Blood stem cell Identity team
We are a dynamic, curiosity-driven, international team of scientists on a mission to crack the code of human hematopoietic (blood-making) stem cells, the ultimate shapeshifters of biology (at least for us…). Our work is all about uncovering how these remarkable cells stay young, stay flexible, and stay powerful.
The Recipe?
Self-Renewal: Think of it as extreme self-care at the cellular level. HSCs have to stay relaxed, keep their plasticity, maintain their identity, and avoid burnout, all while being ready to jump into action at any time to generate new blood for life.
Multipotency: They’ve made the career choice to become blood, but they haven’t settled on the job title yet: red cells, white cells, platelets… they keep their options wide open. We’re fascinated by how they hold onto this potential without committing too early.
The result: Engraftment Ability upon Transplantation: When called to duty, these cells deliver. Successfully repopulating an entire blood system in a new host? That’s next-level skill. It takes all the above qualities plus a little extra…. We want to know what gives them this superpower!
Why are we obsessed with HSCs?
Because we’re infatuated with mechanisms of life. What does it take for a cell population to stay stem and ready for anything? Once cells start differentiating, there’s arguably no turning back, and we want to understand the gene expression programs that keep that door open as long as possible.
Because HSC transplantation is still the last hope for many patients and too often a risky, grueling procedure. We want to make it better, safer, and more effective. We want it to become available and affordable for more patients and to be used to treat more diseases.
Because HSCs are a goldmine for understanding adult stem cell biology. They were the first stem cells to be discovered and used in medicine and the most accessible. So as a model to study stemness, they hold the key to unlocking the full promise of regenerative medicine, way beyond the field of blood.
Research lines
Join us on our journey to decode the stem cell blueprint and transform how we treat blood disorders, cancer, and beyond.
Developmental Origins of HSCs
Molecular Dissection of HSC Self-Renewal
From Discovery to Therapy
Targeting Leukemia Stem Cells
Tackling functional maturation for transplantable hematopoietic stem cell generation
Transcriptional regulation of self-renewal in human haematopoietic stem cells
Overcoming the Epigenetic drift in culture-expanded Blood Adult Stem cells
Environmental Space-time definition of human Hematopoietic Stem Cell early DevelopmentEnvironmental Space-time definition of human Hematopoietic Stem Cell early Development
Dissecting the role of the gene HLF (hepatic leukemia factor) in stemness regulation to identify targeted therapeutic options for AML
The fetal liver niche role in hematopoietic development and childhood leukemia
Vincenzo Calvanese, ATRAE 2023 researcher, meets the President of the Spanish Government
Vincenzo Calvanese has taken part in a meeting at the Moncloa Palace between Pedro Sánchez, President of the Spanish Government, Diana Morant, Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, and all the researchers participating in the ATRAE Programme awarded in 2023. The programme is an initiative of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) designed to facilitate […]
The entire Calvanese Lab joined the 55th ISEH Annual Meeting
The 55th ISEH Annual Meeting featured an outstanding and inspiring scientific programme, bringing together researchers to explore key advances in hematology and stem cell biology. Most members of the lab presented their research during the poster sessions, sharing their latest findings with the scientific community and fostering discussions and exchanges of ideas with fellow researchers. […]
Vincenzo Calvanese presented the last advances in human HSC identity at the ISEH 2026
During the Human Developmental Hematopoiesis session at the 55th ISEH annual meeting, Vincenzo presented as invited speaker the research from the Blood Stem Cell Identity Lab, focusing on uncovering the mechanisms that establish and maintain the human hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) program. The work integrates multiple sequencing approaches with in vitro model systems to investigate the molecular foundations of […]
The growing number of US scientists moving to Spain
Spain’s Ministry of Science and the State Research Agency (AEI) have announced that more than 254 researchers from around the world applied to the Atrae program, an initiative to attract established talent of recognized international prestige to Spain. Vincenzo Calvanese, a 43-year-old researcher originally from Naples, Italy, is one of the foreign researchers who decided […]
A Strong Lab Presence at RegenBell 2025
The Blood Stem Cell Identity Lab attended the RegenBell Symposium 2025, which featured an excellent and inspiring scientific program. Chiara delivered an engaging talk highlighting her latest findings on HSC self-renewal mechanisms. Sazia and Flo joined from London and presented their work in poster sessions, fostering valuable exchanges and strengthening collaborations within Barcelona’s stem cell […]
Calvanese, Vincenzo; Mikkola, Hanna K. A.
The genesis of human hematopoietic stem cells Journal Article
In: Blood, vol. 142, no. 6, pp. 519–532, 2023, ISSN: 0006-4971, 1528-0020.
