Maintenance of a healthy blood system is dependent on a strict balance between the capacity of the hematopoietic stem cell pool to differentiate and its ability to renew itself. In contrast, to drive leukemic growth, leukemic stem cells are thought to function by exploiting this normally exquisitely regulated self-renewal machinery. Dr. Hope’s work focuses on understanding the molecular control of stemness at the level of RNA processing and regulation where RNA binding proteins play an integral role. In particular her research is exploring the premise that RNA binding protein-driven post-transcriptional control is a critical mode by which self-renewal and transformation are regulated in hematopoiesis. With this work, Dr. Hope and her team aim to identify novel stem cell regulators that could inform the design of enhanced hematopoietic stem cell-based regenerative therapies on one hand and leukemic stem cell-targeted anti-leukemic therapies on the other.