Paediatric Haematology

Irene Roberts has a longstanding interest in the ontogeny of haemopoiesis in the human fetus and the mechanism of haematological abnormalities in newborn babies. The lab has developed unique miniaturized assays for haemopoietic progenitors from early in the first trimester and has a particular interest in fetal megakaryocytopoiesis and fetal mesenchymal cells.

Current work in the group includes studies on sepsis-related thrombocytopenia in preterm babies; on the molecular and functional characterization of fetal mesenchymal cells and ontogeny-related changes in fetal haemopoiesis. Clinical studies are focused on the role of stem cell transplantation for children with haemoglobinopathies.