"You got some great grant applications this year!" was the comment made by the Medical Advisory Board about the 2010 submissions. Unfortunately, despite the high quality of the grant applications, we can only afford to fund two for this funding cycle. The two $50,000 grants for this year were awarded to Dr. Steve Morris of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of Memphis, TN and Dr. Gregor Reid of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA . We congratulate both of these recipients for their comprehensive applications and wish them significant success with these projects that they might help us find a day when everyone survives.
Dr. Morris' describes his research in the following manner:
"Subsets of both acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are characterized by abnormal fusions of the gene encoding the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) protein to a large variety of genes encoding one of over 60 different fusion partners. MLL fusion-expressing leukemias are the most common form of leukemia in infants but occur in all age groups. The expression of an MLL fusion protein is associated with a very poor outcome regardless of the age of the patient; for example, the 10-year survival for MLL fusion-positive ALL is only ~30% following therapy with currently available treatments. Recent studies suggest that specific interactions involving MLL fusions with other proteins are critical for leukemogenesis. Experimental interruption of these protein-protein interactions induces the death of MLL fusion-positive leukemia cells. We have found a peptide made from the region of MLL that interacts with the tumor suppressor protein menin to induce death in leukemia cells expressing MLL fusion proteins, whereas non-MLL fusion-expressing leukemia cells are not affected by this MLL-menin blocking peptide. In our studies funded by the WES Foundation, we will determine the structures of the interaction sites of MLL and menin, and design and synthesize small molecules that inhibit the interaction of menin and MLL. The overall ultimate objective of this proposal is to discover small-molecule inhibitors of leukemia-associated MLL fusion proteins as a novel approach for the treatment of acute leukemias."
The goal of Dr. Reid's study is to identify ways to eradicate the early occurring abnormal cells that develop into leukemia in children. Using a new model of the early stage of leukemia, they will test whether the successful elimination of the abnormal cells is an effective way to prevent leukemia development. If successful, this study could lead to the development of a new strategy for treating childhood leukemia.
We are proud to partner with Drs. Morris and Reid on these initiatives and pray that the results of their research will take us all a step closer to finding a cure for leukemia. As well, we are proud that the funding of these two grants takes us to a rather significant funding milestone. With these two $50,000 grants, the When Everyone Survives Foundation has funded $500,000 in leukemia research initiatives. We know that more must be done but for a rather new charitable foundation to fund a half a million dollars in four funding cycles is something for which we are excited and thankful to the many donors and supporters that made it possible. Continuing to work together in the future we may find that day when everyone survives
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