Who We Fund

Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Fehniger is a physician-scientist that leads a research program focused on translational NK cell biology and therapy. His group pioneered studies characterizing memory-like (ML) NK cell biology and activity against AML and has led clinical trials advancing ML NK cell adoptive therapy for both adult and pediatric patients. Dr. Fehniger is director of the Biologic Therapies Core Facility and Laboratory Director of the Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy. His team developed the platform and protocols for production of GMP grade ML NK cells for use in academic clinical trials. His lab performs correlative immunology to understand ML NK cell biology and identify mechanisms of resistance to NK cells in patients. Dr. Fehniger has extensive experience in human NK cell biology, flow and mass cytometry, single cell analysis, and immunotherapy. For the proposed clinical trial, Dr. Fehniger will work with clinical co-investigators in pediatric and adult stem cell transplant programs.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

NK cell immunotherapy to reduce relapse after haploidentical transplant for high-risk pediatric AML

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Carter, a Professor in the Section of Molecular Hematology and Therapy, Department of Leukemia has 20+ years of experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, and leukemia research. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance and targeting anti-apoptotic proteins and cell survival signaling pathways in myeloid leukemia. She is developing mechanism-based combinational strategies in therapy-resistant AML to overcome drug resistance and eradicate myeloid leukemia cells and leukemia stem/progenitor cells. She has published extensively in the field and several clinical trials have been developed based on her pre-clinical studies. Her recent works demonstrated the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of combined inhibition of antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 using BH3 mimetics (Blood Cancer Journal, 2023) and targeting HSP90 epichaperomes (Blood, 2023) in TP53 mutant AML.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting TP53-Y220C mutant AML

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

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

I am a researcher who studies epigenetic regulation in cancer. The over-arching goal of my research is to understand the molecular mechanism of epigenetic regulators in cancer and develop novel therapeutic strategies for cancer. To achieve this goal, I have acquired systematic training through working in laboratories in both fields. My Ph.D. training was in cancer biology and my postdoctoral training is in chromatin biology. My training requires me to develop refined skills as well as independent thinking ability, and I published high impact papers in both fields. Therefore, throughout my scientific career, I have demonstrated a strong track record of conducting innovative research. For the next few years, I will continue this line of research to further understand the epigenetic mechanisms in governing the malignant state in leukemia and explore novel therapeutic strategies.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Investigating the impact of hotspot mutations in a chromatin reader on leukemogenesis

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)

Dare to Dream

Specialized Center of Research Program

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Novel Immunotherapeutic Development in Childhood AML

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

Novel immunotherapeutic strategies in infants with high risk AML

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

My lab focuses on the tumor microenvironment as a risk factor for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and Richter's transformation (RT). We develop therapeutic strategies targeting the interaction between CLL/RT and the TME. This research has been my focus since my postdoctoral studies, where I investigated auto-antigens in the TCL-1 mouse model and expanded this work in TCL-1/IgK-AID double transgenic mice that develop RT spontaneously. I've also created preclinical CLL patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, including SRG-BA6 mice, which allow for the study of human lymph node fibroblastic stromal cells. Recently, I’ve gained expertise in single nucleus RNA sequencing, multiplex imaging, and using PDX models to develop novel therapies like R110-CART for CLL and RT. My lab is committed to interdisciplinary studies with therapeutic implications, and I have extensive experience in project management and collaboration, positioning me well to advance this research.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting TLR9 Signaling to restore immunomodulating function of FRCs in Richter's Transformation

TAP Partner

Immune-Onc is a private, clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel myeloid checkpoint inhibitors for cancer patients. The company aims to translate unique scientific insights in myeloid cell biology and immune inhibitory receptors to discover and develop first-in-class biotherapeutics that reverse immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment. Immune-Onc has a differentiated pipeline with a current focus on targeting the Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor subfamily B (LILRB) of myeloid checkpoints. Immune-Onc’s focused platform approach has led to the development of several promising therapeutics across various stages of development.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1 expansion study of IO-202, an antibody targeting LILRB4, in combination with azacitidine in patients with monocytic differentiation AML and CMML

