Dr Allison Blair

Current post

Senior Clinical Research Scientist Bristol Institute for Transfusion Sciences (BITS), Head of Stem Cell Research Group (appointed September 1998)

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) University of St Andrews 1990, PhD University of St Andrews 1994.

Research Interests

My primary research interests are in the purification and characterisation of stem cells in Childhood Leukaemias and comparing their characteristics with those of normal haemopoietic stem cells.  The long-term goal of this research is to evaluate and develop therapies that target the leukaemic stem cells, as these cells may be responsible for relapse of the disease.  This work is performed in close collaboration with Dr Pamela Kearns’ Experimental Therapeutics group.

Current research is focussed on the following areas

Phenotypic and functional characterisation of the clonogenic population in ALL

Xenograft model of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for in vivo evaluation of targeted chemotherapeutic agents

Ex-vivo expansion of haemopoietic cells as alternative sources of blood products for the treatment of post transplant neutropenia and thrombocytopenia

 

Other research interests include

Generation of functional dendritic cells from ALL patients at presentation and in remission

The assessment of immune reconstitution following transplantation and development of cellular immunotherapy

 

Publications

Cox CV, Evely RS, Oakhill A, Pamphilon DH, Goulden NJ, Blair A. Characterisation of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia progenitor cells. Blood 104: 2919-2925, 2004.

Blair A & Pamphilon DH. Leukaemic stem cells (Review). Transfusion Medicine 13: 363-376, 2003.

Blair A, Baker CL, Pamphilon DH, Judson PA.  Ex vivo expansion of Megakaryocyte Progenitor cells from normal bone marrow and peripheral blood and from patients with haematological malignancies. British Journal of Haematology 116: 912-919, 2002.

Blair A, Rowbottom AW, Browne SJ Goulden NJ, Steward CG, Oakhill A, Pamphilon DH.  An optimised biphasic culture system for the generation of functional dendritic cells from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at presentation and in clinical remission.  Leukemia 15: 1596-1603, 2001.

Sutherland HJ, Blair A, Vercauteren S, Zapf RW. Detection and clinical significance of human acute myeloid leukemia progenitors capable of long term proliferation in vitro. British Journal of Haematology 114: 296-306, 2001.

Blair A & Sutherland HJ. Primitive acute myeloid leukaemia cells with long term proliferative ability in vitro an in vivo lack surface expression of C-Kit (CD117). Experimental Hematology 28: 660-671, 2000.

Kawagoe H, Humphries RK, Blair A, Sutherland HJ, Hogge DE. Expression of HOX genes, HOX-cofactors, and MLL in phenotypically and functionally defined subpopulations of leukemic and normal human hematopoietic cells. Leukemia 13: 687-698, 1999.

Blair A, Hogge DE, Sutherland HJ. Most Acute Myeloid Leukemia Progenitor Cells With Long-Term Proliferative Ability In Vitro and In Vivo Have the Phenotype CD34 /CD71-/HLA-DR-. Blood 92: 4235-4335, 1998.

Blair A, Hogge DE, Ailles LE, Lansdorp PM, Sutherland HJ. Lack of expression of Thy-1 (CD90) on acute myeloid leukaemia cells with long-term proliferative ability in vitro and in vivo. Blood 89: 3104-3112, 1997.

Sutherland HJ, Blair A, Zapf RW. Characterization of a hierarchy in human acute myeloid leukemia progenitor cells. Blood 87: 4754-4761, 1996.