Jaebok Choi, PhD

Research Interest

My long-term research goal is to make allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) a safer and more effective therapy by developing strategies that minimize the development of life-threatening graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) while preserving the beneficial graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect. In order to achieve this goal, we have performed unbiased genome-wide CRISPR guide RNA library screens and identified the very-low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) as a promising therapeutic target. In addition, our whole kinome analyses has pinpointed PKN1 as a novel modulator of GvHD and GvL. We are elucidating the mechanisms underlying the separation of GvHD from GvL by these two therapeutic targets, VLDLR and PKN1.

Education

• 1996: BS, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
• 2001: MA, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE
• 2006: PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Training

• 2006 - 2009: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Selected Research Publications