Jing Yang
Myeloma
Jing Yang, PhD
Houston, TX
United States
Houston Methodist Research Institute
My research focuses on the translation of bench works into new therapeutic approaches/strategies for multiple myeloma and other blood cancers. One of my research goals is to study the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of myeloma and its associated tumor microenvironment. I have been investigating the interaction of myeloma cells with bone marrow adipocytes, bone cells, and the signaling pathways associated with obesity, inflammation, chemo-, immune-therapeutic resistance, and bone disease, which are the major hurdles in treating myeloma. As a PI, I have managed many projects funded by extramural grants, private funds, and industry alliances. Some highlights include the NIH/NCI R01s and funding received from ASH and ACS. I have an excellent publication track record with peer-review articles that are in top-tier journals with high impact factors (e.g. Cell Metabolism, Science Translational Medicine, Cancer Cell). My research experience shows my capacity to be a PI for this Project.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Targeting acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 to remodel obesity-evoked inflammatory microenvironment in myeloma
James Rubenstein
Lymphoma of the Central Nervous System
James Rubenstein, MD, PhD
San Francisco, CA
United States
University of California, San Francisco
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Kerry Rogers
CLL
Kerry Rogers , MD
Columbus, OH
United States
The Ohio State University
Dr. Kerry Rogers is physician scientist at the Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital specializing in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and hairy cell leukemia. In addition being a practicing hematologist taking care of patients with CLL and hairy cell leukemia, she leads clinical trials studying new treatments for these leukemias and does translational laboratory research. One of her major focuses is improving the use of BTK inhibitors by using combination treatments that avoid traditional chemotherapy. She is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Tycel Phillips
Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Tycel Phillips, MD
Duarte, CA
United States
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
I am a physician employed at the University of Michigan who specializes in the management of patients with a very specific blood cancer called lymphoma. The term "Lymphoma" describes a collection (subtypes) of tumors that originate from a blood cell called a lymphocyte. The different subtypes can have very different presentations and outcomes. Treatment for lymphoma differs from most other cancers in that chemotherapy and not surgery is essential. As part of my work at the university I conduct research in lymphoma. My research involves evaluating new drugs and drug combinations in patients with lymphoma as part of clinical trials. Clinical trials offer treatments for patients who have no other viable options and/or gives patients an opportunity to receive promising drugs that would otherwise not be available. As part of the clinical trials, I use special tests to evaluate for reasons why the drugs do or don't work. This part of the research is important to allow for me to better select patients for certain treatments and to better understanding of what makes lymphoma cells survive.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Faron Pharmaceuticals
immunotherapy, AML, CMML
Faron Pharmaceuticals, OY
Turku,
Finland
TAP Partner
Faron is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on building the future of immunotherapy by harnessing the power of the immune system to tackle cancer and inflammation. The precision immunotherapy in clinical development has the potential to provide permanent immune stimulation for difficult-to-treat cancers through targeting myeloid function.
Program Name(s)
Therapy Acceleration Program
Project Title
Yoke Seng Lee
AML
Yoke Seng Lee, PhD
Boston, MA
United States
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital
My scientific background involves the functional characterization of rare immune cells called dendritic cells in advanced melanoma patients. These cells are master regulators of immunity and are responsible for orchestrating anti-cancer responses driven by effector cells called T cells. My PhD focused on patients who received immunotherapy via antibodies that reinvigorate the immune system, also known as immune checkpoint inhibitors. I collected patient blood samples before and during treatment, and found that a critical subtype of dendritic cell is numerically and functionally impaired in patients who did not respond to immunotherapy compared to those who responded. In my current lab, I leveraged my experience in immune cell research and now study how a novel drug combination can be used to target and kill acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. This innovative approach targets two biologically important processes within a cell – the protein-making machinery and the control of cell death.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Brian Dalton
DNA mutations and myeloid cancers
Brian Dalton, PhD, MD
Baltimore, MD
United States
Johns Hopkins University
As a physician-scientist in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Dalton has a clinical specialty in myeloid leukemias and a research laboratory that focuses on the study of DNA mutations that drive those leukemias. In particular, he is working to better understand DNA mutations in the spliceosome, which occur in many patients with MDS and AML and are currently difficult to treat. He uses bone marrow and blood samples generously donated by patients, together with cell ‘models’ that he genetically engineers in the lab, to understand what these DNA mutations do and how they might be targeted with new treatments. His work has led to identification of vulnerabilities in cells containing these mutations that he aims to translate into novel therapeutic approaches in MDS and AML.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Therapeutic modulation of serine availability for SF3B1-mutant myeloid malignancies
Saar Gill
AML immunotherapy
Saar Gill, MD PhD
Philadelphia, PA
United States
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Gill obtained his medical degree and Ph.D in immunology from the University of Melbourne, and trained in hematology at St Vincent’s Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Australia. In 2008 he moved to the United States, first to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in cellular therapy at Stanford University, and then in 2011 to the University of Pennsylvania where he is now an Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Gill’s clinical practice is in leukemia and bone marrow transplantation. He has led clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for chronic and acute leukemias. Dr. Gill’s research laboratory focuses on the interface between adoptive cellular therapy and genetic engineering.
