Du Wei
Leukemia
Du Wei, PhD, MD
Pittsburg, PA
United States
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
Jenny Wang
AML
Jenny Wang, PhD
Sydney,
Australia
The University of Sydney
I am Head of the Cancer and Stem Cell Laboratory, and my research has been focused on leukemia stem cell biology and targeted therapies in the past 15 years. I have an extensive background in leukemia research, with specific training and expertise in stem cell biology, patient-derived preclinical models, CRISPR-genome editing, and single-cell multi-omics. As PI on several NHMRC-funded grants, I laid the groundwork for the proposed research by uncovering new therapeutic targets and mechanisms, and by establishing partnerships with industry that will enable personalized therapies into clinical application. I successfully administered the projects (e.g. staffing, research protections, timeline, budget), collaborated with researchers, and produced publications from each project in leading scientific journals (e.g. Cancer Cell, Blood). The current application builds logically on my prior work. I have the expertise, leadership, and motivation necessary to successfully carry out this project.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Strategic combinations to overcome therapeutic resistance and relapse in acute myeloid leukemia
Adam de Smith
pediatric ALL and Down Syndrome
Adam de Smith, PhD
Los Angeles, CA
United States
University of Southern California
I am a genetic epidemiologist and Assistant Professor in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the USC Keck School of Medicine. During my PhD, my research was focused on genetic variation and its role in human disease, and I received training in genetic epidemiology. Keen to pursue a career in childhood cancer research, I obtained a postdoctoral position at UCSF studying the etiology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. In 2018, I started a faculty position at USC, where I lead epidemiology studies of ALL in high-risk populations, including Hispanic/Latinos and children with Down syndrome. My research has led to several novel discoveries, identifying new genetic risk factors for ALL and shedding light on how Down syndrome increases leukemia risk. Understanding the causes of childhood ALL is my life’s work, with the hope that our discoveries will help to develop precision prevention strategies.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Kymera Therapeutics
protein degraders, DLBCL, TCL, LGLL
Kymera Therapeutics,
Watertown, MA
United States
Kymera Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded with the mission to discover, develop, and commercialize transformative therapies while leading the evolution of targeted protein degradation, a transformative new approach to address previously intractable disease targets. Kymera’s initial programs are IRAK4, IRAKIMiD, and STAT3, each of which addresses high impact targets within the IL-1R/TLR or JAK/STAT pathways, providing the opportunity to treat a broad range of immune-inflammatory diseases, hematologic malignancies, and solid tumors.
Hayden Bell, PhD
Bosto, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc.
Hayden Bell is a research fellow in Dr. Andrew Lane’s lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a research fellow at Harvard Medical School. He is focusing on the application of novel research techniques to discover cures for blood cancers. In his PhD research, he identified novel drug combinations for the treatment of high-risk and relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He also developed a cutting-edge pipeline allowing large-scale drug screening of primary leukemias using machine learning which is helping other researchers in the battle against leukemias. Now, Hayden is applying his leukemia biology expertise to other high-risk blood cancers including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He is specifically focused upon sex-biased drivers and dependencies in myeloid disease, and how these might afford new opportunities for novel treatments.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Carma Bylund
Equity in Access
Carma Bylund, PhD
Jacksonville, FL
United States
University of Florida
Project Title
Rajni Kumari
AML
Rajni Kumari, PhD
Bronx, NY
United States
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
I am a Postdoctoral Fellow under the supervision of Dr. Ulrich Steidl at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY and currently studying the role of H2.0 homeobox-like protein, called Hlx in short, in the development and maintenance of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Hlx is overexpressed in 80% of AML patients at transcript level. However, we lack the understanding of this protein’s function at molecular level.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Nicoletta Ciera
AML and transplantation
Nicoletta Ciera, MD, PhD
Boston, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Nicoletta Cieri is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Before joining DFCI, Nicoletta obtained her MD degree summa cum laude and mention of honor, PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Clinical Specialization in Hematology summa cum laude from San Raffaele University, Italy, in 2010, 2014 and 2020, respectively. Nicoletta's research interests include genomics, proteomics, immunology and gene therapy applied to the field of onco-hematology. She is committed to define how to manipulate the immune response to recognize and eradicate hematological malignancies, while mitigating detrimental effects such as graft-versus-host disease, off-target toxicities and immune overactivation. Honors include Jon J. Van Rood Award and Basic Science Award from the European Bone Marrow Transplantation Society, Mundipharma Hematology Award from the Italian Society of Hematology, AACR-Incyte Immuno-Oncology Research Fellowship, and Helen Gurley Brown Fellowship.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
TCR-like CARs targeting GvL mHAgs for the treatment of post-transplant AML relapse
Omar Abdel-Wahab
Hairy cell leukemia
Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD
New York, NY
United States
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
I am a hematologist/oncologist, Director of the MSK Center for Hematologic Malignancies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and a Member of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at MSK. My clinical expertise is in myeloid malignancies, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and rare blood cancers including hairy cell leukemia, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and histiocytoses. My research is focused on understanding the genetic alterations in patients with these cancers. One of our main areas of interest is understanding the role of mutations in RNA splicing factors and developing means to target cells with these mutations therapeutically.
