Who We Fund

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Martin Dreyling is Professor of Medicine and head of the lymphoma programme at the Department of Medicine III, LMU Hospital Munich. He studied at the Universities of Düsseldorf, Giessen, Tübingen and Würzburg, and completed his clinical training at the Universities of Bonn, Münster, Göttingen and Munich. In addition, he was visiting scientist at the University of Chicago.

His scientific focus is on the molecular basis of malignant transformation, cell cycle dysregulation and secondary genetic alterations as well as biological prognostic factors in malignant lymphoma. He is also interested in innovative therapeutic approaches, including molecular targeted approaches like inhibitors of the B-cell receptor pathway and immunological approaches.

Prof. Dreyling is coordinator of the European MCL Network and president of the German Lymphoma Alliance as well as EHA executive board member. He has co-authored numerous scientific papers and abstracts in international peer-reviewed journals.

Program Name(s)

Mantle Cell Lymphoma Research Initiative

Project Title

MULTIlayer Predictive models for relapsed MCL after ibrutinib as first line therapY (MULTIPLY)

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

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Elise Chong is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a clinical investigator whose research program develops immunotherapeutic and non-chemotherapy-based approaches to improve the survival and quality of life of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). She has a current focus on overcoming resistance to currently available, standard of care therapies; in particular, CAR T cell (CAR-T) resistance is one such focus. She has clinical expertise in the care of clinically complex lymphoma and CLL patients and is the Cellular Therapy Lymphoma Disease Lead at Penn.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Beta-hydroxybutyrate, a ketogenic dietary supplement, for patients with large B-cell lymphomas receiving CAR-T

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

I am a pediatric oncologist, who is interested in using the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. I grew up in Germany and moved to the US in 1992 after obtaining my medical degree. After completing my training in pediatric and oncology, I became faculty at the Cancer Center of Texas Children’s Hospital and the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine. In the laboratory I focused on developing immune cell therapies for cancer patients, which I translated with my research team into the clinic. In addition, I managed pediatric cancer patients, who underwent bone marrow transplantation, and participated in numerous clinical studies. In 2017 I became Chair of the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The department focuses on evaluating novel transplant and cell therapy approaches using genetic engineering approaches to augment the ability of the immune system to fight cancer.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

CD70-directed CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed/refractory pediatric AML

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Lindsley is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology from Washington University School of Medicine, then completed a residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a fellowship in oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is a member of the MDS Genetics Subcommittee for the NIH National MDS Study, NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Steering Committee, and the International Working Group for Prognosis in MDS (IWG-PM) molecular committee. The primary focus of his laboratory is the biology and treatment of myeloid malignancies. His genetic studies have led to new genomic models of leukemia classification and MDS outcome after stem cell transplantation. His laboratory uses mouse and cell line models to dissect the mechanistic basis of genetic cooperation during myeloid disease progression, with a specific focus on leukemia initiation in patients with predisposition syndromes and mutations that cause epigenetic alterations.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Genetic pathways of myeloid transformation and treatment response

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Philippe Armand obtained his MD and PhD (in Biomedical Sciences) from the University of California San Francisco. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2004, and a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in 2007. Since then, he has worked in the Stem Cell Transplantation and Lymphoma Divisions at DFCI. He is currently a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Institute Physician at DFCI, the Harold and Virginia Lash/David Lash Chair in Lymphoma Research, and the Chief of the Division of Lymphoma. His clinical practice is solely focused on patients with lymphoma. His research interests center on the development of novel therapeutics and assays in lymphoma, with a key focus on the translation of local laboratory research to novel clinical trials. He actively mentors many junior investigators, both fellows and junior faculty, in both clinical care and clinical research.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Bispecific antibody-based frontline therapy for follicular lymphoma

