Who We Fund

Moffitt Cancer Center

Gary Reuther, PhD (Professor in the Departments of Molecular Oncology and Malignant Hematology at the Moffitt Cancer Center) earned his PhD from Duke University and did his post-doctoral training with Channing Der (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), where he studied signaling by the RAS oncoprotein and identified novel leukemia oncogenes. His current research centers on JAK2 signaling and novel therapeutic strategies for MPNs. Over the past 20 years, he has obtained research funding from multiple NIH R01 grants, the MPN Research Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Department of Defense, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and was the recipient of an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award and an NIH/NCI Howard Temin Award. His experience leading research that led to this funding and successful completion and publication of these projects makes him highly qualified to serve as the PI on the proposed studies.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Novel therapeutic strategies to improve the outcomes of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms

Yale University

The first-generation in his family to attend college, Dr. Girardi is the Evans Professor of Dermatology and Vice Chair of Faculty Development & Scientific Innovation at the Yale School of Medicine. The previous Co-Director of the Immunology and Immunotherapy Program for the Yale Cancer Center, Dr. Girardi has committed his career as a physician-scientist to the care of lymphoma patients and the discovery of new treatments. Dr. Girardi has led a highly collaborative research program funded by the National Cancer Institute for 20+ years investigating lymphoma and immunology, including major findings on the genetics, therapeutics development, and formulation of treatment guidelines through the U.S. Cutaneous Lymphoma Consortium and International Society of Cutaneous Lymphoma. Dr. Girardi also serve on the Leadership Council for Advancing Innovation in Dermatology and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Personalized Anti-TCRVbeta2 therapeutic antibody and ADC for T Cell Leukemias and Lymphomas

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

I am an Assistant Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) specializing in clinical investigations of CLL. Until 2021, I served as PI of investigator-sponsored studies at the NIH, including two trials specifically designed for CLL patients with high-risk genomic features. These efforts provided the largest and longest follow-up experience available for TP53 aberrant CLL treated with ibrutinib and revealed BTK mutations leading to treatment resistance. My immediate research goal is to apply the skills and knowledge learned from the previous work to investigate mechanisms of drug resistance emerging after targeted combination therapy. I have established collaboration with other investigators and am prospectively collecting research samples from a phase 2 study of zanubrutinib and venetoclax (NCT05168930). I envision data from the study will establish genomic markers as a decision-making tool that informs the selection of treatment regimens and modification of treatment duration.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Clinical and molecular determinants of CLL eradication with targeted combination therapy

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr Verma has been involved in study of blood cancers such as MDS and AML in the lab and in the clinic. His work has defined the critical role of various signaling pathways (p38 MAP kinase, TGF-beta, smad2/3, IRAK and others) activation in MDS and CMML and this work has directly led to the therapeutic targeting as these pathways in clinical trials in MDS/AML (Nat Cell Bio 2019, JCI 2018, Blood 2015, 2011, JCO 2020, NEJM 2020). The FDA approval of Luspatercept in MDS was also supported by his work in the lab. Dr Verma was on the team to first define stem cell alterations in MDS/AML (Nat Med, 2018; JCI 2014, Blood 2012). Dr Verma has conducted clinical studies in blood cancers (Nat Med, 2022, Cancer Cell 2021, Can Disc, 2020; JAMA Onc 2018) that have studied the effects of COVID-19 and environmental exposures (WTC 911 disaster) on outcomes and pathogenesis. He has also been actively engaged in early phase clinical trials that are investigating novel agents for MDS and AML.

Program Name(s)

CMML Initiative

Project Title

Targeting the inflammasome in CMML

Stanford University

Gerlinde Wernig, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Pathology at Stanford University and a world expert on fibrosis and blood cancers. She co-discovered the JAK2 V617F mutation that drives myeloproliferative neoplasms and identified c-JUN as a key regulator of fibrosis across organs. Her laboratory develops advanced models of human fibrotic disease, using patient-derived organoids, xenografts, and mouse systems to uncover how inflammation and cancer signaling reshape tissues. By combining next-generation single-cell and multi-omics approaches, Dr. Wernig’s research identifies new targets to treat fibrosis and bone-marrow failure. As a clinical hematopathologist, she brings deep diagnostic expertise to bridge scientific discovery and patient care.

