Who We Fund

University of Virginia

I am a trained clinical hematopathologist and physician-scientist who is well versed in both basic and translational studies in hematologic tumors, with a special interest and emphasis in B-cell malignancies: the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of tumor microenvironment (TME)-induced survival and drug resistance. My long-term goal is to characterize the pathobiology of B-cell lymphomas, especially aggressive B-cell malignancies, and the evolution of resistance to drugs and, more recently, immunotherapy.

Over the last decade, I have developed an active and unique research program for drug screening, chemical proteomics profiling, bulk and scRNAseq, ChIP-seq, ATAC, scATAC, functional pharmacogenomic computational biology, and multiplex immune profiling, and applied it to cell line and primary lymphoma samples to determine the major intrinsic and TME extrinsic molecular determinants governing lymphoma cell response and resistance. By capitalizing a “” opportunity and approach, my long-term goal is to provide major advances in our understanding of the lymphoma biology, develop innovative therapies and exert an immediate favorable impact on treatment for lymphoma patients.

My extensive background in cancer biology and clinical hematology/oncology, with my expertise in novel lymphoma therapies and therapy resistance, make me well-suited to serve as a Principal Investigator on many projects.

Program Name(s)

Mantle Cell Lymphoma Research Initiative

Project Title

Understanding Resistance Mechanism to Enhance CAR-T Immunotherapy for MCL

Imperial College, University of London

After completing a PhD in Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, I moved to Imperial College London to study how persistent infection with a virus causes Leukemia, Lymphoma and other diseases. The virus in question is Human T cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1), which infects the very cells which defend us against viruses: T cells. Around 5% of virus-carriers develop aggressive blood cancer (Adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma, ATL), in which one infected T cell becomes malignant. ATL is very difficult to treat, and people with the most aggressive forms survive for less than a year. I made the game-changing discovery that ATL-like T cells circulate in the blood of carriers who go on to develop ATL years before they show symptoms of ATL. I am now developing new diagnostics which can detect ATL early, and together with clinicians at the U.K. National Centre for Human Retrovirology and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, will test whether a recently licenced drug can eliminate ATL-like T cells in high-risk carriers.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Detection and treatment of Adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma in the premalignant stage.

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

University of Southern California

Dr. Sheng Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Translational Genomics, at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC). She is the Program Co-Leader of Epigenetic Regulation in Cancer (ERC) at the USC NCI-designated Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Li received her PhD in Computational Biology from Cornell University in 2014, where she focused on the epigenome dynamics of leukemia relapse. Following her PhD, she served as an Instructor of Bioinformatics at Weill Cornell Medicine. In 2016, Dr. Li joined the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2022.

In 2024, her lab transitioned to the USC Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Li leads a research program centered on understanding the impact of somatic mutations and aging on blood cancer initiation by identifying critical epigenetic aberrations that disrupt gene expression regulating hematopoiesis. Her work leverages multi-omics and integrative data mining to study how age-related inflammation shapes the evolutionary trajectories of mutant hematopoietic stem cells in leukemogenesis. The long-term goal of her research is to identify novel therapeutics to mitigate leukemogenesis and extend human health span and life span. Dr. Li recevied NextGen Star Award from American Association for Cancer Research and Maximizing Investigators' Research Award from NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Epigenetic heterogeneity in age-related clonal hematopoiesis and acute myeloid leukemia

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

Impact of State Health Insurance Mandates on Affordability and Utilization of Fertility Preservation in Adolescent and Young Adults with Blood Cancers

University of Cambridge

George Vassiliou is Professor of Hematological Medicine and Co-lead of the Hematological Malignancies Program at the University of Cambridge, and Consultant Hematologist at Cambridge University Hospitals.

