Who We Fund

Houston Methodist Research Institute

I am a translational tumor immunologist. I have 30 years of experience as a well-funded and published researcher and am one of the leading investigators in the fields of tumor immunology in myeloma and other cancers. My laboratory has been working on: (1) characterizing myeloma- and tumor-specific T cells and their subsets and examining their functions, (2) identifying novel myeloma-associated antigens and better methods for immunotherapy, (3) investigating the cross-talk between the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune system, (4) conducting clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of immunizing patients with idiotype or dendritic cell-based vaccines, and (5) exploring immunotherapies using myeloma antigens such as DKK1. Our recent research focuses on: (a) developing novel therapeutic mAbs and CAR-T cells for cancers, (b) identifying T-cell subsets that have potent antitumor effects after adoptive transfer, and (c) identifying TME components that induce tumor drug resistance.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Developing Novel CAR-T Cell Therapy For Hematologic Malignancies

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

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Fenghuang (Frank) Zhan, MD & PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and the Research Director of Myeloma Center at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Frank’s research focuses on identifying treatment approaches to overcome drug resistance in multiple myeloma (MM) by using genomic, genetic, and immunological tools from a very large database of clinical samples and mouse models. Frank has published more than 170 peer reviewed papers. Many of his publications appeared in prestigious journals such as Science, NEJM, Cancer Cell, Blood, and J Clin Invest. As a principal investigator (PI), he has received many grants from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) and NIH-NCI, etc. Frank received his PhD in Cancer Molecular Genetics and was then trained as a postdoctoral fellow and junior faculty at UAMS. Prior he returned to UAMS, he was an Associate Professor in the University of Utah, and then a Professor in the University of Iowa.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Toward improvement of BCMA/CST6-CAR-T therapy to target both myeloma cells and bone resorption