Research we fund

CAR T-cells are highly effective in lymphoma but limited by a profound and potentially fatal toxicity involving the central nervous system (CNS). Little is known about how CAR T-cells eliminate lymphoma cells in the CNS nor how this therapy causes toxicity. I will study CAR T-cells in patients with CNS lymphomas with the goal of expanding CAR T-cell indications. I will also examine serial blood and CNS samples to understand neurologic toxicity to inform new therapies to control this toxicity.

Coming soon.

My ultimate goal is to develop more effective, better tolerated, and individualized treatment for patients with AML. This project focuses on AML patients with IDH1 or IDH2 mutations, with a clinical trial evaluating a combination of three agents which are effective in IDH-mutated AML. While these therapies are not curative on their own, my hope is that this combination will lead to a practice changing all-oral, outpatient, and well-tolerated curative strategy for patients with IDH-mutated AML.

In this proposal, the Choi lab is investigating mechanisms that underlie aggressive forms of T cell lymphoma. They have found a gene mutation that is found exclusively in aggressive subtypes. There is a gene that encodes for PD1 that suppresses tumor progression. In a subset of T cell lymphomas, this gene is lost or inactivated, leading to increased tumor progression and aggressiveness. Here they propose three complementary approaches to understand how this gene constrains T cell lymphomas and importantly, they are now proposing to leverage this information to generate novel treatments for the patients who need it most. 

Dr Tasian’s scientific passion is successful development of precision medicine therapies for high-risk childhood leukemia. Her translational laboratory research program focuses upon investigation of kinase inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapies in childhood ALL and AML using primary patient specimens and patient-derived xenograft models. Through her laboratory and clinical research, she aspires to improve cure rates and minimize toxicities for children with leukemia.

My research focuses on why and how risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) increases with aging. Studying naturally aged mouse models in combination with mice engineered to express mutations commonly found in human blood stem cells with aging, we are investigating whether certain inflammatory factors that increase during aging increase the risk of leukemia. My goal is to identify biomarkers to assess risk of AML development in aging individuals and define new therapeutic targets to prevent AML.