Congratulations to Kim Vanuytsel, PhD, and Andrew Wilks, MD, MS on Receiving a BMC and Department of Medicine Pilot Grant!
Please join us in congratulating Kim Vanuytsel, PhD, and Andrew Wilks, MD, MS, recipients of this year’s BMC and Department of Medicine Pilot Grant. The program supports promising early-stage research and recognizes investigators whose innovative work has the potential to generate meaningful data and advance future research funding opportunities.
Their project, “Optimizing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Yields to Widen Access to Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease,” will investigate strategies to improve the collection and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells needed for gene therapy in patients with sickle cell disease. By developing more precise measures to guide stem cell mobilization and evaluating approaches to expand functional stem cells, the project aims to help more patients reach the cell thresholds required for potentially curative therapies while reducing the number of collection procedures.