Purpose of The Stanley M. Marks Blood Cancer Research Fund
The Stanley M. Marks Blood Cancer Research Fund:
David Clump, MD
Radiation Oncologist
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Christopher Bakkenist, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
University of Pittsburgh
Initial funding from the Stanley M. Marks Blood Cancer Research Fund was used for preclinical studies to determine how pharmacologic inhibitors of DNA damage signaling combine with radiation therapy to increase anti-tumor immune responses. We were able to discover key interactions between manipulating DNA damage and subsequent immune response. With this support and this early study, we were able to receive a large federal award to continue exploring the basic principles of this interaction in the laboratory as well as translating these findings clinically into more rationale and potentially advantageous clinical trials exploring the combination and sequencing of radiation and immune therapies.
Greg M. Delgoffe, PhD
Assistant Professor
Tumor Microenvironment Center
Department of Immunology
University of Pittsburgh
We were honored to receive support from the Stanley M. Marks Blood Cancer Research Fund earlier this year. My lab at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center studies how to reprogram immune cells to attack cancer cells. While these immune-based therapies have shown success in some patients, most do not respond, or they develop resistance. Through support of the Marks Fund we are dissecting how to endow therapeutic immune cells with the ability to persist and maintain their anti-cancer function long after a patient is treated.
Rafic Farah, MD
Medical Oncologist UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
As a medical oncologist who specializes in stem cell transplant for hematologic malignancies including lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma, we are always searching for better methods to treat our patients. The Stanley M. Marks Blood Cancer Research Fund awarded us a grant for our study of immunosuppressive medications following what’s called a haploidentical stem cell transplant. It uses healthy, blood forming cells from a half-matched donor, typically a family member, to replace the unhealthy ones. We were able to accrue 10 patients into this study and will be analyzing data to determine the outcome.