for patients with hematopoietic malignancy. 

Our translational research in this field has been initiated in the year 2011, and will be updated here as our publications move into the press.