Grants and Grant Recipients
For over 30 years, AAMDSIF has provided research grants totaling in excess of $5.5 million to an international group of more than 100 researchers to help advance the understanding and treatment of aplastic anemia , myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).
The two-year grants have helped bring forth new insights into the causes and therapeutic approaches for these diseases. These grantee profiles present the grantees by year the awards were granted, and a summary of their grant-funded research projects.
Grant Year: 2012
Lisa Minter, PhD
Caitlyn Langley Research Fund, Holly Cataldo Research Fund
Jeffrey Pu, MD, PhD
PNH Research and Support Foundation
Acquired bone marrow failure diseases include myelodysplastic
syndrome (MDS), acquired aplastic anemia (AA), and paroxysmal nocturnal
hemoglobinuria (PNH). PNH is a clonal disorder originating from a multipotent
hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) acquiring a PIG-A
gene mutation. PIG-A mutations lead
to the absence of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchor proteins (GPI-AP), which
contributes to many manifestations of PNH. About 25% of MDS patients and 60% of
AA patients also harbor small populations of PNH-like cells (0.01-10%). It was
observed that: 1) 10-20% of AA patients harboring PNH-like cells eventually
transform into PNH, but MDS patients seldom evolve to PNH; 2) AA patients harboring
PNH-like cells may have a better response to immunosuppressive therapy; 3) PIG-A mutation...
Matthew J. Walter, MD
Research is Hope Fund
The
genes responsible for MDS initiation are largely unknown. Recently, a group of
genes that are important for splicing together RNA in cells were found to be
mutated in up to 57% of MDS patients. How these mutations contribute to MDS
initiation is unknown. We will determine whether a mutation in one of these
genes (U2AF1) affects blood cell formation in mice and alters the splicing of
RNA in bone marrow cells from mice and MDS patients.
Zhe Yang, PhD
Harold Spielberg Research Fund
Dr. Yang's project is Structural insights into deregulated epigenetic mechanisms and DNA demethylation in MDS. The exciting new discovery of frequent Tet2 mutation in a wide range of myeloid malignancies including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) highlights the clinical significance of this myeloid relevant protein with potential applications to disease diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Successful completion of this project that focuses on Tet2 structure and function will be important for unraveling the structural basis of MDS at the molecular level, providing a framework for understanding how pathological Tet2 mutations cause MDS, and most importantly, will potentially open avenues to novel therapeutic strategies to ameliorate a variety of myeloid disorders including MDS.
"This...
Grant Year: 2011
Kim-Hien T. Dao, DO, PhD
Torry Yahn Research Fund
Dr. Dao will investigate why the blood stem cells from patients who inherit a loss-of-function mutation in one of the genes of the Fanconi anemia pathway are highly susceptible to cell death yet also highly susceptible to conversion into an acute leukemia.
Keith McCrae, MD
PNH Research and Support Foundation
Dr. McCrae's study explores why patients with PNH are at increased risk for the development of thrombosis, or blood clots, that may affect arteries or veins and cause events such as pulmonary emboli or stroke.
Parinda Mehta, MD
Trinity Ewert Research Fund
Dr. Mehta will study the use of Quercetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid (antioxidant) in patients with Fanconi anemia, one of the most common congenital bone marrow failure syndromes. She anticipates that the results of this pilot study will show that long term oral Quercetin therapy is feasible and well tolerated in patients with Fanconi anemia. These results will form the basis of the continuation phase of the study, which will demonstrate that Quercetin therapy in fact delays or prevents progressive marrow failure in children with Fanconi anemia.
Mridul Mukherji, DPhil
Harold Spielberg Research Fund
TET2 is one of the most frequently mutated genes identified in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). This study will help explore new avenues for the cure TET2 mutations, and Dr. Mukherji says he and his colleagues “will use our expertise to develop strategies to restore TET2 activity for the treatment of MDS.”
Grant Year: 2010
Gregory Abel, MD
MacGillivray Research Fund , Madden Family Research Fund
Cristian Bellodi, PhD
Emily Kass Research Fund