Research Abstract

I am a member of the Adult Leukemia Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. My primary research interest is conducting clinical trials of novel agents for acute leukemias and related blood cancers (myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms). I also have an interest in conducting clinical epidemiology and outcomes research for patients with these diseases. I earned a Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) during my fellowship (2012-2015) at the University of Pennsylvania which provided important foundation in clinical trials and clinical epidemiology research. This program included coursework in biostatistics, epidemiology, research methodology, clinical trial design, and database management, as well as an independent thesis project. My thesis investigated the prognostic ability of a novel methylation-based biomarker (M-score) in de novo AML. This research showed that a classifier based on the M-score is excellent at identifying AML subgroups with differing clinical outcome. I confirmed the performance of the M-score classifier in key AML subgroups and in an independent cohort of patients enrolled in a ECOG study (JCI Insight 2016). In addition to my thesis, I have completed several other epidemiologic studies including one study that identified an association of mutated NPM1 with the development of leukemia cutis (Haematologica 2015) and another showing that high-risk AML subgroups (including patients with FLT3-ITD) benefit from high-dose daunorubicin induction (Blood 2016). More recently, I completed a project showing that poor sleep is associated with inferior outcomes in MDS (British Journal of Hematology 2016). I have also been involved in the design and completion of several therapeutic trial. While a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote a pilot/phase I trial to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of adding interferon-α to donor lymphocyte infusion for treatment of patients with relapsed acute leukemia after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. After joining the faculty at DFCI, I completed the Methods in Clinical Research Course designed to provide intensive training to PIs conducting trials at DFCI. Since completing that course, I have assumed the role as site PI for multiple for acute leukemia at DFCI. I am the PI for a CTEP-sponsored study of blinatumomab in combination with checkpoint blockade for patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as an industry-sponsored study of a HSP90 inhibitor for relapse/refractory FLT3-ITD mutant AML. I have also personally written and obtained FDA, industry, and IRB approval for an IST which will soon open investigating a novel TKI in the initial treatment of BCR-ABL+ B-cell ALL: Phase 1 study of ABL001 in combination with dasatinib and prednisone in patients with BCR-ABL positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCR-ABL+ B-ALL) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).