Ghobrial, Irene, MD - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. (Project Period 9/01/10 - 8/31/14).  $900,000. TITLE: "Large Scale Genomic and Proteomic Profiling in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia"

[A study to develop a tissue bank of WM specimens linked to clinical characteristics of patients in different stages of the disease; to characterize the genetics and proteomics of WM cells during disease progression; and to devleop biomarkers that evaluate in vivo activity of therapeutic agents in WM patients treated in clinical trials.]

To participate in IWMF's Tissue Bank Project,click here.

 Janz, Siegried, MD, DsC - University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. (Project Period 8/01/10 - 7/31/12). $540,000. TITLE: "Development of a Transgenic Mouse Model fo Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia"

[A study to develop a transgenic mouse with disease characteristics of WM, including monoclonal IgM secretion and the presence of lymphoplasmacytic cells in the bone marrow and other tissues.  Transgenic mice are genetically engineered to "model" certain disease characteristics, and they are able to pass these characteristics to their offspring, resulting in mouse colonies that can be used for testing of therapeutic agents prior to human clinical trials.]

Ansell, Stephen M., MD - Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Chanan-Khan, Asher A., MD - Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Chen, Suning, PhD - Jiangsu Institute of Hematolology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, China; and Ghobrial, Irene, MD - Dana-Farber Institute, Boston, MA.  (Project Period 6/01/10 - 6/30/11).  IWMF portion of grant: $100,000.  TITLE: "Development and Validation of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Cell Lines"

[A study jointly funded with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to develop stable and representative WM cell lines to be made widely available to researchers.  Under the agreement, these four independent laboratories will receive initial funding for one year; continued fundign to one or more of these researchers, potentially for up to two additiional years, will be contingent on the progress toward the goal of developing and validating suitable cell lines.]

Ansell, Stephen M., MD – Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. (Project Period 11/01/06-10/31/11). $903,702. TITLE: “Factors Regulating Immunoglobulin Producing B-cells in Patients with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia”
[A study to help identify genetic predisposition, growth factors, and prognostic indications of IgM production by WM cells. Specifically BlyS and various cytokines (small proteins) will be studied for their effect on IgM growth.]

Nelson, Brad, PhD – Tev and Joyce Deeley Research Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada; Project sponsored entirely by Waldenstrom Foundation of Canada at $99,935Can. (01/01/2010-12/31/2011). TITLE: “The Immune Response to WM: Implications for Immunotherapy”
[Development of strategies that can be used for future immune based treatments for WM.]