Contact information
Research groups
Colleges
Bethan Psaila
MA; MBBS; MRCP; FRCPath; PhD
Associate Professor of Haematology
- Cancer Research UK Senior Fellow
Clinician Scientist and Group Leader, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and Oxford Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Our research focuses on four key areas: (1) Dissecting the interactions between blood stem cells, megakaryocytes and the stroma in normal haematopoiesis and blood malignancies; (2) Development and application of human bone marrow organoids to study normal and malignant haematopoiesis and validate targets in the relevant tissue microenvironment; (3) Developing novel strategies to selectively target cancer stem cells and pathological megakaryocytes in myelofibrosis, a severe bone marrow malignancy; (4) Understanding our recent discovery that platelets contain a repertoire of DNA fragments sequestered from cell free DNA, and confirming clinical utility for cancer detection and for pre-natal diagnosis.
In the clinic, I care for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, leading a small portfolio of clinical trials with a focus on immunotherapies am Deputy Chair of the National Cancer Research (NCRI) Haematology-Oncology MPN Subgroup and actively contribute to local and national treatment guidelines, patient forums and priority setting workshop.
I trained at Clare College, Cambridge, Imperial College London/The Hammersmith Hospital, Cornell, New York, and the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda USA.
I am also a Senior Fellow of New College, Oxford, recruiting and overseeing clinical training of ~20-30 medical students per year.
Key publications
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Human bone marrow organoids for disease modelling, discovery and validation of therapeutic targets in hematological malignancies
Khan AO. et al, (2022), Cancer Discovery
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Single-Cell Analyses Reveal Megakaryocyte-Biased Hematopoiesis in Myelofibrosis and Identify Mutant Clone-Specific Targets
Psaila B. et al, (2020), Molecular Cell, 78, 477 - 492.e8
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Single-cell profiling of human megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors identifies distinct megakaryocyte and erythroid differentiation pathways
Psaila B. et al, (2016), Genome Biology, 17
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In utero origin of myelofibrosis presenting in adult monozygotic twins
Sousos N. et al, (2022), Nature Medicine, 28, 1207 - 1211
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Generating human bone marrow organoids for disease modeling and drug discovery
Olijnik A-A. et al, (2024), Nature Protocols
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The management of myelofibrosis: A British Society for Haematology Guideline.
McLornan DP. et al, (2023), British journal of haematology
Recent publications
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Perturbing LSD1 and WNT rewires transcription to synergistically induce AML differentiation
Hosseini A. et al, (2025), Nature
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comBO: A combined human bone and lympho-myeloid bone marrow organoid for pre-clinical modelling of haematopoietic disorders
Shen Y. et al, (2025)
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INCA033989: the first shot on goal for MPNs?
Benlabiod C. and Psaila B., (2024), Blood, 144, 2278 - 2279
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When, which and how to switch: Navigating JAK inhibitors in myelofibrosis
O'Sullivan J. et al, (2024), British Journal of Haematology
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The fetal specific gene LIN28B is essential for human fetal b-lymphopoiesis and initiation of KMT2A-AFF1+ infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Ling R. et al, (2024), Blood, 144, 199 - 199
ORCID
0000-0001-8198-9663