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California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Awards Grant to Study T-Cell – Targeted Viruses in Pediatric Patients
Michael Pulsipher , MD , of the Children ’ s Center for
Cancer and Blood Diseases at Children ’ s Hospital Los Angeles , and Michael Keller , MD , of Children ’ s National Health System in Washington , DC , were awarded $ 4.8
Michael Pulsipher , MD Michael Keller , MD million from the
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to study a new T-cell therapy for children with severe immune deficiencies , including Epstein-Barr virus , cytomegalovirus , and adenovirus .
Drs . Pulsipher and Keller will use viral-specific T cells engineered to target the viruses . T cells from healthy donors will be preserved in a donor bank , then individually matched to patients based on genetic makeup and viral infection before shipment to individual centers for infusion .
“ Our study design is to use a multivirus T-cell therapy to reconstitute immunity against all three of these viruses ,” said Dr . Pulsipher . “ Restoring immunity against multiple viruses simultaneously provides patients with protection from severe viral infections and reduces the need for continued prophylaxis with pharmacotherapy drugs after transplant , which can have adverse effects .”
Source : Children ’ s Hospital Los Angeles press release , November 6 , 2017 .
Barbara Savoldo Receives Grant From LLS for CAR T-Cell Research
Barbara Savoldo , MD , PhD
Barbara Savoldo , MD , PhD , assistant director of the Immunotherapy Program at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center , received a three-year , $ 600,000 grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to support her research on an investigational chimeric antigen receptor ( CAR ) T-cell treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia .
Dr . Savoldo and her team are focused on developing a “ safety switch ” that , should a patient experience toxicities , halts the expansion of infused T cells . If successful , the approach could reduce potentially lethal adverse events of CAR T-cell treatment , such as cytokine release syndrome .
Source : University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center news release , November 21 , 2017 .
University of California San Diego School of Medicine Receives $ 8 Million to Study Stem Cell – Based Treatments
Researchers at the University of California ( UC ) San Diego School of Medicine received two grants totaling almost $ 8 million to study novel stem cell – based therapies for acute myeloid leukemia
Dan Kaufman , MD , PhD
( AML ). The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine unanimously approved the funding .
Dan Kaufman , MD , PhD , professor of medicine in the Division of Regenerative Medicine , received a $ 5.15 million grant to advance clinical translation of natural killer cells derived from human embryonic
Catronia Jamieson , MD , PhD
Michael Burkart , PhD
Leslie Crews , PhD stem cells into a standardized treatment for AML and other leukemias .
Catriona Jamieson , MD , PhD , deputy director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center and director of stem cell research at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center ; Michael Burkart , PhD , professor in the UC San Diego Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry ; and Leslie Crews , PhD , assistant professor in the Division of Regenerative Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine , received a $ 2.7 million grant to test a novel therapeutic splicing modulator approach targeting stem cells in AML . These cells are believed to cause relapse in AML and other cancers .
Source : University of California San Diego news release , December 1 , 2017 .
Maximiliano D ’ Angelo Receives Funding for Blood Cell and Cancer Research
Maximiliano D ’ Angelo , PhD
Maximiliano D ’ Angelo , PhD , an assistant professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute , received a four-year , $ 792,000 Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society ( ACS ). The funding will be used to study how alterations in nuclear pore complexes ( NPCs ) contribute to the malignant transformation of blood cells and cancer , which have been detected in several types of leukemia .
The ACS Research Scholar Grants are awarded to promising research projects that may lead to the elimination of cancer as a major health problem . Recipients must be in the first six years of an independent research career or faculty appointment . “ There is a tremendous need to understand the pathways leading from NPC defects to cancer – insights that may lead to better treatments and potentially cures ,” said Dr . D ’ Angelo .
Source : Sanford-Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute press release , December 1 , 2017 .
Geoffrey Hill Joins Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Geoffrey Hill , MBChB , MD
Geoffrey Hill , MBChB , MD , a hematologist who leads the bone marrow transplantation and cancer programs at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane , Australia , will join the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as director of hematopoietic cell transplantation ( HCT ), effective July 1 . Dr . Hill also treats stem cell and bone marrow transplant patients at Royal Brisbane and Women ’ s Hospital in Australia .
In this new role , Dr . Hill will join the Clinical Research Division and will be the José Carreras / E . Donnall Thomas Endowed Chair for Cancer Research . He will provide care to patients undergoing transplantation at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and serve as a professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington .
Dr . Hill ’ s research team has studied the immunologic processes of graft-versus-host disease ( GVHD ). He has developed preclinical models demonstrating the type of cells that initiate GVHD and how cytokines impact disease severity . In this role , Dr . Hill will continue his research aimed at minimizing GVHD and improving HCT outcomes for patients . ●
Source : Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center news release , December 7 , 2017 .
14 ASH Clinical News January 2018 Annual Meeting Edition