William Vainchenker is a MD-PhD who is working in experimental hematology, particularly on the normal and pathological megakaryocyte differentiation.
He has played a central role in the discovery of thrombopoietin and in deciphering the mechanisms of polyploidization and proplatelet formation by megkaryocytes. In pathologies, he has worked on constitutional thrombocytopenia and on myeloproliferative neoplasms, where he has discovered the JAK2V617F and TET2 mutations and has deciphered their precise role in the pathogenesis of these disorders.
As a director of research of the INSERM, he has been at the head of a Research unit at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France and until end of 2014 of a research team.