The National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded two major grants totaling $26 million to leukemia researchers and physicians at Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The funding helps establish the School of Medicine as a premier center for innovative leukemia research, with a bench-to-beside approach that has the potential to lead to novel therapies that improve survival and reduce treatment-related side effects.
The first award is a five-year, $14.3 million Program Project Grant (PPG) in leukemia. The grant initially was funded at the School of Medicine in 2003 and has been renewed twice. With new support, the scientists aim to identify all the genetic changes underlying the development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia, the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. This information may lead to more personalized treatments for patients based on the unique genetic and molecular signatures of their leukemia cells.
The second award is a prestigious Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant in leukemia. The $11.3 million, five-year award capitalizes on research advances at the medical school to bring new investigational treatments into clinical trials.
“The awards recognize the tremendous scientific depth and breadth of our scientists and clinicians as well as their creativity and commitment to improving treatments for leukemia,” said Daniel Link, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine and principal investigator of the SPORE grant. “Thanks to advances in genomics and molecular biology, we’re on the cusp of a new way of thinking about leukemia and its treatment. There’s a lot to be excited about.”
The two grants bring together several dozen physician scientists and basic scientists who will be involved in a broad portfolio of laboratory and clinical research projects centering on leukemia.