Marc Seifert
Hairy cell leukemia
Marc Seifert, PhD
Institute of Cell Biology (Tumor Research) at the Medical school Essen
Marc Seifert graduated in Biology at the University of Cologne and did his PhD at the Institute of Cell Biology (IFZ) at the University Hospital Essen. Dr. Seiferts research group at the IFZ (Cancer Reseach) exists since 2014 and combines B cell immunology with lymphoma pathogenesis. Dr. Seiferts research aims at decoding the B cell system in healthy people and to determine the critical alterations in risk groups, such as infants and elderly or patients suffering from infections or tumors. This research unravels the B cell immune dynamics throughout life and clarifies which B cell subsets or antibody specificities are beneficial in health and limited in patients. Dr. Seiferts cancer research focusses on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Burkitt-Lymphoma and rare entities, such as Hairy Cell Leukemia and Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma. Dr. Seifert habilitated in 2017 at the Biological Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen in the subjects immunology and cancer research.
Program Name(s)
Special Grants
Project Title
Exploiting metabolic dependencies, tumor plasticity and their consequences for drug response of HCL
Roland Walter
Antibody-based AML therapies
Roland Walter, MD PhD
Seattle, WA
United States
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Dr. Walter’s research focuses on AML. He is particularly interested in improving antibody-based therapies by optimizing existing therapeutics and through the development of novel antigen-directed therapies. As examples of the latter, his lab has helped with candidate drug identification and characterization of 5 agents that have subsequently advanced to clinical testing. A major area of focus of his research lies in the delineation of the mechanisms of action and resistance that are relevant for antibody-based AML therapeutics and the rational development of combination therapies that can overcome drug resistance. Many of his studies conducted over the last 20 years have aimed at optimizing CD33- and, more recently, CD123-targeted therapies. In clinical studies, Dr. Walter conducts trials testing novel treatments and innovative care approaches for AML patients. Furthermore, he uses large datasets to develop and improve diagnostic and prognostic tools for people with AML.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
211Astatine-CD123 Radioimmunotherapy for Cancer (Stem) Cell-Directed Treatment of Acute Leukemia
Jennifer Diaz, MD, PhD
St. Louis, MO
United States
Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Diaz is a Hematology/Oncology fellow focused on understanding clone fitness in the evolution of clonal cytopenias of uncertain significance (CCUS), the role of splicing factors in CCUS and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and the relationship between complex genotypes and drug response in models of CCUS and MDS. Her project uses parallel approaches in computational genomics from patient samples and combinatorial genetic experiments in human cells to address these questions. Prior to fellowship, Dr. Diaz completed MD/PhD training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where her projects incorporated bioinformatics, computational genomics, and experimental molecular genetics. She completed Internal Medicine Residency at UCLA before coming to the Washington University in St. Louis as a clinical fellow. With a distinct scientific background and novel research focus, Dr. Diaz aims to transition to an independent investigator and continue her research in myeloid malignancies.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Defining the Genetic Evolution of Clonal Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance
Riccardo Dalla-Favera
lymphoma (DLBCL)
Riccardo Dalla-Favera, MD
New York, NY
United States
Columbia University Medical Center
Riccardo Dalla-Favera, MD, Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, is the founder and Director of the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University. He has dedicated his 40-year long career to the study of the pathogenesis of B cell malignancies, including B Cell Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, and contributed significantly to the understanding of the genetics and biology of these diseases, as quoted in major textbooks of medicine and oncology. These studies have direct impacts on the diagnostics and therapeutic targeting of B cell cancers. His work is widely recognized by numerous National and International prizes and awards, including the 2006 William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology and the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research GHA Clowes Memorial Award. He is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Program Name(s)
Discovery
Project Title
Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD
Boston, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
I am the Senior Vice President for Drug Discovery and Chief Research Strategy Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a pediatric oncologist. I lead a 20-member lab delineating the biology of leukemia and developing new therapeutic approaches, particularly for childhood cancers, chromatin-based gene expression in cancer and stem cells. We demonstrated that stem and progenitor cells can initiate cancer and that chromatin-based mechanisms drive tumorigenesis, offering new therapeutic targets. Our work on DOT1L and Menin inhibitors led to clinical trials for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in children and adults, and revumenib, a Menin inhibitor, was recently approved by the FDA for treating KMT2A-rearranged and NPM1-mutant AML in children and adults.