Program Name(s)

Hairy Cell Leukemia Research Initiative

Project Title

Identifying Prognostic Markers of Relapse in Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) and HCL-Variant by Profiling Mutated Blood Stem Cells and Fibrosis Pathways

University of Southern California

I am a genetic epidemiologist and Assistant Professor in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the USC Keck School of Medicine. During my PhD, my research was focused on genetic variation and its role in human disease, and I received training in genetic epidemiology. Keen to pursue a career in childhood cancer research, I obtained a postdoctoral position at UCSF studying the etiology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. In 2018, I started a faculty position at USC, where I lead epidemiology studies of ALL in high-risk populations, including Hispanic/Latinos and children with Down syndrome. My research has led to several novel discoveries, identifying new genetic risk factors for ALL and shedding light on how Down syndrome increases leukemia risk. Understanding the causes of childhood ALL is my life’s work, with the hope that our discoveries will help to develop precision prevention strategies.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Leveraging Susceptible Populations and Unique Resources in a Pathway to Prevention of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus

Dr. Eric Pietras is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He completed his PhD training in microbiology and immunology at UCLA in 2008. He subsequently joined the laboratory of Dr. Emmanuelle Passegué for postdoctoral training and started his independent faculty position at the University of Colorado in November of 2015, earning promotion to Associate Professor in July 2021. Dr. Pietras leads a research program that leverages his dual backgrounds in innate immunity and hematopoiesis, focusing on the interplay between inflammation and oncogenic mutations as a trigger for alterations in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSC) metabolism that promote evolution to malignancy. The goal of his lab is to identify novel approaches for targeting this pathogenic process to disrupt myeloid oncogenesis and improve patient outcomes.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Targeting the pathogenic 'fire triangle' of inflammation, metabolism and mutations in myeloid leukemogenesis

Columbia University Medical Center

Riccardo Dalla-Favera, MD, Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, is the founder and Director of the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University. He has dedicated his 40-year long career to the study of the pathogenesis of B cell malignancies, including B Cell Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, and contributed significantly to the understanding of the genetics and biology of these diseases, as quoted in major textbooks of medicine and oncology. These studies have direct impacts on the diagnostics and therapeutic targeting of B cell cancers. His work is widely recognized by numerous National and International prizes and awards, including the 2006 William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology and the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research GHA Clowes Memorial Award. He is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Program Name(s)

Discovery

Project Title

Genomics of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma: pervasive role of super-enhancer hypermutation in dysregulating oncogene expression

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

I am an MD/PhD physician scientist in the oncology fellowship at MSKCC where I treat leukemia and perform research to understand molecular underpinnings of the disease. My prior work at Brandeis University, Cold Spring Harbor Lab, Harvard Medical School, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine was focused on basic mechanisms of gene expression regulation and I am now studying RNA dysregulation in leukemia. During my PhD, I developed novel methods to study RNA binding proteins in collaboration with Nobel Laureate Dr. Michael Rosbash and Rosenstiel Prize winner Dr. Robert H Singer (my PhD mentor). This integrative approach to studying RNA is ideal for understanding understudied proteins that regulate splicing factor mutations in the Abdel-Wahab lab. For my career, I aim to use novel approaches to understand how the most prevalent splicing factor mutations in blood cancers drive progression and transformation.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Targeting SF3B1 splicing factor mutant myeloid malignancies through dependency on GPATCH8

The University of Melbourne

Dr. Lev Kats is head of the Targeted Therapeutics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He completed his PhD at Monash University and postdoctoral training at Beth Israel Deaconess Centre/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kats has made major contributions in the areas of targeted therapies, epigenetics and hematological malignancies including through discovery of important functions of cancer promoting genes and the characterization of the molecular mechanisms of anti-leukemic drugs. His laboratory uses model systems, functional and molecular genomics approaches to develop and test new therapeutic strategies for aggressive blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Targeting DCAF1 as a novel treatment strategy for therapy resistant multiple myeloma

University of California at Davis

In 1997, I began as an academic physician at UC Davis. I developed a productive, independent laboratory-based research program, and as the Director of Hematologic Malignancies Program created one of the most productive clinical trials programs at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. I currently am the deLeuze Endowed Professor for the non-toxic cure for lymphoma, Director of Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplantation and the interim Division Chief of Malignant Hematology Cellular Therapy and Transplantation.

My research has focused on immune-mediated therapeutics to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy, including development of antibody drug conjugates, antibody-targeted liposomes, development of alternative natural products, and bi- and tri-specific antibodies. 

This work resulted in some 38 publications, 3 VA Merit and 12 intramural awards, and 3 patents (1 pending), which has facilitated ongoing funding of my lab and established me as an expert in targeted immuno-therapeutics.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Gene-edited CD19 CAR-T cells with superior proliferation, persistence and serial-killing activity

Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology

Dr. Yubin Zhou is a professor of Translational Cancer Research at the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology. He is interested in pioneering chemical and synthetic biology approaches to interrogate tumorigenesis, and developing targeted therapeutics for hematological malignancies. Dr. Zhou received his medical training/internship in internal medicine (1998-2003), and earned his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry/Virology (2008) from Georgia State University. He thereafter received his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (2008-2010) and then worked as an instructor at La Jolla Institute for Immunology/UCSD (2010-2012). Dr. Zhou was the recipient of the Blood Cancer United Fellow Award, Special Fellow Award, the TAMU Research Excellence Award, the ACS Research Scholar Award, and the Presidential Impact Fellow, Protégé member the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology, and elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Development of mutant GTPase-specific degraders for peripheral T cell lymphoma treatment