Program Name(s)
Discovery
Project Title
Role of the AML "Immunome" in response and failure of chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy
Venkata Lokesh Battula
immunotherapy and AML
Venkata Lokesh Battula, PhD
Houston, TX
United States
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. V. Lokesh Battula received his Ph.D. from Justus Liebig University. He is currently working as a research faculty, Associate Professor, in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Battula’s research is focused on development of immune therapeutic tools for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. He discovered ganglioside GD2 as a unique marker to identify cancer stem cells from primary breast tumors and cell lines. He is currently developing antibody based approaches for targeting GD2 in solid tumors. He is also interested in understanding the metabolic processes that regulate the expression of GD2 and the function of CSCs in primary tumors. His lab is working on antibody-based approaches for targeting immune checkpoint protein including B7-H3, CD47 and SIRPα in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. These proteins play a crucial role in the inhibition of immune cells in primary tumors. He is developing therapeutic antibodies against immune checkpoint proteins that could be used in the treatment of cancer.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Targeting immune checkpoint protein B7-H3 (CD276) in acute myeloid leukemia
Randall Davis
CLL
Randall Davis, MD
Birmingham, AL
United States
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
A graduate of Boston University, Dr. Davis completed medical school at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, where he also served his internship, residency, and the ABIM academic subspecialty research fellowship clinical investigator pathway in Hematology/Oncology. He is Professor of Medicine, is board certified in Hematology, and serves as the director of the UAB CLL Program. His laboratory studies the cellular and molecular immunobiology of lymphocytes in healthy and malignant conditions. As a postdoctoral fellow, he co-discovered a multigene family termed Fc receptor-like (FCRL1-6) that encodes cell surface proteins with tyrosine-based signaling function that are restricted to lymphocytes and upregulated in malignancies. Novel panels of antibodies and mouse models have been generated to investigate FCRL translational biology. The current proposal extends nearly two-decades of studies to advance immunotherapeutic targeting of the FCRL1 member in CLL and B cell malignancies.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Takeshi Sugio
T-cell lymphoma
Takeshi Sugio, MD, PhD
Palo Alto, CA
United States
Stanford University
I am a physician-scientist and hematologist focused on clinical translation of T-cell biology. I received my MD from Kyushu University, and subsequently completed Residency Training at Toranomon Hospital, the largest transplant center in Japan. I continued my Hematology training at Kyushu University, where I qualified as a Board-certified specialist (2017) and supervisory hematologist (2021) by the Japanese Society of Hematology. For my PhD (2014-19), I studied expression profiles and histologic features of TCLs. I discovered distinct TCL clinical groups identified by infiltrating immune cell patterns in the microenvironment. Based on my dissertation work (Sugio, et al 2018 Blood Advances), I planned and conducted a Phase II trial of PD1 inhibition for relapsed/refractory TCL (UMIN000034499). In 2020, I received a JSPS fellowship to study the TCL microenvironment. I joined the Alizadeh lab at Stanford in 2021, where I am developing tools to analyze immune status using liquid biopsies.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Affimed
immunotherapy, PTCL
Affimed, NV
Heidelberg,
Germany
TAP Partner
Affimed is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer by actualizing the untapped potential of the innate immune system. The company’s proprietary ROCK® platform enables a tumor-targeted approach to recognize and kill a range of hematologic and solid tumors, enabling a broad pipeline of wholly-owned and partnered single agent and combination therapy programs.
Program Name(s)
Therapy Acceleration Program