- About us
- A new Institute dedicated to combating leukemia
- Our news
- Support us
- You are
- Patients and relatives
- To be cared for and supported
- Become an expert patient
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Researchers
- Research
- Clinical trials
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Healthcare professionals
- Refer a patient
- Our clinical research
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Industry partners
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Translational research
- Donors
- Support us
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Care
- Patient care
- Our clinical services
- Our medical laboratories
- Patient information
- Research
- Our research teams
- Our technological platforms
- Our clinical research
Diana Passaro’s team – Leukemia & Niche Dynamics
Diana Passaro
Team Leader
Institut Cochin
Research themes
Our team investigates the dynamic interactions between leukemic cells and their vascular microenvironment. Combining in vivo imaging, humanized 3D models, and multi-omics approaches, we explore how the niche contributes to leukemia progression, treatment resistance, and immune evasion, particularly in the bone marrow and central nervous system.
Research areas
We explore how endothelial cell plasticity influences AML progression, treatment resistance, and the remodeling of the bone marrow microenvironment.
We develop vascularized bone marrow and brain organoids to model dynamic interactions between leukemic cells and their niches in preclinical systems.
We design a perfused Bone Marrow-on-chip platform to study the human bone marrow niche and model leukemic interactions, enabling evaluation of targeted treatments in a personalized medicine approach.
Featured research projects
Studying endothelial plasticity in AML
This project is funded by (research grant 2024–2029)
Role of endothelial cells in pediatric leukemias
This project is funded by Ligue Enfant, adolescent et cancer (research grant, 2024–2027).
T-ALL resistance via humanized organoids
This project is funded by Fondation de France (post-doctoral fellowship, 2023–2025).
Diana Passaro's team members
Diana PassaroGroup leader INSERM CRCNChristine Tran QuangPermanent researcher INSERM CRHCAleria Duperray-SusiniResearch engineer (permanent) CNRSLoic Le GuennecPermanent Physician-researcher APHP/FDF fellowshipCelia ChobtiResearch engineer (CDD) EHA grantHoussem ZitounBioinformatics engineer (CDD) ERC grantLakshmi SandhowPostdoctoral fellow (CDD) EHA fellowshipJoseph BarlowPostdoctoral fellow (CDD) Ligue grantJessica AlbuquerquePhD student (year 3) HOB doctoral school fellowshipRana ZnaidiPhD student (year 2) HOB doctoral school fellowshipValentina CrippaPhD student (year 1) HOB doctoral school fellowshipBenedetta ZanonErasmus trainee INSERMScientific Publications
Thomas Bessy, Tomer Itkin, Diana Passaro, Front Cell Dev Biol, 2021
Bioengineering the Bone Marrow Vascular NicheRead the publication
IL Boueya & al, Leukemia, 2025
Endothelial heterogeneity in bone marrow: insights across development, adult life and leukemiaRead the publication
Aleria Duperray-Susini & al, J Vis Exp, 2025
Intravital Longitudinal Imaging of Vascular Dynamics in the Calvarial Bone MarrowRead the publicationFunding
- Our technological platforms
- Our clinical services
- Discover the Leukemia Institute
- Translational research
- Our clinical research
- Clinical trials
- Become an expert patient
- To be cared for and supported
- Our news
- A new Institute dedicated to combating leukemia
