Christopher Porter
Leukemia, lymphoma
Christopher Porter, MD
Atlanta, GA
United States
Emory University
Dr. Porter is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and holds the Paul Amos Chair for Pediatric Oncology Research. He is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and directs a lab in which they study molecular and cellular mechanisms of leukemogenesis, with the goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies. Most recently, they have been studying how leukemia cells influence the microenvironment to promote immune evasion. For example, they found that IL-12 overcomes calcineurin-dependent immune evasion by leukemia cells. Collaboratively, they designed BiTEokines to deliver IL-12 to the immune synapse of T cells and leukemia cells, supported by a DOD award (CA180783). They have also found that B cell malignancies express high levels of Siglec15, a newly identified immune checkpoint, and that inhibition of Siglec15 promotes immune clearance of malignant B cells in vivo. Thus, they are uniquely positioned to further develop Siglec15 as a therapeutic target for leukemia and lymphoma.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Targeting Siglec15 to promote immune response to malignant B cells
Yibin Yang
Lymphoma
Yibin Yang, PhD
Philadelphia, PA
United States
Fox Chase Cancer Center
I completed my Ph.D. training with Dr. Michelle Kelliher at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, studying the ubiquitin-dependent signal transduction pathways. With this foundation, I joined Dr. Louis Staudt’s laboratory at the National Cancer Institute as a research fellow in 2010 to exploit the roles of innate immune signaling and protein ubiquitination machinery in the pathogenesis of Diffuse Large B cell lymphoma. In 2015, I received an NCI Transition Career Development Award to further investigate the roles of immune signaling and protein ubiquitination in lymphoid malignancies. I accepted a tenure track faculty position and started my lab at Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) as an Assistant Professor in May 2016. At FCCC, I decided to shift my studies to the field of Peripheral T-Cell lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma, which have minimal available targeted therapy options currently. The main focus of my laboratory is to understand the immune regulatory pathways in these lymphoid malignancies.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Francesco Forconi, MD, PhD, DM, FRCPath
Southampton,
United Kingdom
University of Southampton
Professor Francesco Forconi is a leading clinician-scientist at the University of Southampton, UK. Internationally recognized for his clinical and scientific work on B-cell cancers, including HCL. He leads the Southampton designated Center of Excellence for HCL and contributes to UK and international guidelines on HCL diagnosis and management. He leads the Cancer B-cell Group, investigating novel therapeutic approaches against the survival signals mediated by the essential B-cell receptor and BCL2 in B-cell cancers, including HCL. He is the UK lead for the CRUK ECRIN-M3 consortium on early cancer interception. With over 180 peer-reviewed publications, Francesco has spearheaded numerous interventional and observational clinical trials and collaborates closely with patient advocacy groups to enhance care and data platforms. His leadership spans academic, clinical, and policy domains, including roles in NICE appraisals, editorial boards, and cancer science forums.
Program Name(s)
Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma
Hairy Cell Leukemia Research Initiative
Project Title
Qing Yi
Novel CAR-T
Qing Yi, MD, PhD
Houston, TX
United States
Houston Methodist Research Institute
I am a translational tumor immunologist. I have 30 years of experience as a well-funded and published researcher and am one of the leading investigators in the fields of tumor immunology in myeloma and other cancers. My laboratory has been working on: (1) characterizing myeloma- and tumor-specific T cells and their subsets and examining their functions, (2) identifying novel myeloma-associated antigens and better methods for immunotherapy, (3) investigating the cross-talk between the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune system, (4) conducting clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of immunizing patients with idiotype or dendritic cell-based vaccines, and (5) exploring immunotherapies using myeloma antigens such as DKK1. Our recent research focuses on: (a) developing novel therapeutic mAbs and CAR-T cells for cancers, (b) identifying T-cell subsets that have potent antitumor effects after adoptive transfer, and (c) identifying TME components that induce tumor drug resistance.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Developing Novel CAR-T Cell Therapy For Hematologic Malignancies
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
Evan Chen, MD
Boston, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dr. Chen is a Clinical Investigator and Attending Physician in the Adult Leukemia Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He attended Stanford University School of Medicine and completed Internal Medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Medical Oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research interest is in the development of novel therapies for advanced myeloid neoplasms such as acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes, with particular focuses on cell therapies and epigenetic approaches.
