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VBRI Associate Investigator Wade Sugden, PhD, Receives Grant to Study How Blood Flow Shapes Stem Cells

Milwaukee — February 16, 2026

A new preliminary study led by VBRI Associate Investigator Wade Sugden, PhD, is shedding light on how the body creates hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during early development. Supported by a two-year, $123,000 R03 supplemental grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the project opens a new line of inquiry into how physical forces influence hematopoietic stem cell formation.

These blood stem cells are rare but powerful, responsible for producing all the blood cells a person needs throughout their lifetime. They’re also the foundation of bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants, which can be life-saving treatments for patients with leukemia, sickle cell disease, and other blood disorders.

“Findings from this work could enhance strategies to amplify or generate this therapeutically valuable cell type for blood stem cell transplant for patients with blood diseases,” says Sugden.

During early development, HSCs emerge from the lining of the body’s largest artery (the dorsal aorta) in a process called endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT). Blood flow is essential to EHT, but how this physical cue triggers the molecular changes required to produce stem cells remains unclear.

Sugden’s research project (“Role of Force-directed Lipid Metabolism in the Endothelial-to-Hematopoietic Transition”) aims to answer that question using zebrafish embryos as a model system, observing these processes in real time.

The NIDDK grant builds on Sugden’s existing NIH Career Development Award. “This funding is designed to be a further steppingstone in your scientific career,” he says.

Sugden’s research underscores VBRI’s commitment to advancing foundational science that drives future medical breakthroughs and moves the field of blood health forward for generations to come.

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