Welcome to the Tong Lab!
Hundreds of billions of blood cells must be replenished every day. Cytokines and cytokine receptors play essential roles in blood cell formation, a process known as hematopoiesis. The amplitude and duration of cytokine receptor signaling are highly regulated and crucial for healthy blood formation. Dysregulation of these complex signaling networks can predispose individuals to myeloproliferative diseases and myeloid leukemia.
Our laboratory is interested in studying molecular mechanisms of cytokine receptor signaling in hematopoiesis, hematopoietic stem cell development, and leukemogenesis. Our research connects these processes to fundamental fields like kinase and ubiquitin signaling, genome integrity, and ribosome biogenesis. Our major goal is to apply this knowledge to develop novel gene therapies for blood disorders.