@article{calvanese_genesis_2023,
title = {The genesis of human hematopoietic stem cells},
author = {Vincenzo Calvanese and Hanna K. A. Mikkola},
url = {https://ashpublications.org/blood/article/142/6/519/496470/The-genesis-of-human-hematopoietic-stem-cells},
doi = {10.1182/blood.2022017934},
issn = {0006-4971, 1528-0020},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-08-01},
urldate = {2025-09-18},
journal = {Blood},
volume = {142},
number = {6},
pages = {519–532},
abstract = {Abstract
Developmental hematopoiesis consists of multiple, partially overlapping hematopoietic waves that generate the differentiated blood cells required for embryonic development while establishing a pool of undifferentiated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for postnatal life. This multilayered design in which active hematopoiesis migrates through diverse extra and intraembryonic tissues has made it difficult to define a roadmap for generating HSCs vs non–self-renewing progenitors, especially in humans. Recent single-cell studies have helped in identifying the rare human HSCs at stages when functional assays are unsuitable for distinguishing them from progenitors. This approach has made it possible to track the origin of human HSCs to the unique type of arterial endothelium in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros region and document novel benchmarks for HSC migration and maturation in the conceptus. These studies have delivered new insights into the intricate process of HSC generation and provided tools to inform the in vitro efforts to replicate the physiological developmental journey from pluripotent stem cells via distinct mesodermal and endothelial intermediates to HSCs.},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Developmental hematopoiesis consists of multiple, partially overlapping hematopoietic waves that generate the differentiated blood cells required for embryonic development while establishing a pool of undifferentiated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for postnatal life. This multilayered design in which active hematopoiesis migrates through diverse extra and intraembryonic tissues has made it difficult to define a roadmap for generating HSCs vs non–self-renewing progenitors, especially in humans. Recent single-cell studies have helped in identifying the rare human HSCs at stages when functional assays are unsuitable for distinguishing them from progenitors. This approach has made it possible to track the origin of human HSCs to the unique type of arterial endothelium in the aorta-gonad-mesonephros region and document novel benchmarks for HSC migration and maturation in the conceptus. These studies have delivered new insights into the intricate process of HSC generation and provided tools to inform the in vitro efforts to replicate the physiological developmental journey from pluripotent stem cells via distinct mesodermal and endothelial intermediates to HSCs.
Calvanese, Vincenzo; Capellera-Garcia, Sandra; Ma, Feiyang; Fares, Iman; Liebscher, Simone; Ng, Elizabeth S.; Ekstrand, Sophia; Aguadé-Gorgorió, Júlia; Vavilina, Anastasia; Lefaudeux, Diane; Nadel, Brian; Li, Jacky Y.; Wang, Yanling; Lee, Lydia K.; Ardehali, Reza; Iruela-Arispe, M. Luisa; Pellegrini, Matteo; Stanley, Ed G.; Elefanty, Andrew G.; Schenke-Layland, Katja; Mikkola, Hanna K. A.
Mapping human haematopoietic stem cells from haemogenic endothelium to birth Journal Article
In: Nature, vol. 604, no. 7906, pp. 534–540, 2022, ISSN: 0028-0836, 1476-4687.
@article{calvanese_mapping_2022,
title = {Mapping human haematopoietic stem cells from haemogenic endothelium to birth},
author = {Vincenzo Calvanese and Sandra Capellera-Garcia and Feiyang Ma and Iman Fares and Simone Liebscher and Elizabeth S. Ng and Sophia Ekstrand and Júlia Aguadé-Gorgorió and Anastasia Vavilina and Diane Lefaudeux and Brian Nadel and Jacky Y. Li and Yanling Wang and Lydia K. Lee and Reza Ardehali and M. Luisa Iruela-Arispe and Matteo Pellegrini and Ed G. Stanley and Andrew G. Elefanty and Katja Schenke-Layland and Hanna K. A. Mikkola},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04571-x},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-022-04571-x},
issn = {0028-0836, 1476-4687},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-04-01},
urldate = {2025-09-18},
journal = {Nature},
volume = {604},
number = {7906},
pages = {534–540},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Calvanese, Vincenzo; Nguyen, Andrew T.; Bolan, Timothy J.; Vavilina, Anastasia; Su, Trent; Lee, Lydia K.; Wang, Yanling; Lay, Fides D.; Magnusson, Mattias; Crooks, Gay M.; Kurdistani, Siavash K.; Mikkola, Hanna K. A.
MLLT3 governs human haematopoietic stem-cell self-renewal and engraftment Journal Article
In: Nature, vol. 576, no. 7786, pp. 281–286, 2019, ISSN: 0028-0836, 1476-4687.
@article{calvanese_mllt3_2019,
title = {MLLT3 governs human haematopoietic stem-cell self-renewal and engraftment},
author = {Vincenzo Calvanese and Andrew T. Nguyen and Timothy J. Bolan and Anastasia Vavilina and Trent Su and Lydia K. Lee and Yanling Wang and Fides D. Lay and Mattias Magnusson and Gay M. Crooks and Siavash K. Kurdistani and Hanna K. A. Mikkola},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1790-2},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-019-1790-2},
issn = {0028-0836, 1476-4687},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-01},
urldate = {2025-09-18},
journal = {Nature},
volume = {576},
number = {7786},
pages = {281–286},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}













