Who We Fund

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Margaret Shipp, MD, is Chief of the Division of Hematologic Neoplasia at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on the clinical and molecular heterogeneity of the large B-cell lymphomas (LBCLs) and Hodgkin lymphomas. Dr. Shipp has led efforts to define molecular signatures of LBCLs and Hodgkin lymphomas, identify biologically distinct subsets of these diseases, and characterize associated rational treatment targets including modulators of the host anti-tumor immune response.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Analysis and Targeting of Tumor-Associated Monocytes/Macrophages that Inhibit PD-1 Blockade

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Luis Malpica is a physician-scientist at MD Anderson Cancer Center focused on creating better treatments for T-cell lymphomas. Originally from Peru, his early work on virus-associated blood cancers provided a strong foundation for his current research. Throughout his career, Dr. Malpica has earned prestigious awards from the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Lymphoma Research Foundation and Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Dr. Malpica leads pioneering clinical trials that use the unique biology of a patient's cancer to guide smarter, targeted therapies, moving beyond traditional chemotherapy. He is deeply committed to collaboration, evidenced by his role in founding a Latin American lymphoma consortium and co-directing MD Anderson's multidisciplinary skin lymphoma clinic to speed patient access to new therapies. His ultimate goal is to establish a new, more effective standard of care for patients everywhere.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Defining Optimal Therapeutic Strategies in T-Cell Lymphomas Through Pathway Inhibition, Immune Modulation, and Chemotherapy Refinement

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

Project Title

Enhancing the “fitness” of anti-BCMA CAR T cells for improved efficacy in multiple myeloma

University of Virginia

I am currently the Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Virginia. I was also founding Director of Penn State Cancer Institute. I had excellent training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center under Nobel Laureate, E.D. Thomas, and served on its faculty for many years. I was instrumental in discovering a new hematologic malignancy which I termed large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia. My career path has been a testament to translational research as a vehicle to directly improve disease management and patient outcomes. I also have extensive leadership experience in team science, exemplified by my current NCI P01 funding. Since my discovery of LGL leukemia, I have consistently been at the forefront of translational research into this disease and have built an entire Program at the University of Virginia dedicated to helping improve outcomes for patients with this disease, which includes the LGL Leukemia Registry with >2,100 consented participants.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Epigenetic Therapy and Nano-Drug Development for Large Granular Lymphocyte Leukemia

University of Pittsburgh

My research is centered on pathophysiology of hematologic diseases such as bone marrow failure and leukemia, with specific focus on hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), DNA damage and immune response, and tumor microenvironment. I have been investigating HSC-BM niche interaction and HSC regeneration under conditions of injury and aging; and have identified functional interactions between certain factors implicated in cell proliferation, polarity, adhesion/migration, stem cell metabolism and aging. My work has led to 53 peer-reviewed scientific papers in high-impact scientific journals, including Blood, JCI, Nat Comm and Leukemia. I laid the groundwork for my long-term research by developing cell and animal models as well as effective assays for identifying mechanisms underlying critical hematological diseases as PI on several NIH- and private-funded grants. I am confident that both myself as a PI and my innovative research are highly competitive in future success in grants and publications.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

DNA damage, immune response, aging and leukemia

TAP Partner

Vittoria Biotherapeutics is developing novel CAR-T cell therapies that transcend the limitations of current cell therapies. Based on technology exclusively licensed from the University of Pennsylvania, Vittoria's proprietary Senza5 platform unlocks the antitumor potential of engineered T cells and utilizes a five-day manufacturing process to maximize stemness, durability, and target cell cytotoxicity. By acting on the fundamental biology of T cells, Senza5 can be used to improve the efficacy of engineered T cell therapies with pipeline applications in oncology and autoimmune diseases.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1 study of VIPER-101, a CD5-edited dual population chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy, to enhance immunotherapy against T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Glycotyping as a novel approach to study leukemia stem cell heterogeneity and function

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), Blood Cancer United 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

University of California, Los Angeles

Yue Wang, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA with extensive expertise in developmental and stem cell biology. He earned his PhD in Regenerative Medicine from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he conducted groundbreaking research on the regulatory mechanisms of trophoblast lineage differentiation. Dr. Wang also developed a stem-cell based organoid model to study Zika virus effects on human placenta. At UCLA, he works with Dr. Hanna Mikkola and uses single cell technologies to understand how Trisomy 21 affects human B cell development and transformation to aggressive form of B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in children with Down Syndrome. His work aims to identify cellular origins and molecular mechanisms driving this unique type of leukemia, offering potential insights for safer and more effective therapies.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Unraveling the Cellular and Molecular Origins of B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Down syndrome

Boston Children's Hospital

George Q. Daley, MD, PhD is Dean, Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. His research has focused on stem cell and cancer biology, with an emphasis on hematopoietic development and diseases of the bone marrow, blood and immune system. Daley earned his AB and MD degrees from Harvard and a PhD in biology from MIT. He has been a trainee, fellow and staff physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to becoming Dean at HMS, he was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Association of Arts and Sciences.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived CAR-T and CAR-NK Cells for Immunotherapy of Leukemia and Lymphoma

Weill Cornell Medicine

Ramon Massoni-Badosa, PhD is a graduate of Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona in 2023, and his PhD focused on applying single-cell genomics technologies to benchmark the effect of sample preservation in single-cell RNA-seq data (Massoni-Badosa R. Genome Biol 2020), create a single-cell-driven atlas of cell types in human tonsils (Massoni-Badosa R., Immunity in press), and track the clonal evolution of CLL to Richter's syndrome (Nadeu,* Royo,* Massoni-Badosa*, Playa-Albinyana*, Garcia-Torre* Nat Med 2022). As highlighted in these three publications, he has gained extensive experience in large-scale single-cell multi-omics projects, as well as in combining computational and biological knowledge to gain biological and clinical insights. During his postdoc in the ten Hacken and Landau labs, Ramon will leverage his expertise to improve the mechanistic understanding of Richter’s syndrome, with the ultimate goal of identifying new targets to treat this incurable disease.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Uncovering MGA-driven epigenetic reprogramming in Richter's syndrome

Columbia University Medical Center

Dr. Jing Fu is an Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Peking University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on translational studies of multiple myeloma and AL amyloidosis, with an emphasis on developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies. She investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying disease progression, immune evasion, bone disease, and therapeutic resistance to identify new therapeutic targets and advance precision immunotherapy for patients with plasma cell disorders.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting GCK as a novel and selective therapeutic strategy against RAS mutated Multiple Myeloma