Romain Barbet is coming to visit us on January 9th. He is the head of the IRHT (Institut de Recherche en Hématologie et Transplantation) in Mulhouse.
He will present an overview of their current research and the tools they are developing.
Below is a short description of the IRHT.

The IRHT in Mulhouse is an independent biomedical research institute located inside Hasenrain Hospital and dedicated to hematology, transplantation and cancer research, with a long‑standing expertise in stem cells.  It was founded in 1987 by hematologist Philippe Hénon and is managed as a non‑profit association recognized as being of public interest, with a small permanent team and many national and international collaborations.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

## Mission and general focus

IRHT’s overall goal is to develop new cell‑based therapies for blood diseases, cancers and severe tissue damage, particularly of the heart, using stem cells and transplantation approaches.  The institute combines fundamental research on stem cell biology with translational and clinical projects, so that discoveries in the lab can be tested and eventually used in patients from the surrounding region.[2][3][8][6][9][10]

## Adult and blood stem cell research

A central activity is the study of adult stem cells, especially blood‑derived CD34+ cells, to understand how they behave in normal conditions, how they transform into leukemic cells, and how they can be used therapeutically.  IRHT was one of the pioneers showing that purified blood stem cells could regenerate damaged heart muscle after myocardial infarction, which led to early clinical proof‑of‑concept studies and later to the creation of the spin‑off company CellProthera.[11][5][9][10][12][2]

## Very small embryonic‑like stem cells and regenerative medicine

Another major line of research concerns so‑called very small embryonic‑like stem cells (VSELs), rare cells in the adult organism that share properties with embryonic stem cells but can be obtained without destroying embryos.  These cells are investigated as a basis for regenerative medicine, with clinical work in areas such as myocardial infarction and diabetes, aiming to repair tissues like the heart or pancreas using ethically acceptable stem‑cell sources.[13][2][11]

## Leukemia, cancer and new axes (e.g. brain tumors)

IRHT also studies how normal stem cells become leukemic, focusing on mechanisms of transformation that may lead to better diagnostics or targeted therapies for blood cancers.  More recently, the institute has opened a research axis on brain cancers, alongside its historical work on hematological malignancies and transplantation, expanding its cancer‑oriented projects.[14][9][12][2][13]

## Local integration and collaborations

The institute is physically embedded in the Mulhouse hospital and maintains close links with clinical departments, which facilitates access to patients and samples for translational research.  It collaborates with universities and research teams in France and abroad—including partners in Paris, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, North America—and has a formal cooperation framework with the University of Haute‑Alsace for research, teaching and scientific outreach.