Program Name(s)
Special Grants
Project Title
Developing novel therapeutic approaches for classical and variant hairy cell leukemia
Fahmin Basher
transplant and GvHD
Fahmin Basher, MD, PhD
Durham, NC
United States
Duke University Medical Center
Fahmin Basher, MD, PhD completed her bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and biological sciences at the University of South Carolina. She then went on to pursue a combined MD/PhD in cancer immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Medical Scientist Training Program under the mentorship of Jennifer Wu, PhD. She completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of Miami prior to transitioning to Duke University for her hematology/medical oncology fellowship training. During her fellowship, she served as chief fellow and was supported by the Duke Hematology and Transfusion Medicine T32 training grant. Her clinical and research interests include a focus in translational immunology, particularly the treatment of hematologic malignancies and optimization of therapeutic approaches and complications after stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy. She is currently being mentored by Stefanie Sarantopoulos, MD, PhD.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
The Role of the DNA Sensor AIM2 in B Cell Fate and Function After HCT
Nicola Vannini
Aging and CAR-T success
Nicola Vannini, PhD
Universite de Lausanne
Nicola Vannini after his MSc degree in Biological Sciences obtained at the University of Parma, moved to La Jolla (CA) where he worked for two years at the Burnham Institute in the laboratory of Prof. John C. Reed studying the metabolic basis of cardiac aging. He completed his PhD at the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genova (Italy) under the supervision of Prof. Adriana Albini, where he worked on nutritional interventions to prevent tumor progression. After his PhD he moved to EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) in the laboratory directed by Prof. Matthias Lütolf and Prof. Olaia Naveiras at the EPFL, where he developed targeted metabolic interventions to boost hematopoietic recovery.
Since March 2016 Nicola Vannini is group leader at the Ludwig Cancer Institute at the University of Lausanne . His primary research goals are the understanding of metabolic changes occurring during aging in the hematopoietic and immune compartments and their impact on cancer immunotherapy.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Mitochondrial reprogramming to restore age-driven dysfunction in T cell and boost CAR-T cell therapy
Lawrence Boise
CART and myeloma
Lawrence Boise, PhD
Atlanta, GA
United States
Emory University
Lawrence Boise, PhD is the R. Randall Rollins Chair of Oncology and Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology in the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Boise also serves as the Associate Director of Education and Training in the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He received his PhD from VCU-Medicine and did his postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. Dr. Boise took his first faculty position at the University of Miami in 1996 and rose to the rank of Professor before moving to Emory in 2009. Dr. Boise was involved in early studies to identify genes that control cell survival and cell death and has been studying these processes to better understand how to improve our treatment of cancer, particularly the plasma cell malignancy multiple myeloma. Dr. Boise serves as a Senior Editor at Molecular Cancer Research and is on the editorial board of Blood Cancer Discovery.
Program Name(s)
Discovery