Aged hematopoiesis & myeloid leukemia: molecular medicine Insights

Physiological aging profoundly contributes to the development of chronic lifestyle diseases including cancer. Aged population is growing rapidly, and by 2050, the elderly population in India is expected to reach 350 million. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain blood production throughout life. Clonal hematopoiesis represents aging associated clonal selection and evolution of somatically acquired mutant/pre-leukemic HSCs, causing acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Emerging evidences highlight that age-related sterile inflammation (inflammaging) is a driver in tumorigenesis, and AML bone marrow immune-contexture influences therapy outcome. Additionally, single-cell clonal tracing analyses inform pre-existing stem cell heterogeneity and population dynamics of blood aging. Recent studies further suggest possibility of therapeutic targeting of pre-leukemic clones. Therefore, it is important to fully appreciate ontogency, cellular hierarchy and clonal evolution in the context of HSC aging and chronic inflammation for developing next-generation therapies targeting myeloid leukemia. This EMBO Workshop will bring together scientific leaders, early-career investigators and scholars, basic & physician scientists to discuss recent advancement in mammalian hematopoiesis, HSC aging & age-related clonal hematopoiesis, hematopoietic microenvironment, transposable elements & innate immune sensing pathways, chronic inflammation, epigenetic, transcriptional & cellular mechanisms of AML pathogenesis and leukemia bone marrow immune ecosystem by leveraging single-cell multimodal analysis, lineage tracing, cutting edge model systems, genomics and systems medicine. Essentially the rigorous scientific discourse would foster camaraderie and help develop interdisciplinary collaborations and global partnerships.