Expertise and Research Interests

The Kiem Lab studies cell and gene therapy with a particular interest in the biology of blood and marrow stem cells and the development and use of novel gene therapy and genome editing technologies for ex vivo and in vivo applications. The overall goal is to develop better stem cell transplantation and cell and gene therapy treatments for patients with genetic, infectious, and malignant diseases.

Research topics in the lab include:

• The identification of a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-enriched cell population for gene therapy/editing
• The development of novel strategies to purify HSC-enriched cell populations for ex vivo gene therapy
• Establishing new animal models and read-outs for the evaluation of gene therapy/editing approaches
• Designing novel tools for the targeted delivery of gene therapy/editing payload ex vivo and in vivo
• The evaluation of novel editing technologies including base-editing and prime-editing
• The development and testing of novel HSC-based gene editing strategies for hemoglobinopathies, Fanconi anemia and other genetic blood diseases
• The investigation of HSC editing approaches to improve immunotherapies for hematological malignancies in particular using CD33 targeted therapies
• The development of more scalable and portable gene therapy and gene editing approaches using in vivo delivery platforms including viral vectors and novel nanotechnologies
• Establishing a simpler and more accessible curative treatment for severe combined immunodeficiencies using in vivo gene therapy
• The development of novel curative approaches for HIV using hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) and T-cell-based strategies including CAR-T cell approaches for HIV

The Kiem Lab is also part of multiple collaborations to improve the efficiency by which HSCs can be cultured and transduced, while closely monitoring the gene-modified clones through cutting-edge high-throughput retroviral integration site analysis.

We are located in the Thomas Building of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, rooms D1-270, D1-271, D1-275 and D1-295.

View the Fred Hutch campus map.

Vector Core Services

The vector core assists investigators with design, construction and/or production of viral vectors. We are offering reasonable service fees compared to industry standard prices with an extra 75% discount for all members of the Fred Hutch and affiliated academic groups. We have a turnaround time of approximately two to three weeks between receiving the transfer plasmid and final product release.

We are located in the Thomas Building of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Fred Hutch Vector Core, D1-324

Our Services Include:

Ready-to-use vector aliquots for immediate pick-up

• Aliquots of common vectors (expressing fluorescent reporter genes) titered and tested for functionality

Gammaretroviral, lentiviral, and foamyviral, Vector production

• High-Quality, high titer production (1x10e8/mL) and aliquotation for research grade products
• Different envelopes available for lentiviral vector pseudotyping
• Large scale production of concentrated, purified vector for in vivo applications "From Scratch" service: transfer plasmid design and assembly following your needs and specifications. You can find an overview of our basic vector HERE

Adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) production

• High-quality, high titer production and aliquotation
• Different serotypes available depending on target cell/tissue/species
• Large scale production of concentrated, purified vector for in vivo applications
• "From Scratch" service: transfer plasmid design and assembly following your needs and specifications

Clinical Grade Vector Production

• For more information about our clinical grade vector production, please contact Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem