Who We Fund

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

I am a pediatric oncologist and associate professor in the division of bone marrow transplantation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. I have a clinical and research interest in graft versus host disease because this is the most significant, devastating and life-impacting complication after a bone marrow transplant. I led the study in children of high dose oral vitamin A and showed that when given before starting chemotherapy, vitamin A reduces acute gastrointestinal and chronic graft versus host disease. I am now collaborating with 3 adult BMT programs to try and validate my findings in adult BMT patients as adults tend to have more chronic GVHD than children and I would like to extend this easy and effective strategy to patients of all ages across the US and worldwide.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

A randomized clinical trial of oral vitamin A to reduce chronic graft versus host disease in BMT

Indiana University

Dr. Yan Liu received his PhD degree in Molecular Biology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Yan completed his postdoctoral training in hematology in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Nimer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Dr. Liu joined Indiana University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 2010 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. Currently, Dr. Liu is an Associate Professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Liu is the Co-leader of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Liu laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) aging and pathogenesis of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The goal of this Translational Research Program award is to understand the pathogenesis of MDS and develop novel therapeutic approaches to improve MDS treatment.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Development of therapeutic strategy for the treatment of MDS

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Greg Wang is currently Associate Professor at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center & Dept of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, NC, USA. He received the PHD degree from University of California, San Diego, followed by a postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University, New York. Dr. Wang’s research programs focus on fundemental understandings of how our genetic information (DNA) is stored and interpretted when cells respond to the developmental and environmental changes. Disruption or deregulation of such a process can severely affect normal development and formation of blood cells, and is often responsible for causing various blood cancers. Understanding the molecular underpinnings also allows development of new therapeutic approaches, paving a way to clinical trials in future. Dr. Wang’s research is funded by a grant of  Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar. For more information, please visit his lab website: www.gregwanglab.com

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Decipher and Target AML Cell Dependency on Epigenetic Mutations

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

Weill Cornell Medicine

John P. Leonard, MD, is the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Senior Associate Dean for Innovation and Initiatives at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is Executive Vice Chairman of the Weill Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.  Dr. Leonard’s research has been published in numerous medical journals, and he has served as a member of the editorial boards of Blood and the Journal of Clinical Oncology, leading international journals in these fields. He is Chair of the Lymphoma Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a multicenter cooperative group and key component of the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network. Dr. Leonard’s primary research interest is in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of lymphoma and related hematologic malignancies, and he has lectured at major international meetings on these topics. He also has studied prognostic, imaging and survivorship issues for lymphoma patients.

Program Name(s)

IMPACT

Project Title

BRIDGE (Blood cancer Research Initiative Developing Greater Engagement) with community patients

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

University of Chicago

Dr. Stock is the Anjuli Seth Nayak Professor of Leukemia Research at the University of Chicago. She is the co-chair of the Leukemia Committee for the Alliance, the NCI National Clinical Trials Cooperative Group that leads practice-changing clinical trials in cancer. Dr. Stock's career has focused on clinical/translational research in acute leukemias, with a particular focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Her work has led to a paradigm shift in treatment of younger adults with ALL, translating preclinical insights from her laboratory studies on mechanisms of treatment resistance. She is the co-chair of the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics Program at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Stock serves on the editorial board of Blood Advances and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She was recently elected to a 4-year term as the Councilor for the American Society of Hematology.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

A phase 1b/2 study targeting apoptotic and signaling pathways in T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The Jackson Laboratory

Dr. Jayna Mistry was awarded her PhD degree at the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute in Norwich, United Kingdom following her thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Stuart Rushworth and Professor Kristian Bowles. She discovered translationally relevant mechanisms by which stress can induce metabolic alterations in hematopoietic stem cells due to interactions with non-hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow microenvironment. She is continuing her training as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jennifer Trowbridge at The Jackson Laboratory studying aging-associated mechanisms causing clonal hematopoiesis and blood cancers. Dr. Mistry currently holds a Scholar Award from The Jackson Laboratory. She is first author on four primary research articles and a review article, and co-author on ten additional primary research publications.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Senescence Induced by Dnmt3a-Mutant Hematopoiesis Drives Clonal Hematopoiesis and Transformation to Myeloid Malignancy

Emory University

Dr. Porter is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and holds the Paul Amos Chair for Pediatric Oncology Research. He is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and directs a lab in which they study molecular and cellular mechanisms of leukemogenesis, with the goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies. Most recently, they have been studying how leukemia cells influence the microenvironment to promote immune evasion. For example, they found that IL-12 overcomes calcineurin-dependent immune evasion by leukemia cells. Collaboratively, they designed BiTEokines to deliver IL-12 to the immune synapse of T cells and leukemia cells, supported by a DOD award (CA180783). They have also found that B cell malignancies express high levels of Siglec15, a newly identified immune checkpoint, and that inhibition of Siglec15 promotes immune clearance of malignant B cells in vivo. Thus, they are uniquely positioned to further develop Siglec15 as a therapeutic target for leukemia and lymphoma.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting Siglec15 to promote immune response to malignant B cells

The University of Melbourne

Professor Jane Oliaro is an internationally recognized cancer immunologist motivated to translate scientific discoveries into the clinic. Her research experience spans the fields of T cell biology and tumor immunology, with a focus on the application of new technology to identify novel therapies to enhance immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. She has a proven track record of undertaking successful collaborative research leading to high quality publications in influential journals including Science, Immunity, Science Immunology; successful funding and awards (including 9 CIA project grants, NHMRC fellowship, NHMRC ‘Ten of the Best’ Research Project Award and NHMRC Inaugural Achievement Award) and over 15 conference invitations in the past 5 years. As Chief Scientist for the Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy Translation Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, she leads a preclinical program focused on the development of novel cell-based immunotherapies for translation into pilot clinical trials.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Improving CAR-T cell therapy outcomes for patients with for aggressive lymphoma and multiple myeloma

The University of Melbourne

I am an Assoc. Prof. and Group Leader at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac; Melbourne, Australia). I formed my group in 2018 and my research program is focused upon enhancing the effectiveness of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, a form of immune therapy where a patient’s own immune cells are genetically engineered to recognize and kill tumor cells. I have published numerous seminal papers and research metrics place me in the top 1% of researchers in my field. Despite being a PI for just 5 years, I have already led 1 CAR T clinical trial and I am currently developing a second trial with a technology developed in my lab in 2020.

Previously my focus has been on using CAR T to treat cancers such as breast and lung cancer. However, recent clinical data indicates that CAR T cells have significant potential in multiple myeloma. Therefore, this project will be a key strategic enabler, allowing me to apply approaches developed in my lab to this disease.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

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