Research Grant Recipients

The Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation offers research grants to new and established investigators in acquired aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).  Grants awarded since 2006 include:

2009 - 2011

• AA&MDSIF PNH Foundation Research Grant to Kazuhiko Ikeda, MD, PhD, Department of Hematology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri The Mechanism of Clonal Dominance of PNH Cells: Dr. Ikeda will be studying how PNH blood cells acquire a "growth advantage" through a gene mutation. His findings are likely to provide new insights into the role of gene expression in clonal blood disorders such as PNH and MDS.
• AA&MDSIF PNH Foundation Research Grant to Regis Peffault de Latour, MD, PhD, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland The Role of Unfolded Protein Response in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemogloburnia (PNH): Dr. Peffault de Latour's study will examine the role of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in the development of PNH cells. Understanding how the UPR allows for cell adaptation instead of cell self-destruction could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic strategies which target this pathway.
• AA&MDSIF Harold Spielberg Research Grant to Archibald Perkins, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York Development of Targeted Therapies for 3q26-positive MDS: This study by Dr. Perkins will focus on a particular protein function believed to cause gene overexpression leading to MDS. Targeting this protein area may lead to the development of a drug, called a polyamide, which represents a new class of agent that has never been tried in the treatment of MDS.

2008 – 2010

• Torry Yahn Research Study awarded to Lisa Minter, PhD of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, who lost a young daughter to aplastic anemia and knows all too well the importance of research in this field.  She has been awarded a grant to study Evaluating PKC-0 as a Therapeutic Target in a Mouse Model of Severe Aplastic Anemia.
• Harold Spielberg Research Grant awarded to Benjamin Braun, MD, PhD of the University of California San Francisco for Mechanisms and Therapy of Anemia Caused by Activating K-ras Mutuation. 
• Thanks to the generosity of several major donors, Jaroslaw Maciejewski, MD, PhD of the Cleveland Clinic received a grant to study Identification of Mutations in C-Cbl as Pathogenetic Factors in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome.
• PNH Research and Support Foundation Research Study awarded to Antonio Maria Risitano, MD, PhD, University of Naples, Italy for Genetic Fingerprint of Complement and Complement-related Genes in PNH:  relationship with pathophysiology, clinical manifestations (including thrombosis) and response to eculizamab.

2007 – 2009

• Trinity Ewert Research Grant was awarded to Hiromi Gunshin, MD, PhD at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for Studies Toward Alternative Therapies for Iron Overload Patients with Aplastic Anemia.
• Harold Spielberg Research Grant was awarded to Lubomir Sokol, MD, PhD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida for Microarray Profiling of Micro RNA in 5q-Syndrome. 
• MacGillivray Research Grant awarded to Kay Macleod, PhD, at The Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, University of Chicago for Oxidative Stress in the Etiology of Myelodysplasia

2006 – 2008

• Marissa Marie Amuso Research Study & Jack Byrne Research Fund awarded to Lisa M. Minter, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst for Gamma-secretase Inhibitors as Therapeutic Intervention in Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes.(*Also supported by the Torry Yahn Research Fund)
• Holly Cataldo Research Study awarded to Hinh Ly, PhD, Emory University, Pathology & Laboratory Medical Department for Telomere Maintenance in Patients with Aplastic Anemia(* Also supported by the Torry Yahn Research Fund.)
• Earl J. Goldberg Aplastic Anemia Foundation Research Study awarded to Seth J. Corey, MD, UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center for P13 - kinase Dysregulation in Myelodysplastic Syndromes 
• Lindsay Minelli Research Study awarded to Christine O'Keefe, Ph.D., Cleveland Clinic Tuassig Cancer Center for Genome Stability in MDS. (*Also supported by the Harold Spielberg Research Fund)
• PNH Research and Support Foundation Study awarded to Lukasz P. Gondek, MD, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center for A Novel Approach for the Study of Genetic Predisposition in Aplastic Anemia and Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria in Using High-density Arrays.