Allotera
immunotherapy, allo-CAR, T-ALL
Allotera
St. Louis, MO
United States
TAP Partner
Allotera (formerly Wugen) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation, allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. Allotera's proprietary gene-editing platform is designed to overcome key limitations of first-generation cell therapies, enabling scalable, off-the-shelf treatments with biologics-like cost of goods margins.
Program Name(s)
Therapy Acceleration Program
Project Title
Elliot Stieglitz
CMML
Elliot Stieglitz, MD
San Francisco, CA
United States
University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Elliot Stieglitz is a physician-scientist at the University of California, San Francisco whose research focuses on children diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). He recently chaired a study, ADVL1512, a phase II clinical trial that tested the safety of trametinib in children with relapsed JMML. This trial met its primary objective and closed to accrual at the end of 2022. Dr. Stieglitz’s main laboratory focus is on developing novel therapies for JMML including CAR-T cells. He has generated patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of JMML that will serve as the pre-clinical model in which to test CAR-T cells on this grant. These PDXs were generated in collaboration with Dr. Eric Padron, a key opinion leader in CMML and a collaborator on this grant. Dr. Stieglitz has also collaborated extensively with Dr. Tasian, an international leader in CAR-T therapy who is a Co-PI on this grant. This multi-disciplinary team will work together to advance CLL-1 CAR-T cells and trametinib into the clinic for CMML and JMML patients.
Program Name(s)
CMML Initiative
Project Title
CLL-1 CAR-T cells and trametinib for the treatment of Ras-mutated CMML and JMML
Stephen Oh
myeloproliferative neoplasms
Stephen Oh, MD, PhD
St. Louis, MO
United States
Washington University in St. Louis
Stephen Oh, MD, PhD is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Oh’s clinical and laboratory research efforts are focused on myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). His group employs patient samples and animal models to investigate fundamental mechanisms driving the initiation, development, and progression of MPNs. A major focus of the laboratory is to utilize mass cytometry and multiplex imaging approaches to interrogate dysregulated cytokine signaling networks in MPNs. Dr. Oh has extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and management of MPN patients and has contributed to numerous clinical trials investigating novel targeted therapies for MPN patients. The long-term objective of his work is to translate the findings from his laboratory research into improved therapies for MPN patients.
Program Name(s)
CMML Initiative
Project Title
Exploiting Novel Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia
Huda Salman
CMML
Huda Salman, MD
Indianapolis, IN
United States
Indiana Universty
My clinical and research interest is to develop therapies that enhance the immune system to fight blood cancer. I serve as the IND holder responsible for the clinical development for the CD4CAR , and the CAR T cells are manufactured under this IND and the GMP conditions at Indiana University. This work is done in collaboration with IcellGene therapeutics. It is designed to treat T cell leukemia and lymphoma. We have treated three patients so far and results were very promising. CD4, the target for this CAR is expressed on CMML and we are not only planning to try this CAR in CMML, but we will be studying mechanisms of response and resistance to this treatment as we go, and also improving on the structure of this CAR to be more effective with the goal of curing CMML.
Program Name(s)
CMML Initiative
Project Title
Development of cellular therapy for CMML and the Immune landscape of response and resistance
Lori Muffly
Equity in Access
Lori Muffly, MD
Palo Alto, CA
United States
Stanford University
Dr. Lori Muffly MD MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Dr. Muffly is a clinician and clinical investigator whose research includes both health outcomes and clinical trials pertaining to adults with acute leukemia. Her clinical practice serves adults across Northern California with advanced acute leukemias who require hematopoietic cell transplantation and other cellular immunotherapies. She has a specific research interest in improving access to specialty cancer care and reducing health disparities in young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has published extensively on these topics. She also serves as the PI of multiple investigator-initiated health outcomes studies and clinical trials, including studies evaluating measurable residual disease in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia, novel chimeric antigen receptor T cell studies for acute leukemia, and she leads a recently established real world consortium investigating outcomes following cellular therapies administered to adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dr. Muffly has successfully collaborated with Drs. Parsons and Keegan on several previous studies and publications related to adolescent and young adult leukemia and access to cancer care and has delivered numerous national talks on the subject.
Program Name(s)
Equity in Access
Project Title
Jaehyuk Choi
T-cell lymphoma
Jaehyuk Choi, MD, PhD
Dallas, TX
United States
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
I am an NIH-funded physician scientist with a scientific and clinical focus on cutaneous lymphomas. We have utilized high-dimensional genomic, epigenetic, and immunological approaches to elucidate the immunobiology of multiple cutaneous T and B cell lymphomas. We utilize a combination of human and mouse models as well as a number of unbiased approaches including whole genome sequencing, bulk and single cell RNA and ATAC-Seq, epigenetic assays such as ATAC-Seq, CUT&RUN, and HiCHIP, as well as spectral flow and multimodal CITE-Seq. These efforts have led to manuscripts published in Nature, Nature Cancer, Cancer Discovery, and Blood. These efforts have been funded by an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Damon Runyon Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and most recently the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Identification of novel therapeutic strategies for aggressive subtypes of CTCL
H. Irene Su
Equity in Access
H. Irene Su, MD
La Jolla, CA
United States
University of California San Diego
Dr. Su is Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of California, San Diego, where she directs the Oncofertility Program. Dr. Su completed residency in obstetrics and gynecology, fellowship in reproductive endocrinology, and Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as implementation science training through NCI’s Training in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer Program. Dr. Su is a physician scientist who conducts patient oriented research on reproductive health in young cancer survivors. Through innovative observational and interventional studies, team-based science, and community engagement, Dr. Su’s studies focus on estimating reproductive risks after cancer, implementing evidence-based practices, and improving equity in reproductive health care delivery, funded by NCI, NICHD, American Cancer Society, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Recent work on health policies as an intervention to improve access to care suggest that state-level fertility preservation benefit mandates are not working as intended. This team with existing collaborations and complementary methodologic and clinical expertise will use national administrative data to estimate the impact of mandated insurance benefits on fertility preservation utilization and affordability, in order to inform future federal and state laws and regulations.
