Who We Fund

The University of Melbourne

Professor Jane Oliaro is an internationally recognized cancer immunologist motivated to translate scientific discoveries into the clinic. Her research experience spans the fields of T cell biology and tumor immunology, with a focus on the application of new technology to identify novel therapies to enhance immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. She has a proven track record of undertaking successful collaborative research leading to high quality publications in influential journals including Science, Immunity, Science Immunology; successful funding and awards (including 9 CIA project grants, NHMRC fellowship, NHMRC ‘Ten of the Best’ Research Project Award and NHMRC Inaugural Achievement Award) and over 15 conference invitations in the past 5 years. As Chief Scientist for the Centre of Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy Translation Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, she leads a preclinical program focused on the development of novel cell-based immunotherapies for translation into pilot clinical trials.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Improving CAR-T cell therapy outcomes for patients with for aggressive lymphoma and multiple myeloma

Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope

Jianhua Yu, PhD, is a Professor and Founding Director of the Natural Killer (NK) Cell Research Program at City of Hope. Dr. Yu is internationally recognized for his fundamental contributions in understanding NK cell biology. Dr. Yu published pioneer studies on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) NK cells as early as 2013. Dr. Yu’s team developed a process to engineer NK cells including those possessing a CAR for “off-the-shelf” clinical use. Dr. Yu also makes significant contributions to oncolytic virotherapy and conducts CAR-T cell research. Dr. Yu holds over 20 patents (awarded or pending) on his research that are highly applicable to the clinic, some of which are licensed to pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Yu has over 200 peer-reviewed publications with nearly 14,000 citations to date, notably senior-author ones on original studies in high-impact journals such as Nature Biotechnology, Nature Immunology, Cancer Discovery, Immunity, etc. Dr. Yu was a scholar of LLS and ACS and the recipient of the Jack Latham Innovative Research Award from the National Blood Foundation.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

All-in-one for myeloma: a single therapy to combine CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies to engage both innate and adaptive immune responses

University of California, San Diego

Dr. Leslie Crews is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCSD with a passion for stem cell biology and translational cancer research. She received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a PhD in Molecular Pathology from UCSD. During her postdoctoral training in leukemia and myeloma research, Dr. Crews and her collaborators discovered that the interferon-responsive RNA editing gene ADAR1 is hyper-activated in myeloma and that this molecule promotes disease progression and drug resistance by activating stem cell regulatory pathways. Since starting her independent laboratory in 2017 as a member of the Division of Regenerative Medicine and the Moores Cancer Center, the primary focus of the Crews Laboratory has been on multiple myeloma translational research. Her ongoing work aims to delve deeper into the molecular mechanisms of myeloma initiation and progression, with the goal of identifying novel, more selective therapies to treat individuals with this incurable cancer.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Inflammation-responsive mechanisms of malignant stem cell generation and eradication in multiple myeloma

Stanford University

I am a physician-scientist and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (BMT&CT). Clinically, I care for patients with high-risk lymphoma and other blood cancers. I am the principal investigator of clinical trials investigating novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for the treatment of relapsed and refractory leukemia and lymphoma. These trials, in part, provide the critical and precious patient samples that are the subject of my laboratory-based research efforts. My research group is dedicated to understanding the clinical outcomes of our patients who receive these immunotherapies with the goal of improving clinical response while minimizing toxicity.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Autologous CD22 CAR T cell Therapy for the Treatment of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

TAP Partner

Immunitas is a single cell genomics-based therapeutics company focused on immunology that is advancing multiple programs to the clinic. Immunitas’ programs are derived from their platform, a cross-functional, highly integrated, single cell genomics approach that enables rapid target identification and validation in parallel with antibody discovery and engineering.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 1/2 study of IMT-009, an antibody targeting CD161, in patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphomas

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Mechanisms of oncogenic transcription in NPM1-mutant myeloid leukemia

Emory University

I am a cancer biologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine. I am a recipient of the Lexie Clayton Impact Award from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My research focus includes understanding how metabolic states regulate specific cancer hallmarks such as the evasion of cell death; proliferation and growth; and invasion and metastasis to identify targetable metabolic vulnerabilities. We have an interest in investigating how mitochondrial metabolism impacts multiple myeloma therapy efficacy and more recently are examining how the bone marrow niche is regulated by neural signaling. My research lab comprised of talented scientist trainees, who in collaboration with the Winship team of multiple myeloma physicians and scientists are endeavoring to ask provocative and innovative questions for curing multiple myeloma.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Deciphering the metabolic basis for t(11;14) multiple myeloma venetoclax sensitivity

Investigating anti-neoplastic effects of beta blockers in multiple myeloma

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

I am a clinical-translational researcher focusing on new treatments for lymphomas with a particular focus on T-cell/cutaneous lymphomas. Since entering the field of hematology/oncology, I have been drawn to the study of lymphoma and the care of patients facing lymphoma given how varied these conditions are and the major unmet needs that exist. In my clinical practice, I see patients and caregivers navigating these diseases, treatments, and side effects, and this stimulates me to pursue advancements in my research endeavors. My overarching goals are to bridge laboratory investigations with work done in clinical trials towards ultimately improving and refining our therapeutic approaches for these challenging diseases.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

Targeting mutant IDH2 in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma

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