The IWMF Board of Trustees has approved a record $2,200,000 in new research support, including the following new research projects from the IWMF-Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Strategic Research Roadmap Initiative:
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1. Dr. Bruno Paiva and Dr. Jose Angel Martinez Climent from the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain: “Single-cell next-generation flow and sequencing to unravel the pathogenesis of Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia and to design genetically-driven human-like experimental models.” |
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2. Dr. Marzia Varettoni from the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi Onlus (FIL), Alessandria, Italy: “Non-invasive diagnostics and monitoring of MRD [minimal residual disease] and clonal evolution in Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia.” |
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3. Dr. Larry Kwak from the Beckman Institute of Research of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA: “Anti-tumor and immune microenvironment responses following a first-in-human DNA fusion vaccine for asymptomatic WM/LPL.” |
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4. Dr. Sherie Morrison from the University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA: “Novel antibody-targeted interferons in combination therapies for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.” |
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5. Dr. Shahrzad Jalali from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA: “Modulation of T-cell function by metabolomic signature of the bone marrow microenvironment in Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia.” |
The Research Roadmap is the direct result of a conference held in May 2015 that identified four research priority areas focused on advancing our understanding of WM. Dr. Lee Greenberger, Chief Scientific Officer of LLS, moderated the conference, and the Scientific Co-Chairs were Dr. Steven Treon of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Stephen Ansell of Mayo Clinic. You can find more information about the IWMF-LLS Strategic Research Roadmap and its importance to the WM community at research strategy.
The commitment of $2,000,000 over two years towards these groundbreaking research initiatives was made possible by donations from IWMF patients, caregivers, and their friends and families. The IWMF remains committed to ensuring that 100% of all research donations go directly to fund research initiatives!
In addition to the Strategic Research Roadmap projects, the IWMF Board of Trustees approved a proposal focused on amyloidosis in WM from Dr. Morie Gertz of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA: “From biology to treatment: prognostic factors, bone marrow microenvironment, genomic and proteomic profile of light chain amyloidosis in Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.” This project for $200,000 over two years is funded entirely by an individual donor.
IWMF President Carl Harrington said, “This $2.2 million commitment is the largest single commitment to research the IWMF has ever made, topping last year’s $1.7 million commitment. It brings our total research spending to $12.2 million in our search for a cure for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. We thank everyone who has made these grants possible. And we thank the global researchers who are dedicated to finding better treatments and a cure for our orphan disease.”