Who We Fund

TAP Partner

ImCheck Therapeutics is designing and developing a new generation of immunotherapeutic antibodies targeting butyrophilins, a novel super-family of immunomodulators. These “first-in-class” activating antibodies may be able to produce superior clinical results as compared to the first-generation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and, when used in combination, to overcome resistance to this group of agents.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 2 expansion study of ICT01, an anti-BTN3A monoclonal antibody, in combination with azacitidine and venetoclax in patients with AML

TAP Partner

Crossbow Therapeutics is a biotechnology company determined to improve the lives of people with cancer by unlocking the therapeutic potential of T-cell receptor (TCR)-mimetic antibodies. The company’s T-Bolt™ therapies are next-generation, easily assembled immunotherapies directed with high precision at previously unreachable cancer cell targets.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1 study of CBX-250, a TCR-mimetic antibody, in patients with AML, MDS, CMML or CML

A phase 1 study of CBX-663, a TCR-mimetic antibody, in patients with myeloid diseases

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Will has been a group leader at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine since 2016. She obtained her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Freiburg, Germany and underwent further training in hematology/oncology with Dr. Ulrich Steidl. With a passion for and through the lens of stem cell biology, Britta’s laboratory seeks to discover novel therapeutic options for patients with myeloid malignancies. Current research concentrates on two largely uncharted territories in blood stem cell aging and leukemic stem cell maintenance - iron homeostasis and highly selective autophagy. Dr. Will also serves as co-leader of the Stem Cell and Cancer Biology Program and directs the Cancer Stem Cell Pharmacodynamics Unit at the NCI-designated Montefiore-Einstein Cancer Center. She is the recipient of prestigious young investigator awards, including from the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, Gilead, AAMDSIF, Feldstein Medical Foundation, and the Leukemia Research Foundation.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Therapeutically actionable molecular safeguards in leukemic stem cells

Northwestern University

Dr. Alan Zhou is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he leads clinical and translational research in cutaneous lymphomas. Trained at Harvard, Oxford, NIH, and Northwestern, Dr. Zhou combines expertise in immunology, genetics, and microbiome science to uncover how immune and microbial factors influence cancer behavior and therapy response. His work integrates clinical trials, molecular profiling, and microbiome studies to develop precision diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and related blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Mapping and Targeting the Tumor-Immune-Microbiome Interface in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma to Advance Precision Diagnosis and Therapy

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. Soheil Meshinchi is a physician scientist and a Full Member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, as well as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. With over 25 years of experience in AML biology, he chairs the COG Myeloid Disease Biology Committee and the NCI designated Hematopoietic Integrated Science Center (HM-ITSC) to help translate laboratory discoveries into clinical practice. He leads the novel target and biomarker discovery for the LLS Children’s Initiative and the Pediatric Acute Leukemia (PedAL) efforts. As the director of NCI TARGET AML initiative and the Target Pediatric AML (TpAML), , he has led multi-omic studies of over 3000 children and young adults; Studies including Whole Genome Sequencing, Transcriptome sequencing, miRNA sequencing, Methylation profiling as well as the ongoing long read RNA sequencing to fully define splice isoforms in normal and malignant hematopoiesis.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Project Title

Multi-modal Immunotherapeutic Targeting of AML-restricted Targets in Infants and Children

First in Human Mesothelin-Directed Artemis CART in Childhood AML

TAP Partner

Constellation Pharmaceuticals was a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that selectively modulate gene expression to address serious unmet medical needs in patients with cancer. MorphoSys acquired Constellation in 2021 and then Novartis acquired MorphoSys in 2024. Novartis continues to develop pelabresib in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

Development of BET protein bromodomain inhibitors for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Nze is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Nze's clinical interests are in malignant hematology and oncology with a focus on Lymphoma. He is broadly interested in healthcare delivery system design, value-based healthcare research, and the health policy contexts that shape care delivery. He has been a longtime advocate for equity in health care delivery and the elements that lead to differential access and outcomes in care for vulnerable populations. He aims to combine excellence in delivering clinical oncologic care to cancer patients and investigate how we can optimally structure our healthcare system to ensure equitable cancer care for all.  

