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Weill Cornell Researchers
Awarded $9 Million for
Lymphoma Research
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded
a five-year, $9-million Program Project Grant
(P01) to Weill Cornell Medicine to support
research into mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).
This represents the first P01 solely focused
on MCL.
Selina Chen-Kiang, PhD, professor of
pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill
Cornell Medicine, will lead a
team of investigators with
complementary expertise
who will conduct three
synergistic projects explor-
ing the molecular, cellular,
and genetic changes that
Selina Chen-Kiang,
occur in patients with
PhD
MCL before, during, and
after treatment. Also, in collaboration with
colleagues at Ohio State University, Weill
Cornell researchers will further develop
ways to circumvent resistance by target-
ing the epigenome. The researchers hope
that this work will offer insights about drug
resistance in other types of blood cancers
and solid tumor malignancies.
Source: Weill Cornell Medicine press release, November 26, 2018.
Kimmel Cancer Center Names
Inaugural Immunotherapy
Professorships
Three researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel
Cancer Center were appointed as the first
recipients of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Profes-
sorships in cancer immunology. The new
positions grant the scientists “the flexibility
to pursue the high-risk multidisciplinary
projects that produce paradigm shifts”
in cancer treatment strategies, according
to Drew Pardoll, MD, PhD, director of the
Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Im-
munotherapy.
Jonathan Powell, MD, PhD, associate
director of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute
for Cancer Immunotherapy and professor of
pharmacology and molecu-
lar sciences at the Kimmel
Cancer Center, was recog-
nized for his work on the
signals that promote T-cell
differentiation, activation,
and function.
Jonathan Powell,
Cynthia Sears, MD,
MD, PhD
associate director of the
Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute
for Cancer Immunotherapy,
will focus on the role of the
microbiome in the develop-
ment of cancers and impact
on cancer treatment. Dr.
Sears also is program leader
Cynthia Sears, MD
for microbiome science at
12
ASH Clinical News
the institute and a member of the Kimmel
Cancer Center.
Suzanne Topalian, MD, associate direc-
tor of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for
Cancer Immunotherapy and
leader of the melanoma
program at the Kimmel
Cancer Center, will continue
her research on modulat-
ing immune checkpoints
to treat cancer, as well as
Suzanne Topalian,
identifying biomarkers to
MD
predict which patients and
tumor types are most likely to respond to
various immunotherapies.
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine press release, December 6, 2018.
Kenneth Kaushansky Elected
Fellow of the National Academy
of Inventors
Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, a hematologist
who is senior vice president for health sci-
ences and dean of the Renaissance School
of Medicine at Stony Brook
University in New York, has
been elected a Fellow of the
National Academy of Inven-
tors (NAI).
Dr. Kaushansky was
recognized
for his contribu-
Kenneth
tions
to
the
understand-
Kaushansky, MD
ing of molecular biology
of blood cell production. At the University
of California, San Diego, Dr. Kaushansky
and his research team successfully cloned
thrombo-poietin and other genes impor-
tant in the growth and differentiation of
blood cells. This enabled them to study the
pathobiology of several congenital disorders
of platelet and stem cell production.
At Stony Brook University, Dr. Kaushan-
sky spearheaded the development of the
Medical and Research Translation (MART)
Building, which will serve as an incubator for
new approaches using imaging and infor-
matics to better understand the causes of
and treatments for cancer.
Source: Stony Brook University press release, December 12, 2018.
Boston Children’s Hospital
Receives $1.5 Million for Sickle
Cell Disease Research
president of Boston Children’s Hospital and
president of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s
Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. He will
work collaboratively with Paula Hammond,
PhD, of the Koch Institute; Christian
Brendel, PhD, of Dana-Farber/Boston
Children’s; Harvey Lodish, PhD, of the
Whitehead Institute; and David Scadden,
MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital.
The grant continues to support a clinical
trial of gene therapy that is being conducted
at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s.
Source: Boston Children’s Hospital press release, December 19, 2018.
Fred Hutch Names New
Endowed Chairs
Two faculty members at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center received two en-
dowed chairs, funded by Barbara Stephanus,
that will provide long-term research support.
Denise Galloway, PhD, who received the
Paul Stephanus Memorial Endowed Chair,
studies the role of human
viruses in cancer develop-
ment. Dr. Galloway leads
the Pathogen-Associated
Malignancies Integrated
Research Center, a campus-
wide collaboration at Fred
Denise Galloway, PhD
Hutch that studies cancers
that arise from infections.
Her research into human papillomavirus
helped investigators understand how the
virus can lead to cancers and contributed to
the development of the first vaccine against
the virus.
Hans-Peter Kiem, MD, PhD, received the
Stephanus Family Endowed Chair for Cell
and Gene Therapy. Dr. Kiem’s work focuses
on combining gene therapy
and hematopoietic cell
transplantation to cure
diseases such as leukemia
and genetic blood diseases,
including anemia and SCD.
He recently initiated a clini-
Hans-Peter Kiem,
cal trial of gene therapy to
MD, PhD
fix the disrupted gene that
causes the blood and bone marrow failure
associated with Fanconi anemia.
Source: Fred Hutchinson press release, December 21, 2018.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
awarded $1.5 million to Boston Children’s
Hospital to support the development of gene
therapy treatments for pediatric patients
with sickle cell disease (SCD). This research
also aims to enable delivery of gene therapy
to developing regions of the world, where
SCD is prevalent.
The project will be led by David A.
Williams, MD, 2015 president of the
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
and chief scientific officer and senior vice
March 2019