Program Name(s)
Discovery
Project Title
Steven Park
follicular lymphoma
Steven Park, MD
Charlotte, NC
United States
Atrium Health Foundation
I am a physician scientist, specializing in lymphoma therapy. My area of research is focused on the development of new therapeutic approaches in lymphoma by engineering special nanoparticle-based drug-delivery platforms. My team has pioneered a novel high-precision drug delivery system using “click chemistry”, which is composed of high-affinity binding chemical couples. By using this novel technique, we have shown an 8-fold increase in tumor uptake of small molecule drugs compared to the conventional drug delivery, with no discernable toxicity in lymphoma models. My second major area of research involves cell signaling pathways, and their impact on lymphoma cell survival. If this novel targeted therapy platform proves successful, pretargeted nanoparticle approach can be utilized to enhance the potency and precision of small molecule drugs for treatment of relapsed mantle cell lymphoma and transformed follicular lymphoma, which are associated with chemoresistance and poor prognosis.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Next-Generation Targeted Therapy in Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Transformed Follicular Lymphoma
Alfred Garfall
myeloma immunotherapy
Alfred Garfall, MD
Philadelphia, PA
United States
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Garfall is a hematologist-oncologist specializing in the care of multiple myeloma patients and research on new multiple myeloma therapies. He is a member of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Garfall completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University, medical school at New York University, residency in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and hematology/oncology fellowship at Penn. Dr. Garfall’s research focuses on immunotherapy. He has conducted clinical trials with CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies for multiple myeloma. He is specifically interested on developing new approaches to prevent relapse in multiple myeloma patients.
Program Name(s)
Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Limited-duration bispecific antibody therapy for multiple myeloma
Cailin Collins
Leukemia and pre-leukemia
Cailin Collins, MD PhD
Aurora, CO
United States
University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus
Dr. Collins is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she leads a translational research program studying the mechanisms of preleukemic transformation in myeloid malignancies. Following her undergraduate studies at Williams College, Dr. Collins received her MD/PhD from the University of Michigan, where she worked with Dr. Jay Hess studying the role of collaborator proteins in HOXA9-mediated leukemic transformation. She then completed residency and fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at Stanford, where she completed her postdoctoral research training in Dr. Ravi Majeti’s lab. Her current research focuses on understanding how combinations of genetic mutations alter hematopoietic stem cell function and drive progression from preleukemic states to aggressive myeloid malignancies, such as AML and CMML. Using engineered human stem cell models and primary patient samples, her work aims to identify mechanisms of leukemic transformation and therapeutic vulnerabilities that can be targeted early in disease evolution.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Investigating the role of preleukemia duration and clonal burden in progression to AML
Ana Vujovic
AML
Ana Vujovic, PhD
Denver, CO
United States
University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus
Ana Vujovic is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She completed her PhD under the mentorship of Dr. Kristin Hope at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, where she studied the role of post-transcriptional regulation in hematopoietic and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells. Ana joined the laboratory of Dr. Craig T. Jordan in the Spring of 2023, where her postdoctoral studies are focused on investigating metabolic vulnerabilities in AML stem cells and in particular mechanisms that underlie the resistance of these cells to the combination therapy, Venetoclax and Azacitidine (Ven/Aza). The objective of her postdoctoral research is to identify novel therapeutic strategies to uniquely target the metabolic vulnerabilities of Ven/Aza-resistant AML stem cells with the goal of improving AML patient outcomes.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Mrinal Patnaik, MBBS
Rochester, MN
United States
Mayo Clinic
PI (Mrinal Patnaik) is an established physician-scientist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is the principal investigator of a federally funded laboratory focused on chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). He has also been the principal investigator and completed five clinical trials in CMML. He has authored more than one hundred papers on CMML and related disorders and actively sees patients for this condition.
Program Name(s)
Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)
Project Title
Urvi Shah
Diet and myeloma
Urvi Shah, MD
New York, NY
United States
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Urvi Shah is an Assistant Attending in the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology and received a Master of Science degree in Clinical and Translational Cancer Research. Her research interests include modifiable risk factors (diet, metabolism, microbiome) in cancer. She completed the first pilot nutrition trial in plasma cell disorders to date (NUTRIVENTION) and has 3 other dietary trials enrolling. Dr. Shah has been supported by career development awards (National Cancer Institute [NCI] K12, International Myeloma Society and American Society of Hematology [ASH] Scholar) and research awards (ASH CRTI, ECOG ACRIN Young Investigator Translational Research, Henry Moses, Celgene Future Leaders in Hematology, NCI Early Investigator Advancement Program and Clinical Cancer Research Early Career). She has published papers in prominent journals and has been an invited speaker and chair.
Program Name(s)
Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)
Project Title
A Decentralized Randomized High-Fiber Dietary Trial to Improve Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Myeloma
Dai Chihara, MD, PhD
Houston, TX
United States
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dai Chihara, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Chihara received his MD degree from Kobe University in Japan, and completed clinical training in hematology and oncology both in Japan and the US. Dr. Chihara focuses on clinical research of lymphoma for aggressive and indolent B-cell lymphomas, and has led multiple research projects utilizing clinical data and population-based cancer registry data to identify high risk populations with poor outcomes. Dr. Chihara is currently working on discovering novel trial design and biomarkers in lymphoma through investigator initiated clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center to address unmet needs for patients. Dr. Chihara has received many awards including ones from Lymphoma Research Foundation, American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Biomarker and Risk Tailored Treatment to Improve Outcomes in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma