Grant Recipients

Kenston Lam, MD, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Targeting the proteostasis network in myeloid malignancies

Wesley Yip, MD

City of Hope

A Personalized Neoantigen MVA Vaccine for Neoadjuvant Therapy of Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Jessica Tsai, MD, PhD

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Targeting ferroptosis and iron metabolism as vulnerabilities in atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors

Kenston Lam, MD, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Targeting the proteostasis network in myeloid malignancies

Wesley Yip, MD

City of Hope

A Personalized Neoantigen MVA Vaccine for Neoadjuvant Therapy of Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Jessica Tsai, MD, PhD

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Targeting ferroptosis and iron metabolism as vulnerabilities in atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors

Jonathan Weitz, MD

The Regents of the University of California

Targeting Cell Cycle Dependencies of GNAS Mutant Tumors as a Novel Therapeutic Approach in Mucinous Neoplasia of the Pancreas

Jinseok Park, PhD

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Collective Cell Invasion Regulated by Spatial Molecular Heterogeneity in Fusion-Positive Rhabdomyosarcoma

Anthony Nguyen, MD, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center​

Targeting Myeloid Inflammation to Reprogram the Immunosuppressive Microenvironment of Prostate Cancer

John Paul Murad, PhD

University of Southern California – Keck School of Medicine

Genetically-defined Ovarian Cancer Models for the Development of Next-Generation CAR T Cells

Prajish Iyer, PhD

Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope

Dissecting the Role of Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Richter’s Transformation

Kunal Patel, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Targeting infiltrating glioblastoma via pH sensitive visualization of tumor and pH modulation through bicarbonate transporter SLC4A4

Christopher Halbrook, PhD

University of California, Irvine

Targeting Liver Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Shiri Gur-Cohen, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Identify Lymphatic Niche Drivers of Oncogenic Tissue Remodeling and Tumorigenesis

Joseph Crompton, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Stem Cell Reprogramming of Anti-Tumor T Cells

Ling Li, PhD

City of Hope

A Novel Approach to Elicit Anti-tumor Immunity Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Md Kamrul Hasan, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Exploring DOCK2 Activation In Drug Resistance And Pathogenesis Of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Matthew Hangauer, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Uncovering the Scope of DFFB-Mediated Cancer-Acquired Drug Resistance

Alexander Xu, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Single Cell Spatial Analysis of DLBCL to Develop Biomarkers and Optimize CAR T Therapy

Brian Na, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Cold Atmospheric Plasma for the Treatment of NF1-related Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors

Unmesh Jadhav, PhD

University of Southern California

Epigenetic control of stem cell plasticity in colorectal cancer development and recurrence

Simon Gayther, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Novel Drug Targets for High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer identified through Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Modeling of Disease

Lili Yang, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Magnolia Council Senior Investigator Grant

Wenqi Wang, PhD

University of California, Irvine

Harnessing the Hippo signaling pathway to counteract chemoresistance

Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD

University of Southern California

Sensitizing the tumor immune microenvironment of breast cancer

Jun Gong, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Performance of hypermethylated circulating tumor DNA’s in colorectal cancer

John Carpten, PhD

City of Hope

The impact of alpha catenin loss on DNA repair defects in triple negative breast cancer

Soo Park, MD

University of California, San Diego

Use of Metformin for Prevention of Clonal Progression to Therapy-Related MDS/AML

Theodore Scott Nowicki, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Functional Epigenomics of Transgenic Cellular Immunotherapies for Cancer

Jlenia Guarnerio, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Identifying novel therapeutic targets in circular RNAs that bolster the sarcoma-protective microenvironment

Martina Roos, PhD, PharmD

University of California, Los Angeles

Targeting AML Stem Cells using Novel Small Molecule Inhibitors of RNA Regulatory Proteins

Yi-Tsung Lu, MD

University of Southern California

Predicting the metastatic risk of bladder cancer by cell-free DNA methylation sequencing

Steven Jonas, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Nanosystems to accelerate clinical translation and generation of cellular immunotherapies

Joshua P. Sasine, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Eph/Ephrin Signaling Regulates Multiple Myeloma in the Bone Marrow Vascular Niche

Dechen Lin, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Modeling Super-Enhancers in Barrett’s esophagus-associated neoplastic evolution

Michael Karin, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Using Oxaliplatin to improve the response to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade

Anusha Kalbasi, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Developing a Neoadjuvant Platform to Study Macrophage-Driven Resistance

Mina Nikanjam, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Development of a Novel dCK Inhibitor for Leukemia and Lymphoma using PET Imaging

Kate Lawrenson, PhD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Identification and Functional Analysis of PAX8 Binding Site Mutations in Ovarian Cancer

Xiaojiang Chen, PhD

University of Southern California

Targeting Mismatch Repair System for Cancer Therapy

Adam Burgoyne, MD, PhD

University of California, San Diego

Dual PI3K and BRD4 Inhibition as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Daniel Sanghoon Shin, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Regulation of PD-L1/L2 Expression in Melanoma

Christopher Seet, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Identifying Novel Mechanisms of Immune Evasion in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Richard J. Pietras, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Next-Generation Estrogen Receptor Downregulators for Breast Cancer Therapy

John Kyung Lee, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Targeting Myc Oncoproteins in Advanced Prostate Cancer

Phillip Koeffler, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Synthetic Lethal Drug Discovery In Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Discovery Fund

Patricia A. Young, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Molecular and immunologic correlates of responses to anti-CD 19 chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy

Giridharan Ramsingh, MD

University of Southern California

Hematopoietic Stem Cell and Progenitor Cell Senescence and Therapy Related Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Chintan Parek, MD

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles

Role of the Long Noncoding RNA DANCR in T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Deborah Jean Lee Wong, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Targeting ERK for Metastatic Melanoma

Hyung C. Suh, MD, PhD

UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

The role of BCOR in Normal Hematopoiesis and Hematopoietic Transformation

Elizabeth Lihua Budde, MD, PhD

City of Hope

Optimizing Adoptive Immunotherapy Using Anti-CD22 Chimeric Antigen Receptor Redirected T-C ells for Lymphoma

Helene Marijon, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Discover Pathways Whose Inhibition Can Synergize With a PARP Inhibitor in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Michael Choi, MD

University of California, San Diego

Inhibition of Wnt signaling to treat Leukemic Stem Cells: A Drug Development Proposal

Afsaneh Barzi, MD, PhD

University of Southern California

Tumor Heterogeneity and Resistance to HER2 Therapy in Gastric Cancer

Dinesh Rao, MD, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

The role of lincRNAs in B-lymphoblastic leukemia pathogenesis and diagnosis

Sumanta Kumar Pal, MD

City of Hope

Towards developing novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in castration-resistant prostate cancer

Gataree Ngarmchamnanrith, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Antibody-interferon fusion proteins for treatment of B-cell lymphomas

Maya Koren-Michowitz, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Discovery of novel classifications and therapeutic targets using several genomic sequencing approaches

Paolo Abada, MD

University of California, San Diego

Sec61β and platinum drug resistance

Arun Singh, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Novel immunotherapies against chemotherapy refractory ovarian cancer

Nu Lu, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Quercetin: A New Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prevention Paradigm

Andre Scott Jung, MD

University of California, San Diego

Thrombopoietin’s stabilization of Tensin2, a protein with migrational implications

Ahmed M. Aribi, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Novel understanding and treatment of Acute Leukemia

Edward Kaverlerchik, MD

University of California, San Diego

Targeting CML Stem Cells with a Small Molecule Wnt-Signaling Inhibitor

Herbert A. Eradat, MD, MS

University of California, Los Angeles

Defining the Molecular Correlates that Determine Activity of Pan-PIM Inhibitor, SGI-1776

Robert W. Chen, MD

City of Hope

Using SiRNA to CCNDI to Overcome Chemoresistence in Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Fariborz Mortazavi, MD

Wadsworth VA, Los Angeles

Transcriptional Regulation of p120-catenin in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

David Kim, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Pim-1 in Mantle Cell Lymphoma: A Novel Therapeutic Target

Amir Goldkorn, MD

University of Southern California

Targeting Prostate Cancer Stem Cells with Telomerase Interference

Eddie Garon, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Correlation of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Molecular Profile with Response to Therapeutics

Zev Wainberg, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Inhibiting Src in Colorectal Cancer: Characterization and Identification of Molecular Biomarkers

Richard Schwab, MD

University of California, San Diego

Anti-Neu5c Antibodies for Breast Cancer Detection

Saskia Gueller, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Novel Gene Discovery and Classification for Mantle Cell Lymphoma

William D. Tap, MD

University of California, Los Angeles

Myelodysplastic Inhibition of Protein Farnesylation: A Promising and Potentially Unifying Treatment Modality in Sarcomas

Norihiko Kawamata, MD

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

MDS – Novel Gene Discovery and Classification

Vincent Chung, MD

City of Hope

Targeted Therapies in Pancreatic Cancer: A New Era of Treatment