Since 2023, Dr. Kerstin B. Kaufmann has held an appointment as Assistant Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network. She earned her MSc in Molecular Medicine from the University of Erlangen (Germany, 2009) and her PhD from Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany, 2013), where she specialized in gene and cell therapy for blood diseases. Her scientific training included extended research stays at the Biomedical Center of Uppsala University (Sweden), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda (USA), and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot (Israel). From 2014 to 2021, Dr. Kaufmann completed her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. John Dick at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where she investigated normal and leukemia stem cell biology — also the focus of her current research.

Dr. Kaufmann's research interests are directed towards understanding the molecular basis that underlies the unique ability of stem cells to maintain and regenerate tissues and organs without burning out. She is particularly interested in human blood stem cells and how they balance blood cell production with the body's immediate and long-term demands throughout our lifespan: What prevents stem cell over-activation and depletion of the stem cell pool when there is a need for increased blood cell production due to infections or blood loss? How do these mechanisms relate to the development and persistence of cancer stem cells in leukemia? In an effort to answer these central questions, her previous research uncovered certain molecules that make a subset of normal and cancer stem cells more resilient to activation. Based on that, her current research focus is to investigate the role of sex-specific molecular mechanisms of stem cell activation her team recently uncovered that may contribute to the known higher male incidence in leukemia. Ultimately, understanding these molecular programs and harnessing sex-specific drug targets will guide informed decision making for sex-tailored personalized care.

For a list of Dr. Kaufmann's publications, please visit PubMed or ORCID.