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Reid Merryman, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, and a Senior Physician in the Division of Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer institute (DFCI). He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and fellowship training in hematology and oncology at DFCI. He serves as the Director of Clinical Research for the Lymphoma Division and as the Director of the Follicular Lymphoma Center and the Marginal Zone Lymphoma Center at DFCI. His research interests include 1) development of novel immune-based treatments in Hodgkin lymphoma and indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and 2) identification of novel biomarkers (like circulating tumor DNA) to guide response-adapted treatment approaches. He is currently leading 3 investigator-initiated trials testing CD3/CD20 bispecific antibody-based therapeutic approaches for patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory indolent NHLs.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Bispecific antibody-based frontline therapy for follicular lymphoma

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Treon is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (WM) at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He is a physician scientist with extensive laboratory and clinical trial experience in WM. His laboratory discovered the MYD88 and CXCR4 mutations in WM, and his team has spent over a decade delineating their pro-survival signaling cascades and impact on treatment outcomes in WM. Dr. Treon’s laboratory and clinical trial efforts enabled the investigation of BTK-inhibitors and regulatory approvals of ibrutinib and zanubrutinib for WM. Drs. Treon and Nathanel Gray co-founded a medicinal chemistry working group to develop compounds that selectively target MYD88 signaling. His laboratory supported the signaling, efficacy and toxicology studies that have advanced many new kinase inhibitors and proteolysis targeting chimera that target mutated MYD88 signaling.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting mutated MYD88 pro-survival signaling in B-cell malignancies

Targeting mutated MYD88 signaling in B-cell malignancies

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Hai-Li Ma is a Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that drive blood cancers and developing new strategies to harness the immune system to combat them. In her PhD research, she discovered how chemical modifications on RNA and splicing factor mutations contribute to leukemia development. At Dana-Farber, in Dr. Andrew Lane’s laboratory, she applies cutting-edge genetic and molecular approaches to investigate how acute myeloid leukemia cells evade immune clearance, with the goal of translating these insights into innovative immunotherapies for patients with blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Decoding leukemia-intrinsic determinants that modulate macrophage-mediated phagocytosis

University of Miami

Dr. Nimer has cared for patients with MDS, AML, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma for over three decades. This melding of clinical studies and care, with both basic laboratory and translational studies, reflects the fundamental focus of his career. Since coming to the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine in 2012 and assuming the Directorship of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the center received the prestigious National Cancer Institute designation in July 2019. In November 2019, Dr. Nimer was named the inaugural Oscar de la Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigators and the Association of American Physicians. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and serves on the editorial board of several medical journals. In April 2021, Dr. Nimer was inducted into the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida. Dr. Nimer is also the Chairman of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome Foundation, and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research.

Program Name(s)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Interventional Epigenetics in Myeloid Malignancies

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

My PhD focused on blood cancer Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I studied a family of factors known as Nuclear Hormone receptors (NHRs); finding they were less functional in AML compared to healthy cells. Using advance techniques, I identified an anti-worm drug Mebendazole could activate a master NHR, RXRA. In both invitro (laboratory) and mouse models Mebendazole potentially inhibited the growth of AML cells. I also identified another molecule NRIP1 which was highly active in AML cells. Depleting NRIP1 using molecular techniques improved AML cells differentiation when treated with retinoic acid (vitamin A). I also developed specialized cell lines models to study therapy resistance in AML. In addition to my PhD work, I have collaborated with others in my lab to identify factors that could improve the outcomes of patients undergoing bone marrow transplant. This comprehensive research has resulted in 11 publications, along with abstract achievement awards, and a senior fellowship award.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Disruption of ELOVL1 impairs the metabolic fitness of monocytic leukemic stem cells

Duke University

I am a board-certified oncologist and palliative care physician, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine, and member of the Duke Cancer Institute. My practice focuses on the care of patients with blood cancers, while my research examines “patient experience” issues in hematology. As founding director of the Cancer Patient Experience Research Program (CPEP), I conduct randomized trials of integrated palliative care interventions in cancer care, and other patient experience studies, and have published over 175 manuscripts to date. I co-led the first-ever multisite, randomized trial of integrated palliative care in hematology, showing that palliative care integration dramatically improves quality of life, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress among patients with acute myeloid leukemia hospitalized for high-dose chemotherapy. I am widely recognized as a leading expert in palliative care and patient experience research in hematology.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Patient Experience Research and Palliative Care Integration in Malignant Hematology