Who We Fund

Yale

Dr. Manyi Wei gained his B.S. degree at China Pharmaceutical University in Nanjing. Subsequently, he completed his Ph.D. training in Cell Biology at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. During his Ph.D. research, Dr. Wei focused on the regulatory role of long non-coding RNA in gene expression and its impact on neuronal function. Dr. Wei has always nurtured a particular interest in understanding and developing novel treatment for leukemia. After his Ph.D. training, Dr. Wei joined the laboratory of Dr. Stephanie Halene at Yale Cancer Center and Yale University School of Medicine. He immediately began exciting work on RNA modifications and their functions in the initiation and progression of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and importantly on novel therapeutic approaches exploiting cell intrinsic and extrinsic effects of targeted inhibitors of RNA methylation. His goal is to contribute to the cure of leukemia.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Harnessing METTL3 inhibition in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia driven by the t(1;22) fusion involving a member of the m6A writer complex

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

My lab focuses on the tumor microenvironment as a risk factor for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and Richter's transformation (RT). We develop therapeutic strategies targeting the interaction between CLL/RT and the TME. This research has been my focus since my postdoctoral studies, where I investigated auto-antigens in the TCL-1 mouse model and expanded this work in TCL-1/IgK-AID double transgenic mice that develop RT spontaneously. I've also created preclinical CLL patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, including SRG-BA6 mice, which allow for the study of human lymph node fibroblastic stromal cells. Recently, I’ve gained expertise in single nucleus RNA sequencing, multiplex imaging, and using PDX models to develop novel therapies like R110-CART for CLL and RT. My lab is committed to interdisciplinary studies with therapeutic implications, and I have extensive experience in project management and collaboration, positioning me well to advance this research.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Project Title

Targeting TLR9 Signaling to restore immunomodulating function of FRCs in Richter's Transformation

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

I am an NIH-funded physician scientist with a scientific and clinical focus on cutaneous lymphomas. We have utilized high-dimensional genomic, epigenetic, and immunological approaches to elucidate the immunobiology of multiple cutaneous T and B cell lymphomas. We utilize a combination of human and mouse models as well as a number of unbiased approaches including whole genome sequencing, bulk and single cell RNA and ATAC-Seq, epigenetic assays such as ATAC-Seq, CUT&RUN, and HiCHIP, as well as spectral flow and multimodal CITE-Seq. These efforts have led to manuscripts published in Nature, Nature Cancer, Cancer Discovery, and Blood. These efforts have been funded by an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Damon Runyon Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and most recently the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Identification of novel therapeutic strategies for aggressive subtypes of CTCL

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

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Xiaodi Wu, MD, PhD, is an Instructor of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Having completed his fellowship training in medical oncology at MSKCC, he is working to establish a career as a physician–scientist who treats patients with leukemia or other blood cancers while, in the laboratory, studying how blood cancers develop out of previously healthy bone marrow due to mutations in a class of proteins called transcription factors. The goal of his work is to identify specific molecular pathways that can be targeted in order to help patients with these conditions.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

CEBPA mutations in the pathogenesis of leukemia

Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù

Dr. Del Bufalo is a physician-scientist with interest in childhood malignancies, tumor immunology, immunotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. She participated in the preclinical and clinical development of the academic clinical trials with CAR-T cells at OPBG. In particular, she coordinated 2 studies on different CD9-CAR T cell platforms for the treatment of children with relapsed/refractory (r/r) BCP-ALL and the phase I/II study to test GD2-CART01 in children with r/r neuroblastoma. She is the PI of a research project to test donor-derived CAR T cells for the treatment of children/young adults with BCP-ALL. She managed the activation and conduction of the phase I clinical trial on CD7-CART.PEBL for the treatment of children/young adults with r/r T-ALL (PI Prof. Franco Locatelli). She is the new chair of the European iBFM Resistant Disease Committee and President of the Young Investigators Section of the scientific technical committee of the Italian Ministry of Health.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

