Who We Fund

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. DiNardo is an academic clinical researcher with a primary focus on individualized therapy and precision oncology for myeloid malignancies, including the optimal incorporation of genomics into standard risk assessments and treatment algorithms, and the clinical evaluation of targeted therapeutics for molecularly-defined patient subgroups.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

A precision-based all-oral combination of venetoclax, oral decitabine, and IDH1/2 targeted inhibition for patients with IDH1 or IDH2 mutated AML

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network

Dr. Courtney Jones received her PhD from New York University in 2014 and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado. Throughout her training, Courtney’s research focused on understanding and targeting acute leukemia cells. She is currently a Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. The goal of Dr. Jones’s research is to discovery new ways to target leukemia cells with the overall goal of improving outcomes for patients with leukemia while minimizing side effects. To date, her largest contribution to blood cancer research was the discovery of metabolic vulnerabilities of leukemia cells that have been translated into clinical trials in collaboration with her clinical colleagues. The objective of her current research studies is to discover and develop a new strategy to eradicate leukemia cells in patients for whom standard chemotherapy has failed.

Program Name(s)

Discovery

Project Title

Interrogation of glutathione biology in relapsed acute myeloid leukemia stem cells

King's College London

I am a Physician Scientist with a specialist interest in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and related lymphomas. My PhD, awarded by King’s College London, London, UK investigated how non-leukemic cells interact with CLL (the tumor microenvironment) and can affect the development and growth of the disease. From 2009-2013, I undertook a Visiting Fellowship in Dr Nicholas Chiorazzi’s laboratory at the Feinstein Institute of Medical Research, New York, USA continuing this line of work. I have been back in London since 2013 and have a large clinical practice in CLL and Lymphoma at both King’s College Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and am Clinical Senior Lecturer at King’s College London since 2018 where I continue my laboratory-based research. Through working with the UK NCRI clinical trials subgroup for CLL and by being current Secretary for the UK CLL Forum, I further contribute to undertaking and promoting research, education, and training of all health professionals and patients into blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Understanding SARS-Cov-2 evolution in haemato-oncology patients

University of Miami

Dr. Nimer has cared for patients with MDS, AML, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma for over three decades. This melding of clinical studies and care, with both basic laboratory and translational studies, reflects the fundamental focus of his career. Since coming to the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine in 2012 and assuming the Directorship of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the center received the prestigious National Cancer Institute designation in July 2019. In November 2019, Dr. Nimer was named the inaugural Oscar de la Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigators and the Association of American Physicians. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and serves on the editorial board of several medical journals. In April 2021, Dr. Nimer was inducted into the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida. Dr. Nimer is also the Chairman of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome Foundation, and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research.

Program Name(s)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Project Title

Interventional Epigenetics in Myeloid Malignancies

Children's Research Institute

Michael Keller, M.D., is a pediatric immunologist at Children's National Hospital and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of primary and secondary immunodeficiency disorders. He has authored many peer-reviewed articles and contributed to expert consensus guidelines on the treatment and diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency disorders. Dr. Keller is a member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI); the Clinical Immunology Society; the European Society of Immunodeficiency; and the Primary Immunodeficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC).  Dr. Keller's research focuses on the use of adoptive T-cell therapies for treatment of infections in immunocompromised patients, including the use of this therapy to improve outcomes in children with primary immunodeficiency disorders as well as those undergoing bone marrow transplantation for cancer. 

He is the primary investigator of several Phase I-II studies of virus-specific T-cell immunotherapy. Dr. Keller lives in Maryland with his wife and two sons; and enjoys travel, hiking, and martial arts.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

T-cell immunotherapy for prevention of COVID-19 following bone marrow transplantation

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Sisi Chen is a Research Associate in the laboratory of Dr. Omar Abdel-Wahab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Sisi obtained her Bachelor’s degree at Wuhan University, China and completed her PhD training at Indiana University under the mentorship of Dr. Yan Liu. During her graduate studies, Sisi studied the role of TP53 mutations in pre-malignant hematopoiesis. Due to her keen interests in blood cancer research, Sisi continued her scientific pursuits as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Daniel Tenen’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School and then joined the Abdel-Wahab laboratory at MSK in 2019. As an LLS Special Fellow, Sisi will focus on elucidating a novel mechanism by which dysregulated RAS signaling contributes to leukemia and drug resistance. Sisi plans to utilize mouse models and functional genomic approaches to define how impaired RAS degradation drives leukemia and identify novel therapeutic targets. Sisi hopes that her work will improve leukemia treatment, thereby benefiting leukemia patients in the future.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Aberrant LZTR1 and RIT1 signaling as a driver of clonal hematopoietic disorders

