Research we fund

Lacking continuous insurance is a key barrier to access to timely care. This study will provide the first evidence of whether insurance continuity provides a survival benefit, and how Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act affects insurance continuity and the associated downstream changes in survival for children, adolescents, and young adults with blood cancers. This study will inform policy interventions toward increasing access and reducing disparities in blood cancer outcomes.

Multiple myeloma is the most common blood cancer in African Americans. Thanks to advances in treatment, over 50% of patients now survive 5 years compared to 35% in 2000. However, African American patients may not be enjoying the same health gain as White patients, possibly due to poorer access to healthcare. This study will examine the role of health insurance and living in states with expanded eligibility for Medicaid on treatment patterns and survival in African Americans compared to White patients with multiple myeloma.

Selecting a Medicare plan is a time-sensitive and complex decision with substantial financial implications, particularly for individuals with cancer. The proposed project evaluates the financial and health outcomes for individuals selecting different Medicare coverage options and how these outcomes vary by the presence and timing of a cancer diagnosis. The goal of this work is to identify opportunities to improve plan selection and reduce inequities in cancer care and outcomes.

We identified the adenine nucleotide regulator AK2 as a selective dependency in multiple myeloma (MM) that is more essential for survival of MM cells overexpressing the histone methyltransferase NSD2. Here, we propose a series of experiments to understand the role of AK2 in MM cell fitness and response to existing therapies and elucidate the molecular basis of the increased dependence on AK2 driven by NSD2 overexpression. This study will elucidate the effects of AK2 inhibition in MM and will credential the enzyme as a therapeutic target.

The impact of biological heterogeneity on treatment outcomes is evidenced by a large proportion of lymphoma patients who experience relapsed/refractory disease. To address this knowledge gap, we sequenced primary lymphoma samples and found recurrent mutations in the non-canonical NF-kB pathway (NC NF-kB) and uncovered the NIK kinase as a targetable candidate. Our next steps focus on using advanced genetic modelling approaches to provide preclinical rationale for targeting NC NF-kB in lymphomas.

Niclosamide is an FDA approved anti-parasitic drug that is well tolerated and acts synergistically with chemotherapy to kill AML cells. We will conduct a Phase I clinical trial with niclosamide in combination with cytarabine for children with relapsed/refractory pediatric AML. ShRNA/CRISPR screens demonstrated that Bcl-2 is upregulated in niclosamide resistant cells. We will study the effects of the Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax in combination with niclosamide in pediatric AML.

Few treatment options are available for T cell leukemias and lymphomas, collectively called T cell cancers that affect ~100,000 patients worldwide each year. The current proposal will generate new antibodies attached to drugs and toxins that kill the T cell cancers. Importantly, the antibodies will preserve enough healthy T cells to maintain a functioning immune system. These modified antibodies may improve patient outcome and limit side effects associated with traditional chemotherapies.

The focus of this research project is to understand how therapeutic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells mediate long-term remission of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. I will use cell free DNA collected from patient plasma to understand if there is an association of CAR T-cell persistence and long-term tumor remission. The goal of this research is to define how CAR T-cells suppress tumors over time to develop better CAR T-cells in the future.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is activated in high-risk leukemia and is a hallmark of resistance to therapies. This project uses patient-derived xenograft models of relapsed pediatric ALL and AML with activated RAS/MAPK to test whether clinically relevant MAPK mutations activate the VAV3/RAC pathway and if pharmacological inhibition of that pathway by a small molecule we developed synergizes with a MAPK-inhibitor to provide a new treatment strategy for RAS-driven leukemia.

The B-cell kinase SYK and its T-cell homolog ZAP70 have almost identical functions but are strictly segregated to B- and T-cells. We recently discovered that B-cell malignancies frequently coexpress ZAP70 and that only SYK but not ZAP70 can trigger negative B-cell selection and cell death. Here we test the hypothesis that ZAP70 enables malignant B-cell transformation, test pharmacological SYK-hyperactivation and validate ZAP70 as biomarker of patients who benefit from this approach.

Leukemia often results from aberrant gene expression caused by epigenetic alterations. Previously we discovered a novel histone acetylation reader domain in the ENL protein and demonstrated that this domain is essential for the survival of a wide range of acute leukemias, making it an attractive therapeutic target. We will develop specific inhibitors of ENL activity in acute leukemias and will use mouse models to define the role of ENL mutations identified in patients in leukemogenesis.

Our research program aims to gain a deeper understanding of the pathobiology of T-ALL and HSTL.

To this end, we will use novel mouse models, cutting-edge techniques and comprehensive genetic, pharmacological and metabolic interventions. In addition, we will perform unbiased experiments to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Our goal is to uncover new tools and targets for the treatment of T-ALL and HSTL, which could be used for the benefit of patients in the short/mid-term.