Program Name(s)
Translational Research Program
Project Title
Memory-like natural killer cells and venetoclax to eradicate measurable residual disease in AML
Hong Wen
AML
Hong Wen, PhD
Grand Rapids, MI
United States
Van Andel Research Institute
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Epigenetics at Van Andel Institute. My research is focused on epigenetic regulation of gene expression during blood cell formation and in the pathogenesis of blood cancer. I obtained PhD in Biochemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001 and joined Dr. Joseph Lipsick’s laboratory at Stanford University for my postdoctoral training, where I became interested in blood cancer research. In 2008, I joined MD Anderson Cancer Center as a research track Assistant Professor, where I made seminal discoveries of the ENL protein as a novel histone acetylation reader and an attractive new therapeutic target for acute leukemias. In 2018, I started my independent lab at Van Andel Institute studying epigenetic regulation of gene expression in blood cancers. The overarching goal of my research is to understand and target ENL in acute leukemias. My long-term research goal is to translate our discoveries at bench to help leukemia patients in the clinic.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Investigating and targeting the histone acetylation reader protein ENL in acute leukemias
Keisuke Ito
blood cancer stem cells
Keisuke Ito, MD, PhD
Bronx, NY
United States
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Keisuke Ito is an Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he has also served as the Director of Scientific Resources at the Stem Cell Institute. After his postdoctoral training, first at Keio University, where he also completed his clinical training, and then at Harvard, he joined the Einstein faculty in 2012. Dr. Ito’s team has focused on advancing our understanding of the regulatory pathways controlling the equilibrium of stem cells. At the core of his work is the process of stem cell division, and the balance between self-renewal and differentiation, which directly impacts tissue homeostasis and the development of hematological malignancies. Dr. Ito is devoted to targeting mitophagy, a mitochondrial quality-control process, as a therapeutic strategy, and has cut a path along the leading edge of research into the role of Ten-eleven translocation in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndrome.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Enterome
vaccine, FL, MZL
Enterome
Paris,
France
TAP Partner
Enterome is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough immunomodulatory drugs for the treatment of cancer and immune diseases. Enterome’s pioneering approach to drug discovery is based on its unique and powerful bacterial Mimicry drug discovery platform, allowing it to analyze and uncover new biological insights from the millions of gut bacterial proteins in constant cross-talk with the human body. Its first-in-class small protein and peptide drug candidates modulate the immune system by closely mimicking the structure, effect or actions of specific antigens, hormones, or cytokines.
Program Name(s)
Therapy Acceleration Program
Project Title
Hayden Bell, PhD
Bosto, MA
United States
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
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
Nataly Cruz-Rodriguez
T-ALL and metabolism
Nataly Cruz-Rodriguez, PhD
Ann Arbor, MI
United States
Regents of the University of Michigan
I am a Research Scientist in the Deininger Lab at Versiti Blood Research Institute, where my work focuses on leukemia biology—particularly in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, mitochondrial function, and the identification of therapeutic targets in hematologic malignancies. I have extensive experience in experimental hematology, including stem cell assays, CRISPR-based genome editing, lentiviral and retroviral modeling, and advanced flow cytometry.
In my current role, I have led projects optimizing functional metabolic assays, such as Seahorse XF analysis, to study mitochondrial bioenergetics in rare stem cell populations. I also work extensively with mouse models of leukemia, including xenografts, and coordinate multi-institutional collaborations for biospecimen acquisition and translational research.
In August 2025, I will transition with the Deininger Lab to the University of Michigan, where I will hold a Research Assistant Professor appointment in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology. My goal is to continue bridging mechanistic studies with preclinical testing to develop and refine targeted therapies for hematologic malignancies.
Program Name(s)
Career Development Program
Project Title
Understanding the role of Metabolic Regulator SIRT5 in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Joshua Brody,
New York, NY
United States
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Brody is Director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at Mount Sinai and a member of the Depart of Immunology. He has developed a robust clinical program and a translational Cancer Immunotherapy Lab which investigates basic and applied tumor immunology to develop novel therapies for lymphomas and CLL with results published in top-tier journals including Nature Medicine and Cancer Discovery. Dr. Brody has pioneered a therapeutic vaccine approach—in situ vaccination—that induces anti-tumor immunity and regression of tumors throughout the body with clinical results published primarily for Follicular Lymphoma. Recently, his group discovered a novel approach ‘potentiating bystander killnig’ to improve immunotherapies by preventing a common escape mechanism that tumors use to evade CAR-T and bispecific antibody therapies.
Dr. Brody’s research receives funding from numerous grantors e.g. the NIH, Cancer Research Institute, Damon Runyon Foundation, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
Program Name(s)
Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma