Damon Runyon identifies today’s most brilliant early career scientists and funds their innovative cancer research.
Yi Zhang, MD, PhD
Radical Improvements of Bone Marrow Transplant Safety
Bone marrow transplantation is frequently used to treat cancer, mainly leukemias and lymphomas. When successful, bone marrow transplants literally offer a new lease on life for patients. However, despite close matching of donors to patients, sometimes transplanted cells do not recognize the host’s body as compatible and launch an attack upon it. This effect, called Graft Versus Host disease, leads to severe tissue and organ damage, infection, and can result in death.
Prevention of Graft Versus Host disease has long evaded scientists, despite their many efforts. Drs. Maillard and Zhang’s promising discovery, focusing on a type of cell activity called ‘Notch,’ could provide hope for a cure.
The two doctors have established preliminary evidence that Notch activity is a driving force behind Graft Versus Host disease. Moreover, as Notch activity is implicated in other diseases, there may be existing drugs that could be used to treat it.
Dr. Zhang said, "The Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award provides us with much-needed funding to pursue a high risk, high reward project, and could initiate a fruitful cycle of financial support from others who see its potential endorsed at this level. Having the backing of the Rachleffs and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, which has funded 11 Nobel Prize winners, is a huge vote of confidence in what we do."
Project Title: "Modulation of Notch signaling to control graft-versus-host-disease and preserve the anti-tumor activity of alloreactive T cells"
Institution: University of Michigan
Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): n/a
Cancer Type: Leukemias, Lymphomas, Myeloma
Research Area: Tumor Immunology