Project Title

CD7-CAR T cells with PEBL for treatment of children/young adults with relapsed/refractory T-ALL

The University of Melbourne

Dr. Lev Kats is head of the Targeted Therapeutics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He completed his PhD at Monash University and postdoctoral training at Beth Israel Deaconess Centre/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kats has made major contributions in the areas of targeted therapies, epigenetics and hematological malignancies including through discovery of important functions of cancer promoting genes and the characterization of the molecular mechanisms of anti-leukemic drugs. His laboratory uses model systems, functional and molecular genomics approaches to develop and test new therapeutic strategies for aggressive blood cancers.

Program Name(s)

Translational Research Program

Targeting DCAF1 as a novel treatment strategy for therapy resistant multiple myeloma

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Coming soon.

Program Name(s)

Specialized Center of Research Program

Project Title

Translational Discovery in Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas

Boston Children's Hospital

Dr. Rohan Bhattacharya earned his Ph.D. from Duke University under the supervision of Dr. Samira Musah, where he studied how mutations linked to congenital heart disease affect kidney podocyte development and function using organs-on-chips. Working as a Research Fellow in Dr. Leonard I. Zon’s Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, he investigates kinase-dependent protein trafficking pathways to selectively upregulate ‘eat me’ signals on the surface of leukemic cells, thereby aiding their macrophage-mediated removal and restoring healthy hematopoietic hemostasis. Trained as a stem cell and developmental biologist, Dr. Bhattacharya aims to bridge stem cell biology research with translational applications, discovering new biological insights and advancing immunotherapies for leukemia. Beyond the bench, he is deeply dedicated to mentorship, open-access science, engaging local high school students in STEM initiatives, and serving as the associate editor of the Journal of Translational Medicine.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Programming macrophage-mediated hematopoietic surveillance for precision targeting of AML

Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Diaz is a Hematology/Oncology fellow focused on understanding clone fitness in the evolution of clonal cytopenias of uncertain significance (CCUS), the role of splicing factors in CCUS and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and the relationship between complex genotypes and drug response in models of CCUS and MDS. Her project uses parallel approaches in computational genomics from patient samples and combinatorial genetic experiments in human cells to address these questions. Prior to fellowship, Dr. Diaz completed MD/PhD training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where her projects incorporated bioinformatics, computational genomics, and experimental molecular genetics. She completed Internal Medicine Residency at UCLA before coming to the Washington University in St. Louis as a clinical fellow. With a distinct scientific background and novel research focus, Dr. Diaz aims to transition to an independent investigator and continue her research in myeloid malignancies.

Program Name(s)

Career Development Program

Project Title

Defining the Genetic Evolution of Clonal Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance

TAP Partner

Allotera (formerly Wugen) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation, allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. Allotera's proprietary gene-editing platform is designed to overcome key limitations of first-generation cell therapies, enabling scalable, off-the-shelf treatments with biologics-like cost of goods margins.

Program Name(s)

Therapy Acceleration Program

Project Title

A phase 2 registration-directed clinical study of Sofi-cel, an allogeneic CAR-T targeting CD7, in patients with T-ALL/T-LBL

Washington University in St. Louis

Stephen Oh, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Medicine and Co-Chief of the Division of Hematology at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Oh’s clinical practice and research efforts are focused on hematologic malignancies including myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). His laboratory employs patient samples and animal models to investigate fundamental mechanisms driving the initiation, development, and progression of MPNs, with a particular focus on inflammatory cytokine signaling networks in MPNs. Dr. Oh has extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and management of MPN patients and has contributed to numerous clinical trials investigating novel targeted therapies for MPN patients. The long-term objective of his work is to translate the findings from his laboratory research into improved therapies for MPN patients.

Program Name(s)

Academic Clinical Trials Program (ACT)

CMML Initiative

Project Title

Exploiting Novel Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia

Therapeutic RSK1 Targeting in Myeloid Malignancies