Research We Fund

We are conducting a clinical trial testing a novel form of immunotherapy, called a bispecific antibody, as part of initial treatment for patients with follicular lymphoma. The goal of the trial is two-fold: 1) to establish a highly effective, chemotherapy-free treatment option for patients with follicular lymphoma, and 2) to establish predictors of response and toxicity that can guide treatment decisions for future patients with follicular lymphoma.

Our project’s goal is to change how multiple myeloma is understood and treated by interrogating a novel part of the cellular “soil” (the bone marrow adipocyte), in which myeloma cells, or “seeds”, land and grow. We will discover new forms of cancer drug resistance that are driven by adipocyte-derived factors and the fatty acid binding proteins. This work will expose new ways to overcome drug resistance to improve survival and quality of life for myeloma and other hematological cancer patients.

Outcomes for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and multiple myeloma (MM) patients remain inadequate and new treatment options to combat resistance against existing agents are urgently needed. My research aims to identify and target selective vulnerabilities of AML and MM cells. I am particularly interested in epigenetic and metabolic pathways that control self-renewal and differentiation of hematopoietic cells and that can be leveraged to modulate cell fate for therapeutic benefit.

The primary focus of research is to better understand mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapies and design treatment approaches to improve outcomes. I hope to accomplish this by conducting clinical trials that concurrently target both BCMA and GPRC5D in patients with advanced multiple myeloma and by studying antigen expression, tumor genetics, and T cell characteristics to better understand mechanisms of resistance. The goal is to develop more effective immune treatments for myeloma.