He studies the pre-clinical evolution, molecular pathogenesis and treatment of myeloid cancers. Highlights of his work include the co-discovery of the shared precursor of myeloid cancers, clonal hematopoiesis (CH), the description of its lifelong natural history and the first demonstration that individuals at risk of these cancers can be identified years in advance, opening the prospect of their prevention. He also developed the first genomic diagnostic tools for myeloid cancers, discovered mechanisms of how they develop and identified hundreds of potential treatment targets using the first genome-wide CRISPR genetic screen in any human cancer. His work has led to development of new treatments, including METTL3 inhibitors that are now in clinical trials against acute myeloid leukemia.

Program Name(s)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Project Title

Development of a clinical program for myeloid cancer prevention

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Daniel Lucas uses microscopy to understand how blood cells are produced in the marrow of the bone and how leukemia inhibits this process. A native Spaniard, he obtained his PhD in Madrid training with Drs. Antonio Bernad and Luis Blanco. Then he moved to New York for postdoctoral training in Paul Frenette’s lab. There he discovered basic mechanisms through which the nervous system regulates blood cell production. He also identified macrophages and megakaryocytes -two types of cells produced by the blood stem cells- as key regulators of those very same blood stem cells. This was the first demonstration that the stem cells were regulated by their own progeny. He established his own research group at the University of Michigan Medical School before being recruited to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. His group has discovered mechanisms that promote faster blood recovery after transplantation and deciphered how several types of blood cells assemble in the bone marrow.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Cellular Crosstalk In The Normal And Malignant Bone Marrow

Atrium Health Foundation

I am a physician scientist, specializing in lymphoma therapy. My area of research is focused on the development of new therapeutic approaches in lymphoma by engineering special nanoparticle-based drug-delivery platforms. My team has pioneered a novel high-precision drug delivery system using “click chemistry”, which is composed of high-affinity binding chemical couples. By using this novel technique, we have shown an 8-fold increase in tumor uptake of small molecule drugs compared to the conventional drug delivery, with no discernable toxicity in lymphoma models. My second major area of research involves cell signaling pathways, and their impact on lymphoma cell survival. If this novel targeted therapy platform proves successful, pretargeted nanoparticle approach can be utilized to enhance the potency and precision of small molecule drugs for treatment of relapsed mantle cell lymphoma and transformed follicular lymphoma, which are associated with chemoresistance and poor prognosis.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Next-Generation Targeted Therapy in Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Transformed Follicular Lymphoma

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Julia Paczkowska completed her master’s degree in pharmacy at Poznan University of Medical Science, Poland. Thereafter, she obtained her PhD in medical sciences from the Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, with a thesis focusing on deregulated transcription factors and microRNAs in the pathogenesis of classic Hodgkin lymphoma. After obtaining her degree, she began her post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Margaret Shipp at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Dr. Paczkowska’s postdoctoral research focuses on the immunobiology of classic Hodgkin lymphoma and related B-cell malignancies.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Characterization and Targeting of Tumor-Associated Monocytes/ Macrophages that Limit the Efficacy of PD-1 Blockade in Lymphoma

Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù

Dr. Del Bufalo is a physician-scientist with interest in childhood malignancies, tumor immunology, immunotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. She participated in the preclinical and clinical development of the academic clinical trials with CAR-T cells at OPBG. In particular, she coordinated 2 studies on different CD9-CAR T cell platforms for the treatment of children with relapsed/refractory (r/r) BCP-ALL and the phase I/II study to test GD2-CART01 in children with r/r neuroblastoma. She is the PI of a research project to test donor-derived CAR T cells for the treatment of children/young adults with BCP-ALL. She managed the activation and conduction of the phase I clinical trial on CD7-CART.PEBL for the treatment of children/young adults with r/r T-ALL (PI Prof. Franco Locatelli). She is the new chair of the European iBFM Resistant Disease Committee and President of the Young Investigators Section of the scientific technical committee of the Italian Ministry of Health.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

CD7-CAR T cells with PEBL for treatment of children/young adults with relapsed/refractory T-ALL

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

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