Research We Fund

Dr. Orlowski assembled an experienced, collaborative group of researchers who work in a multidisciplinary manner on projects focusing on basic, translational, and clinical aspects of smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) and multiple myeloma (MM). Both high risk SMM and MM represent important and urgent unmet medical needs for the development of novel, more effective therapies.

Multiple myeloma remains largely incurable and there is consensus that the pathway to cure cancer involves treating patients earlier. Thus, there is an unmet need to develop methods for early detection of pre-malignant disease and to help tailoring treatment for patients with smoldering myeloma. We aim to develop new methods for minimally invasive characterization of patients with smoldering myeloma in order to treat disease causation instead of symptomatology and increase curability rates.

Defining mechanisms of dysregulated gene control are central to understanding cancer and the development of effective therapies. Our research is focused on the mechanisms of gene control dysregulation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a refractory form of blood cancer that affects both children and adults. Using new methods for manipulating proteins, we are defining essential mechanisms by which AML cells enable cancer-causing gene expression. This work also allowed us to develop new drugs to specifically block this in cancer, but not healthy cells. Ongoing work aims to define precise mechanisms of cancerous gene control and develop definitive treatments for its control.

SARS-Cov-2 infections may be prolonged in cancer patients and may enable intrahost development of virulent viral variants. Adoptive immunotherapy with virus-specific T-cells has been an effective treatment for refractory viral infections in immunocompromised patients following HSCT. We propose to study the functionality of coronavirus-specific T-cells (CSTs) from healthy donors, and utilize CSTs as preventative therapy for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant in a phase I study.