Guest speaker Edyta Wojtowicz | Decoding hematopoiesis using lineage tracing and morphotranscriptomics

Medical priority Anemia

Tuesday 10 March 2026 Edyta Wojtowicz PhD (Earlham Institute, Norwich, UK) will give a guest lecture at Sanquin Amsterdam.

Title: Decoding hematopoiesis using lineage tracing and morphotranscriptomics

Host: Arthur Svendsen

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Abstract
Blood production in multicellular organisms depends on rare hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that can self-renew and differentiate into all mature blood cells. Among their progeny, megakaryocytes are particularly unique, they are large, highly polyploid cells that generate anuclear platelets, which are essential for clotting and immune response. My group investigates how dietary changes regulate HSC lineage commitment, with a focus on the megakaryocytic lineage. We developed an RNA barcoding strategy to map how individual stem and progenitor cells commit to megakaryopoiesis in vivo. 
In parallel, we have established morphotranscriptomic approaches that combine imaging cytometry with single-cell transcriptomics to dissect the transcriptional and morphological heterogeneity of megakaryocytes. We use these novel single cell methods to reveal how dietary changes (eg. high fat Western diets) regulate HSC lineage commitment, megakaryocyte production and, ultimately, platelet output in health and disease.