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The origins of leukemia

The Sahoo Laboratory investigates how leukemia begins, years before it is clinically detected. We study how inherited and acquired genetic alterations arise in hematopoietic stem cells, shape their fitness within the bone marrow, and drive progression from normal blood formation to bone marrow failure, pre-leukemia, and malignancy. By defining the earliest events that allow abnormal clones to survive, expand, and transform, we aim to identify opportunities to predict, prevent, and intercept leukemia before it develops.

RESEARCH

Three questions, one origin

Why does bone marrow failure progress to leukemia?

A failing marrow is an active, selective environment. As normal blood production declines, stem cells face intense pressure to survive, adapt, and compete. We study how inherited mutations impair stem cell function and initiate this competition, creating conditions in which abnormal clones gain an advantage and evolve toward leukemia. 

How do structural genomic alterations change a cell’s fate?

Chromosome loss and oncogenic rearrangements can profoundly alter a cell’s identity, behavior, and competitive fitness. We study how these large genomic changes reprogram hematopoietic cells, reshape their interactions within the marrow, and redirect their evolutionary path toward malignancy. 

When does a preleukemic clone become leukemia?

Leukemia is the endpoint of an evolutionary process, not a single event. Preleukemic clones can persist for years before acquiring the changes that enable uncontrolled expansion and transformation. We aim to identify when and why a clone crosses this threshold, creating opportunities to predict, intercept, and prevent leukemia before it develops..

APPROACH

How we work

The lab studies the same question at every scale, from a single cell to a whole patient cohort, by pairing engineering models with real patient data.

    ENGINEERED MODELS

  • iPSC and genome engineering
  • CRISPR genome editing
  • 3D bone marrow organoids
  • Mouse models

    SINGLE CELL

  • Single-cell genomics and lineage tracing
  • Functional stem cell assays

    WHOLE PATIENT

  • Patient samples and clinical cohorts

Together, these connect a genetic change to what it does inside a cell and how it drives disease.

TRAINING & LAB CULTURE

Building scientists, not just discoveries

The Sahoo Lab welcomes people from all backgrounds and life experiences, and from a wide range of scientific disciplines, including biology, medicine, engineering, computation, and quantitative fields. The lab is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where each trainee is mentored as an individual and encouraged to do their best work. We believe the best science emerges when people with diverse perspectives come together to tackle important questions.

For more information about joining our group, email Dr. Sushree Sahoo.

Meet the Lab

Selected publications

  • High-resolution single-cell mapping of clonal hematopoiesis and structural variation in aplastic anemia, Nature Genetics, 2026, PMID: 42067644
  • Cryo-EM structures of SAMD9L reveal the arrangement and coordination of multi-domains, bioRxiv, 2026
  • Genetic and clinical spectrum of SAMD9 and SAMD9L syndromes: From variant interpretation to patient management, Blood, 2025, PMID: 39475954
  • Germline GATA1 exon 2 mutation associated with chronic cytopenia and a non-Down syndrome transient abnormal myelopoiesis with clonal trisomy 21, Leukemia, 2022, PMID: 35941211
  • Gain-of-function mutations in RPA1 cause a syndrome with short telomeres and somatic genetic rescue, Blood, 2022, PMID: 34767620
  • Clinical evolution, genetic landscape and trajectories of clonal hematopoiesis in SAMD9/SAMD9L syndromes, Nature Medicine, 2021, PMID: 34621053
  • Constitutional SAMD9L mutations cause familial myelodysplastic syndrome and transient monosomy 7, Haematologica, 2018, PMID: 29217778
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