In-person seminar - Bone marrow emergency response to infections: Good or bad but most often ugly

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or blood forming stem cells, are found in the adult bone marrow, where they are essential for the continuous generation of circulating blood cells, including the cells of the immune system. Their function is normally tightly regulated, and the different types of blood cells are being produced in balanced quantities. In a situation of stress, such as an acute infection, HSCs become activated, and the proportions of the different blood cells being produced will change in a process called emergency hematopoiesis. The major goal of this adaptation is to better respond to the infection and to eliminate the infectious agent. However, our recent work suggests that persistent pathogens may actually use the HSCs to escape the immune response by modifying the emergency response in favor of specific types of blood cells. We believe these mechanisms are actually crucial for the establishment of persistent infections, and now aim at better understanding how this happens and how it could be used to develop efficient therapies.

This seminar is available both in-person and via Zoom. Details in attached poster.

**Masks and 1 m distancing required**