Hematopoietic Development and Malignancy Program (HDMP)

Program Leaders: Laura Schuettpelz, MD, PhD, Todd Fehniger, MD, PhD, and Geoffrey Uy, MD

Overview:

The long-term goals of the Hematopoietic Development and Malignancy Program (HDMP) are to identify basic mechanisms regulating normal and malignant hematopoiesis, and develop innovative strategies to prevent, stratify, and treat hematopoietic malignancies. Working groups in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes/myeloproliferative neoplasms were established to develop, review, prioritize, and conduct translational research. Each working group is organized around three themes: cancer genomics, development of immunotherapies, and cancer biology. The HDMP fosters collaborative translational research and trains junior investigators through research seminars, journal clubs, work-in-progress meetings, and an annual retreat. Program leaders have identified areas of institutional strength and developed four specific translational aims.

Aims:

The HDMP’s research efforts have been organized around four specific aims.

1. Leverage local expertise in cancer genomics to identify key genetic and epigenetic alterations in hematopoietic malignancies and develop their translational potential.
2. Develop fundamental discoveries in immunology into novel immunotherapies targeting hematopoietic malignancies. A particular area of focus is the development of novel cellular immunotherapies for hematopoietic malignancies.
3. Translate fundamental discoveries in cancer cell biology into novel strategies to treat hematopoietic malignancies and/or improve stem cell transplantation.
4. Identify and develop junior investigators in hematopoietic malignancies.

Recorded program seminars and events are available at this link on WUSTL Box.