Funded Researchers
Current researchers
Below are the researchers that received a $100K grant from the Leukemia Research Foundation for the 2021 - 2022 funding cycle. To download a PDF with the research project description for each grant recipient, click here.

Emanuele Azzoni, PhD
University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy)
Generating a New Model of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia to Study its Cellular Origins and to Identify Therapeutic Vulnerabilities
(Leukemia - JMML)

George Burslem, PhD
University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania)
Protein Degradation Induced Epigenetic Reprograming as a Therapeutic Strategy for MLL-r Leukemias
(Leukemia - ALL, AML, MLL-r)

Matt Christopher, MD, PhD
Washington University (Missouri)
Resensitizing Relapsed AML Cells to the Graft-versus-Leukemia Effect after Allogeneic Hematologic Stem Cell Transplantation (HCT)
(Leukemia - AML)

Leslie Crews, PhD
University of California, San Diego (California)
The Role of Inflammation-Responsive R-spondin Receptor Activation in Multiple Myeloma Stem Cell Generation
(Multiple Myeloma)

Ernesto Diaz-Flores, PhD
University of California, San Francisco (California)
Validating Targeted Therapies with Curative Potential against High-Risk Childhood Leukemia
(Leukemia - B-ALL)

Cihangir Duy, MS, PhD
The Research Institute of Fox Chase Cancer Center (Pennsylvania)
Targeting LSD1 in Senescence-like Resilient AML Cells
(Leukemia - AML)

Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld, MD
The Ohio State University (Ohio)
Understanding Poor Survival and Treatment Resistance in Young Black NPM1-mutated Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia
(Leukemia - AML)

Pietro Genovese, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Massachusetts)
Generation of “Stealth” Tyrosine Kinase Receptors for an Immunotherapy Resistant Hematopoiesis
(Leukemia - AML)

Md Kamrul Hasan, PhD
University of California, San Diego (California)
Investigating the Role of DOCK2 in Cells Expansion, Drug Resistance and Pathogenesis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
(Leukemia - CLL)

Sangmoo Jeong, PhD
Johns Hopkins University (Maryland)
Identify Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Leukemic Stem Cells
(Leukemia - AML)

Huacheng Luo, PhD
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Pennsylvania)
The N6-Methyladenosine of HOTTIP lncRNA Coordinates with CTCF Mediated TAD Boundary in AML Leukemogenesis
(Leukemia - MLL-r, AML)

Mithun Shah, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic (Minnesota)
Predicting and Preventing Therapy-related Myeloid Neoplasm in Multiple Myeloma Patients Undergoing Stem Cell Transplantation
(Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Multiple Myeloma)

Alexander Valvezan, PhD
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (New Jersey)
Repurposing IMPDH inhibitors for Selective Targeting of PTEN-deficient T-ALL Cells
(Leukemia - T-ALL)

Zhiquan Wang, PhD
Mayo Clinic (Minnesota)
Exploring an NFATc1-Dependent Epigenetic Program as a Determinant of BTK inhibitor Treatment in B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and other B-cell Malignancies, including Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas
(Leukemia - CLL, Lymphoma - NHL)
Past researchers
To view researchers that received funding from the Leukemia Research Foundation in previous years, click here.