Weizmann Institute of Science

Liran I. Shlush M.D. Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Immunology and a visiting hematologist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, and the hematology department Rambam healthcare campus Haifa Israel. His research and clinical activities are focused on the early stages of leukemia. Dr. Shlush and colleagues identified the human pre-leukemic stem cells and proved that a latent period in which stem cell acquire mutations exists. These preleukemic stem cells give rise to AML and other blood malignancies and can be identified years before diagnosis. Recently, his group was able to predict AML years before diagnosis by analyzing molecular signatures among healthy individuals. In this study specific mutations found among healthy individual predicted AML. Some of these mutations, specifically, in the spliceosome machinery can be targeted and we are now working on designing the clinical trials for AML prevention.

Program Name(s)

RTFCCR/LLS Prevention

Project Title

Early diagnosis and treatment of pre-leukemia

Indiana Universty

My clinical and research interest is to develop therapies that enhance the immune system to fight blood cancer. In my laboratory, we have developed CA T Cells to treat aggressive blood cancer and we have taken one already from the research lab to the clinic. This was CD4CAR. It is designed to treat T cell leukemia and lymphoma. We have treated three patients so far and results were very promising. CD4, the target for this CAR is expressed on CMML nd we are not only planning to try this CAR in CMML, but we will be studying mechanisms of response and resistance to this treatment as we go, and also improving on the structure of this CAR to be more effective with the goal of curing CMML.

Program Name(s)

CMML Initiative

Project Title

Development of cellular therapy for CMML and the Immune landscape of response and resistance

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Dr. Shannon Maude is a pediatric oncologist and clinical trialist in the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Maude received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed her residency in pediatrics as well as fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Maude developed the Cancer Immunotherapy and BMT Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and currently serves as a Medical Director in the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Maude is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group ALL committee and leads investigator-initiated and international multi-center clinical trials of engineered T cell therapies for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Improving CAR T-cell Therapy Efficacy in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia by Optimizing Design and Placement

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr Verma has been involved in study of blood cancers such as MDS and AML in the lab and in the clinic. His work has defined the critical role of various signaling pathways (p38 MAP kinase, TGF-beta, smad2/3, IRAK and others) activation in MDS and CMML and this work has directly led to the therapeutic targeting as these pathways in clinical trials in MDS/AML (Nat Cell Bio 2019, JCI 2018, Blood 2015, 2011, JCO 2020, NEJM 2020). The FDA approval of Luspatercept in MDS was also supported by his work in the lab. Dr Verma was on the team to first define stem cell alterations in MDS/AML (Nat Med, 2018; JCI 2014, Blood 2012). Dr Verma has conducted clinical studies in blood cancers (Nat Med, 2022, Cancer Cell 2021, Can Disc, 2020; JAMA Onc 2018) that have studied the effects of COVID-19 and environmental exposures (WTC 911 disaster) on outcomes and pathogenesis. He has also been actively engaged in early phase clinical trials that are investigating novel agents for MDS and AML.

Program Name(s)

CMML Initiative

Special Grants

Project Title

Studies on clonal hematopoiesis in the 911 WTC first responders

Stanford University

Dr. Kathleen Sakamoto is Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. She has been studying the causes of AML and developing new therapies for the past 30 years. Her research funded by the LLS currently focuses on repurposing a drug used to treat tapeworms, niclosamide, for children with relapsed/refractory AML. Niclosamide is an FDA approved drug and is well tolerated in children. Dr. Sakamoto’s research has resulted in a Phase I clinical trial that will study toxicity, response in AML cells, and drug levels. She is also studying mechanisms of resistance of AML cells to niclosamide to look for drugs that will act synergistically for future clinical trials. Her goal is to take discoveries in the laboratory and translate them to the clinics to improve the overall survival and quality of life in children with AML.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Niclosamide for the treatment of relapsed pediatric acute myeloid leukemia

Niclosamide for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia

University of Virginia

Dr. Hao Jiang is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Jiang studied regulation of immunity in our lymphocytes during his PhD studies at the Johns Hopkins University. He then did postdoctoral research with Robert Roeder at the Rockefeller University, studying how the chemical modifications of chromatin (the basic platform of our genetic information) control how much our cells turn on the expression of the genetic information. These studies set the stage for his independent research, starting in 2011, on how chromatin-regulatory proteins control normal and malignant blood cell formation. Dr. Jiang’s research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the development of blood cancer at the molecular level, and how to develop new treatment strategies based on these mechanisms.

Program Name(s)

Discovery

Project Title

Targeting aberrant epigenetic condensates in myeloid malignancies