Prof. Olaia Naveiras: AGORA Progress Report Series

BIO: 
Olaia Naveiras studied Medicine at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, and pursued a Master’s degree in Immunology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and Harvard Medical School, where she completed her PhD in Prof. George Q. Daley’s laboratory. Her research focused on novel microenvironmental determinants of hematopoietic stem cell commitment from pluripotent stem cells. She was the first to describe the role of adipocytes in adult hematopoiesis and the impact of biomechanical forces on hematopoietic stem cell specification during embryonic development. Her work earned the Hauser Award for the best research and teaching thesis.

She later moved to Switzerland for clinical training in Internal Medicine and Hematology while continuing her research at Prof. Matthias Lutolf’s laboratory (EPFL), focusing on single-cell approaches to study hematopoietic stem cell fate specification.

In 2014, Prof. Naveiras established the Laboratory of Regenerative Hematopoiesis as a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)-funded Assistant Professor. She was double-appointed at the Swiss Experimental Cancer Center (ISREC) and the Institute of Bioengineering at EPFL. In 2020, her lab moved to the University of Lausanne (UNIL) School of Biology and Medicine, hosted within the Department of Biomedical Sciences and situated across from the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). The focus of the lab remains the understanding and modulation of the bone marrow microenvironment to improve blood progenitor function in malignant hematopoiesis, aging, and bone marrow failure.

Prof. Naveiras is board certified in Internal Medicine and in Hematology. She consults at the Hematology Service, Department of Oncology at CHUV, specializing in adult patients with bone marrow failure syndromes, including aplastic anemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), telomere biology disorders, Blackfan-Diamond anemia, and Shwachman-Diamond syndrome. She is an active member for the scientific committees of the American, European, and Swiss Societies of Hematology (ASH, EHA, SSH). In 2020, she was elected Vice-President of the Swiss Stem Cell Network (SSCN) and President of the International Bone Marrow Adiposity Society (BMAS). She has received the Young Investigator Award from the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation, and the 2024 SAKK-Abbie award for Digital Innovation in Hematology/Oncology.

Confidentiality Notice:
The presentations will include unpublished results and privileged information intended solely for internal use within the AGORA community. Please refrain from recording, screenshotting, photographing, reproducing slides, 
or distributing any content to third parties without prior written permission from the presenter.

Coffee and Late Breakfast:
Coffee and a late breakfast will be served before the meeting, courtesy of the ISREC Foundation.