Program Name(s)
Equity in Access
Project Title
William Matsui
Myeloma
William Matsui, MD
Austin, TX
United States
The University of Texas at Austin
William Matsui is a Professor of Oncology, Director of the Hematologic Malignancy Program, Associate Chair of Research, and the Deputy Director of the LiveSTRONG Cancer Institutes at the Dell Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as the interim Vice Dean of Research for Dell Med. Dr. Matsui's research has focused on understanding the intersection between cancer, stem cell, and developmental biology. His laboratory first identified unique populations of cancer cells with stem cell properties in multiple myeloma and found that several pathways regulating normal stem cells, including those involved in embryonic development, are abnormally activated in cancer stem cells. Importantly, these basic research studies have simultaneously been translationally relevant and served as the basis for over a dozen novel clinical trials.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Stem cell features and Notch signaling in p53 deleted multiple myeloma
Sham Mailankody
Myeloma immunotherapy clinical trials
Sham Mailankody, MBBS
New York, NY
United States
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
I am a medical oncologist with the Myeloma Service and a member of the Cellular Therapeutics Center and the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. My research focuses on the clinical development of novel immune and cellular therapies for patients with multiple myeloma and translational research focused on better understanding the responses to cellular therapies and possible mechanisms of relapse. I am the principal investigator for multiple chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T trials for multiple myeloma, including the first trials of an allogeneic CAR T cell therapy and autologous GPRC5D CAR T cells for myeloma .
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Improving outcomes with immune therapies for multiple myeloma
Alexandra Stevens
childhood AML
Alexandra Stevens, MD
Houston, TX
United States
Baylor College of Medicine
I was born in New York City to two hard-working and driven parents who encouraged me to pursue my passions and not back down from a challenge. I determined I loved science in high school and earned a Westinghouse Science Talent Search award for work done on vaccine development. In college, at Duke University, I decided to pursue medical school when a friend had a relapse of her cancer. Medical school and Pediatrics Residency was in NYC at Columbia University and Mount Sinai respectively where my passion for caring for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was solidified. For Fellowship I moved my family to Texas to pursue pediatric oncology training at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine and continued on to get my Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation. The resources at TCH/BCM have allowed me to become an outstanding clinician, a recognized educator, and to pursue my goal of improving outcomes for the next generation of children to be diagnosed with AML.
Program Name(s)
Dare to Dream
Project Title
Pediatric AML PDX Models and Drug Testing-Gateway to Novel PedAL Trials
Stacie Dusetzina
Equity in Access
Stacie Dusetzina, PhD
Nashville, TN
United States
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Dr. Dusetzina is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and an Ingram associate professor of cancer research at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She received her PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and post-doctoral training at the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard. She is a health services researcher focusing on the intersection between health policy, epidemiology, and economics related to prescription drugs. Dr. Dusetzina’s work has contributed to the evidence base for the role of drug costs on patient access to care and policy changes that might improve patient access and reduce spending on high-priced drugs, including those used to treat cancer. She has been recognized for her work at a national level, including being an invited participant for two working group meetings on “Patient Access to Affordable Cancer Drugs,” hosted by the President’s Cancer Panel, and being selected to co-author a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report on the same topic. Dr. Dusetzina was recently appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and is engaged in national policy related to access to care for Medicare beneficiaries. Dr. Dusetzina will co-direct the project with Dr. Nicholas, who has considerable experience using the Health and Retirement Study to assess economic effects of health.
Program Name(s)
Equity in Access
Project Title
Making the Right Choice: Medicare Plan Selection and Access to Cancer Care
Constantine Mitsiades
CAR-T and CAR-NK immunotherapies
Constantine Mitsiades, PhD, MD
Boston, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Constantine Mitsiades MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard Medical School, an Associate member of the Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, and holds the "Shawna Ashlee Corman" Investigatorship in Multiple Myeloma at DFCI. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms through which myeloma and other blood cancers interact with the bone marrow microenvironment and develop resistance to existing or investigational drugs or immune therapies, and how to target therapeutically those resistance mechanisms. His studies established that inhibition of BET bromodomain proteins blocks the critical oncoprotein c-Myc. His research also informed the design of several regimens which are now FDA-approved, represent a standard-of-care for MM treatment, and have become a "backbone" for combination with other novel agents, e.g., monoclonal antibodies. Several of these regimens contributed to the increased overall survival of MM patients in the last decade.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Pharmacological strategies to enhance T- and NK-cell-based therapies in blood cancers