Cancer Research Institute Grants

In cancer patients, inflammation hijacks the blood system and drives a systemic increase in innate immune cells, particularly neutrophils, which promote tumor progression and suppress immune responses against cancer. This enhanced production of neutrophils occurs through a process known as emergency myelopoiesis, whose underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Based upon his previous findings, Dr. Olson is now exploring the role that mitochondria and metabolic adaptation play in regulating emergency myelopoiesis and entraining the cancer-supporting activity of neutrophils. Specifically, he aims to identify the cellular, metabolic, and epigenetic mechanisms regulating the emergency myelopoiesis pathway in blood stem and progenitor cells, and how it directs the generation of the different types of neutrophils found in cancer. Ultimately, his project aims to identify therapeutic targets that can normalize myelopoiesis and improve anti-cancer immunity.