Blog

Susanna Fletcher Greer: How a V Foundation Researcher Uncovered Our Hidden Power

Susanna Fletcher Greer/LinkedIn

Jul 26, 2025, 10:41

Susanna Fletcher Greer: How a V Foundation Researcher Uncovered Our Hidden Power

Susanna Fletcher Greer, Chief Scientific Officer at the V Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:

“Every year, thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma undergo bone marrow transplants. It’s often their best shot at long-term survival. But after the transplant, the immune system must rebuild itself from scratch, this is a slow and risky process, especially in older adults.

During that recovery time, patients are vulnerable to infections, relapse, and other complications. So researchers have been asking a critical question:

Can we help the immune system (and thus patients), bounce back faster? A study funded in part by the V Foundation just found a promising answer.

Dr. Melody Smith, Stanford University School of Medicine identified a rare group of blood stem cells with an incredible knack for rebuilding the immune system, especially T cells, the body’s frontline defenders.

These blood stem cells have a technical name: Kit^lo HSCs (I know, I know, but it’s short for ‘hematopoietic stem cells with low levels of the Kit protein’). The ‘Kit’ is a marker – and a way researchers can sort stem cells from other cells.

Susanna Fletcher Greer: How a V Foundation Researcher Uncovered Our Hidden Power

But here’s what I’d like you to know about these cells, and Dr. Smith’s discovery: The cells Dr. Smith identified are immune-rebuilding stem cells.

What gives them this unique ability is a gene with another not-so-catchy name but super catchy function: ZBTB1. You can think of ZBTB1 as a ‘genetic switch’ that is responsible for the ability of these special stem cells to focus on their ability to generate immune cells, especially the T cells that protect us from infections and cancer.

What Dr. Smith and team showed:

These immune-rebuilding cells worked in both young and middle-aged lab models, speeding up thymus and immune recovery after transplant.
When the team boosted the “ZBTB1 switch,” the cells became even more effective.
Even more exciting to me: they discovered a similar population in human bone marrow, showing real promise for future patient therapies.

Why this research matters for cancer patients:

Faster immune recovery means fewer infections, fewer setbacks, and better chances of survival after transplant.
It could even help older adults rebuild a stronger immune system.

I love this study! It’s exactly the kind of bold, high-impact research the V Foundation is proud to fund: uncovering hidden healing powers in the body, and turning them into better outcomes for cancer patients.

Bottom line: we already carry the blueprint to recover better. This research is helping us to discover new ways to use it.”

More posts featuring Susanna Fletcher Greer.