2021 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Aditi Shastri, MD
Syed Mian, PhD
2019 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Daichi Inoue, MD, PhD
Soo Park, MD
2017 Young Investigator Grant Winners
MDS Foundation Young Investigator Award Winner
Yoshihiro Hayashi, MD, PhD
Funded by: MDS Foundation, Inc.
Grant Year: 2017-2018
Research Center: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Research Title: HIF-1α is a central pathobiologic mediator of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
Summary: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are heterogeneous clonal disorders which are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis and uni- or multi-lineage dysplasia. Although many genetic and epigenetic aberrations have been identified, the clinical features remain common. We have found that hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) signature is widely activated in MDS patients. Using inducible HIF-1α transgenic mice and our new MDS mouse models, we are elucidating the essential and sufficient roles of HIF-1α for developing MDS development. The goal of this project is to clarify the significance of HIF-1α for the pathogenesis of MDS and validate HIF-1α as a therapeutic target for MDS.
MDS Foundation Young Investigator Award Winner
David Sallman, MD
Funded by: MDS Foundation, Inc.
Grant Year: 2017-2018
Research Center: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida, USA
Research Title: Targeting TP53 Gene Mutations in Myelodysplastic Syndromes through Functional Reconstitution and Immune Activation
Summary: The implementation of next generation sequencing has greatly influenced diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic decisions in MDS. From these studies, recent investigations have suggested that the mutational status of TP53 is the most important negative prognostic factor in MDS patients. Specifically, TP53 mutations predict for a median overall survival of 6-12 months with inferior outcomes to hypomethylating agents and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Furthermore, we have identified that the variant allele frequency of TP53 is integrally related to patient outcomes. Together, these studies highlight the profound negative consequence of TP53 mutation in MDS and the need for effective targeted therapies.
2015 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Rose Ann Keam Memorial Young Investigator Award Winner
Dechen Lin, PhD
Funded by: Dr. Jennifer Keam & Family
Grant Year: 2015-2017
Research Center: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
Research Title: Investigation of aberrant mRNA splicing induced by ZRSR2 mutation in the pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes
Summary: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous group of clonal diseases marked by ineffective hematopoiesis with bone marrow (BM) hyperplasia and blood cytopenia. Molecular pathogenesis of MDS remains incompletely understood with limited therapeutic options. Our recent genomic investigations of MDS found that ZRSR2 gene is mutated in 3-10% of MDS samples which impairs its normal function. Our experiments demonstrate that ZRSR2 protein is required for RNA processing in the clels, and that ZRSR2 is important for hematopoietic differentiation. Our objective, using ZRSR2 as a focus, is to discover how aberrant RNA processing plays a role in the pathogenesis of MDS and to provide a mechanistic foundation for the development of therapies targeting the spliceosome machinery in MDS.
MDS Foundation Young Investigator Award Winner
Petter Woll, PhD
Funded by: Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research
Grant Year: 2015-2017
Research Center: University of Oxford, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
Research Title: Unraveling the role of alternative splicing in normal and MDS hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells
Summary: Because of their short half-life, millions of mature blood cells are continuously replenished from a rare population of hematopoietic stem cells. Understanding the precise mechanisms involved in this process is of considerable relevance for human health and disease, as these regulatory stages frequently are hijacked in hematologic malignancies. More than 90% of human genes undergo alternative splicing, which can generate multiple isoforms with different functions from individual genes, adding further complexity to the regulation of gene function. Recent identification of recurrent mutations in genes involved in mRNA splicing in patients with hematopoietic malignancies, in particular in myelodysplastic syndromes, implicates alternative splicing as an important regulator of normal blood development and leukemic transformation. The proposed research program is focused on first characterizing the extent of alternative isoform usage during the earliest stages of normal blood differentiation, and how this impacts the ability of rare hematopoietic stem cells to generate mature blood cells in both mouse and man. Secondly, the impact of mRNA splicing on blood development will be investigated by knocking out components of the mRNA splicing machinery. And finally, we will investigate the impact of recurrent mutations in the splicing machinery during distinct stages of blood development in order to understand how these mutations contribute to establish and propagate MDS disease. Importantly, this has translational importance, considering the high frequency of mutations targeted to the splicing machinery in hematologic malignancies, as well as in relationship to the need to develop more targeted therapies aimed at eliminating the propagating leukemic stem cells.
2013 Young Investigator Grant Winners
MDS Foundation Young Investigator Award Winner
Taly Glaubach, MD
Funded by: Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research
Grant Year: 2013-2015
Research Center: Anne and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Research Title: Truncated G-CSF Receptor – Mutant RUNX1: Modeling Cooperating Events in MDS
MDS Foundation Young Investigator Award Winner
Chantana Rakpan, MD
Funded by: MDS Foundation, Inc.
Grant Year: 2013-2015
Research Center: Cleveland Clinic, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Research Title: Splicing defects due to loss of RNA helicase function: Novel molecular therapeutic targets
2010 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Andrew John Finch, PhD
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
The Role of the p53 pathway in the pathogenesis of Shwachman Diamond Syndrome
Ramon Tiu, MD
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland, OH
TET2 Mutations as Marker of Epigenomic Instability in MDS: Therapeutic Implications
2009 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Matthew Walter, MD
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
Role of DNA Repair Genes in Therapy-Related MDS/AML
Li Zhou, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY
SMAD Dysregulation in Myelodysplasia
2008 Young Investigator Grant Winners
Azim Mohamedali, PhD
Kings College London
The Rayne Institute
London, UK
Prevalence and Pathogenetic Significance of Uniparental Disomy on Chromosome 4q in RARS
Klas Raaschou-Jensen, MD, PhD
Copenhagen University Hospital
Copenhagen, Denmark
Identification and Characterization of the Genetic Background in a Unique Danish Family with Several Cases of Hypoplastic Myelodysplastic Syndrome
2007 Young Investigator Grant Winners
2007-2008
Martin Jädersten, MD
Karolinska Institutet
Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge
Stockholm, Sweden
The role of the SPARC tumor suppressor gene in the pathogenesis and treatment of MDS with 5q deletion
Arjan van de Loosdrecht, MD, PhD
VU University Medical Center
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Multicolour Flow Cytometry in Myelodysplastic Syndromes
2006 Young Investigator Grant Winners
2006-2007
Thorsten Braun, MD
Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Institut Gustave Roussy
Villejuif, France
NF-kappaB as a Therapeutic Target in Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Dana E. Rollison, Sc.M., Ph.D
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Tampa, FL
Case-control Study of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase and Telomere Length in Myelodysplastic Syndromes