Program Name(s)

IMPACT

Project Title

Research Infrastructure to Promote Enrollment of Underserved Patients on Clinical Trials

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Samuel Taylor is a Hematology-Oncology Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center specializing in myeloid malignancies and bone marrow transplantation. After attending Yale for his undergraduate degree, he joined the National Cancer Institute where he investigated immune regulation in graft-versus-host disease. He then completed his MD-PhD at the Tri-Institutional program, where his doctoral research in the Cantley laboratory described how dietary fructose improves cell survival in hypoxia, increasing nutrient absorption and tumor growth in the intestine. Dr. Taylor has published 12 peer-reviewed manuscripts including first-author papers in Nature and The Journal of Experimental Medicine. His current work integrates spatial transcriptomics with single-cell approaches to understand immune surveillance in the bone marrow microenvironment following allogeneic transplantation, aiming to identify biomarkers that predict post-transplant relapse in myelofibrosis.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Spatial profiling of immune-mutant cell interactions in myelofibrosis before and after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus

As a physician-scientist dedicated to advancing treatments for multiple myeloma, I lead a translational research program focused on understanding drug resistance and developing new therapies. I completed my MD/PhD training under Dr. Brian Druker, whose work on BCR-ABL inhibitors revolutionized leukemia care, and my thesis investigated mechanisms of imatinib resistance. During fellowship, I focused on antibody-based therapeutics in the laboratory of Dr. Bin Liu, where I helped develop an anti-CD46 antibody-drug conjugate that showed single-agent activity in a phase I myeloma trial. Since joining the University of Colorado faculty, I have received awards including an NCCN Young Investigator Award, NCI K08, and American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award. My current research centers on mechanisms of resistance to T cell–redirecting therapies, including CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies, with the goal of improving outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Improving CAR T Outcomes Through Early T Cell Collection in Multiple Myeloma

Massachusetts General Hospital

Subha was born and raised in India where he completed his Masters in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta, India. Thereafter, he joined the Ph.D. program at Institute of Life Sciences, to pursue a career in research. His past research work focused on the role of chromatin remodelling complexes in guiding differentiation  programs and lineage choices in hematopoiesis, and how these epigenetic switches can contribute to leukemic transformation. Presently, he is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Peter Miller's lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  Menin inhibitors (MIs), have recently emerged as an exciting new modality for treating AML. However, MIs are not curative and associated with toxicities like differentiation syndrome. His overachieving goal here is to dissect mechanisms of MIs and come up with combination strategies/targets that can improve the efficacy of MIs in order to achieve profound and long lasting responses in AML patients.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Leveraging p53 to Improve Menin Inhibition in Leukemia Therapy

Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Peter trained at the University of Wales College of Medicine and Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the UK. In 2003 he joined Sheffield University and became joint Director of the Mellanby Center for Bone Research and Head of Department of Human Metabolism. In 2011 Peter joined the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney where he is Director of the Cancer Plasticity and Dormancy program. Peter is an international leader in understanding myeloma bone disease. He discovered key molecular pathways that cause myeloma bone disease. This research contributed to development of bone targeted therapies, including anti-RANKL and zoledronic acid, that are now in routine clinical use globally. Peter’s current research is investigating molecular pathways, including the Wnt pathway and sclerostin, that target osteoblasts, restore lost bone, increase bone strength and stop fractures. He is also investigating the role of bone cells in controlling myeloma cell dormancy and disease relapse.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting the Osteogenic Lineage as a Therapeutic Strategy in Multiple Myeloma

The Ohio State University

I am a tenured Professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University, with a focus on translational research in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, the Associate Director for Clinical Research within the Division of Hematology, the Section Head for the CLL/Hairy cell leukemia group, and the co-leader of the Leukemia Research Program within the OSUCCC. I am the PI for multiple early-stage clinical trials investigating novel targeted therapies for CLL and other hematologic malignancies, chaired the intergroup Phase III study A041202 which investigated chemoimmunotherapy versus targeted therapy as initial therapy for older adults with CLL, and now chair A041702 which is investigating continuous versus intermittent targeted therapy in the same patient population. My laboratory research focuses on resistance to targeted therapies in CLL. Our group identified C481S and PLCG2 mutations as the primary resistance mechanisms for covalent BTK inhibitors and were the first to investigate reversible BTK inhibitors preclinically as a strategy to circumvent BTK inhibitor resistance.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Inhibition of PKCβ as a strategy for BTK inhibitor refractory CLL