University of Southampton

Professor Forconi is a clinician scientist and leader of the Cancer B-Cell Group, comprising lymphoma scientists and clinicians in the University of Southampton Hospital, UK. His mentor was Professor Freda Stevenson, recipient of the American Society of Hematology Henry Stratton Medal. His research has always been to translate novel understanding of tumor biology to the clinic. He is dedicated to lymphoma pathogenesis, early diagnosis, prognosis and interception focusing on their immunoglobulin receptor. He has >170 publications on B-cell tumors linking laboratory to clinical findings. He is also UK lead of the international Early Cancer Research INitiative (ECRIN-M3), and member of the UK NCRI Lymphoma Science Group. He runs an extensive clinical trial portfolio, has served the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for several appraisals. He regularly presents his work to major international Haemato-Oncology meetings, and has major collaborators in Europe and North America.

Program Name(s)

Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma

Project Title

Investigating the tumor-unique mannose-lectin interaction for a novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic antibody approach of follicular lymphoma

Moffitt Cancer Center

Eric Padron, MD is an Associate Member and Scientific Director of the Department of Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC). He completed a hematology oncology fellowship and was recruited to MCC in 2013. Dr. Padron’s research focus has centered on studying clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and chronic myeloid neoplasms across the translational research spectrum. Importantly, he has published seminal work establishing key biologic features, novel treatments, and clinical trials in CMML. Further, Dr. Padron is an R37 MERIT awardee from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his work in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and has published more than 175 peer reviewed articles describing advances in myeloid malignancies and hematologic conditions, including CH. Dr. Padron is among the few physician-scientists with experience both in leading multi-institution trials and a successful NCI funded laboratory making him uniquely suited to lead this proposal.

Program Name(s)

CMML Initiative

Project Title

Advancing the therapeutic landscape for Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML)

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Letai is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He began his studies in apoptosis and hematologic malignancies as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley Korsmeyer. He then started his own laboratory at Dana-Farber in 2005 and became an LLS Scholar in 2008. His studies in understanding how BCL-2 family members regulate the cell death pathway of apoptosis were instrumental in the translation of the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax to the clinic, where it is now FDA approved for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). His laboratory has been investigating how immune cells used in cancer immunotherapy use apoptosis pathways to kill cancer cells, and how increasing apoptosis signaling in cancer cells might benefit immunotherapy. He is also investigating how reducing apoptosis signaling in immune cells used for immunotherapy might make them work better in cancer patients.

Program Name(s)

Discovery

Project Title

Interrogating T-cell apoptotic priming to improve CAR-T persistence in treatment of lymphoid malignancies

University of Iceland

Professor Sigurður Yngvi Kristinsson is currently consolidating his position as one of the leading researchers world-wide in the field of multiple myeloma, its precursors, its epidemiology, progression, and treatment. This has been the main thrust of his scientific and clinical efforts from the time he defended his thesis on monoclonal gammopathies at the Karolinska Institutet in 2009. In 2012 he became the youngest full professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland and he is a consultant at Landspitali University Hospital. He designed and leads the largest myeloma screening study in the world, the iStopMM project in which over 80,000 individuals provided informed consent. His current research group includes 7 PhD-students, three postdocs, a lab with 4 biologists, 6 research nurses, three statisticians/data manager, and five support staff. He is an author of more than 110 scientific papers including the current guidelines for myeloma treatment and follow up and has an h-index of 57.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Early Detection and Intervention in Smoldering Multiple Myeloma: population-based screening and treatment; Edit-SMM

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Romee is a translational physician-scientist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School. His long-term research goals are to translate novel aspects of immunology to improve treatments for patients with advanced cancer. He did his medical training at University of Minnesota and Washington University and was a faculty at Washington University before joining Dana Farber. He is the PI of Romee Lab for NK Cell Gene Manipulation and Therapy (https://romeelab.dana-farber.org) and the focus of his lab is gene editing of the immune cells particularly NK cells to enhance their cancer cell targeting and killing. His work helped describe memory-like NK cells which have enhanced activity against cancer cells and persist for months after their infusion into leukemia patients. He is leading efforts at Dana Farber to develop novel protocols using memory-like NK cells with other immunomodulating agents like checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced and otherwise incurable leukemia and solid tumors like Head and Neck Cancer, Ovarian Cancer and Kidney Cancer.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Cytokine induced memory-like NK cell immunotherapy to target post transplant relapse