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“Hematopoietic stem cells are predominantly located in bone marrow and blood. These cells give rise to all blood cells, i.e. red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. I am working on a new technology to specifically recover these hematopoietic stem cells. My PhD research project is a collaboration between a laboratory at the ESPCI, and an industrial partner Bertin Technologies (CIFRE – Convention Industrielle de Formation par la Recherche). Since it is the start of the project, I am developing a complete protocol. I spend most of my time at the academic laboratory, and I regularly present my results to the company. It’s a multidisciplinary topic at the interface between physics, chemistry and biology. The ultimate goal is to treat people suffering from blood diseases. Currently there are a lot of research projects focused on stem cells.

To make progress in your research, you should be observant, very patient, creative and ask yourself the relevant questions. A typical PhD schedule is very diverse. I read scientific articles to keep up with the research of other teams, or when I want to do a new experiment. In order to avoid starting from scratch I build upon previous scientific results, trying to reproduce the detailed protocol described in the article. After developing my protocol, I make benchtop experiments. Then I look at the results: does the experiment work or not? There are also oral communications of my results to the laboratory or the company. Finally I develop my data, I have a lab book where I note everything down in order to think about my experiments, what conclusions I can deduce and imagine new experiments to advance my research.”

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