The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Announces Recipients of Grants Supporting New Drug Discovery

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Oct 21, 2014, 11:49 ET

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the second year, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will award funding to leading scientists and researchers who show promise in developing new drug therapies through the Screen to Lead Program.

The collaborative program aims to support academic laboratories pursuing research directed towards medicinal chemistry and/or drug target screening in blood cancers. Members of a peer review panel select projects for funding that are in the early stages of developing small molecules into drug-like compounds suitable for preclinical proof-of-concept testing in cancer models.

The selected laboratories and projects will work with LLS research staff, the sponsoring institution, and appropriate contract research organizations (CROs) or core facilities at academic institutions to develop compounds with the potential to change the standard of care for patients with blood cancers.

"These awards fill a gap in the drug discovery process," said Lee Greenberger, Ph.D., LLS chief scientific officer. "Many academic laboratories have fresh and novel ideas for creating targeted therapies but need the financial resources and other forms of support to move them on to the next stage. Our goal is to advance more breakthrough therapies by identifying the most promising drug targets and compounds in the earliest stages of development."

The amounts of the grants awarded to these innovative researchers will vary and be determined on a case by case basis. The awardees are:

William Sugden, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Project title: Identification of inhibitors of the dimerization of EBNA1 of Epstein-Barr virus. Epstein bar virus (EBV) is a common cause of several lymphomas and there are currently no therapies directed against EBV for these diseases. EBNA1 is a protein that prevents infectious B-cells from dying and appears to play a role in the survival of EBV-associated tumors. The team's project will target EBNA1's survival functions to develop treatments for tumors caused by EBV.

Ruben Carrasco, M.D., Ph.D., Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Project title: High throughput screening of small molecule inhibitors of the Wnt/Beta-catenin/BCL9 transcriptional complex for the development of targeted therapies in hematologic malignancies. The team will test thousands of diverse compounds to find a few novel classes of molecules that can inhibit a protein called Beta-catenin which is associated with many cancers, including myeloma. The team will use a combination of medicinal chemistry and screening for novel molecules.

Kathleen Sakamoto, M.D., Ph.D., the Stanford University School of Medicine. Project title: Targeting CREB in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The team will seek to develop drugs that inhibit the protein CREB, which has a known role in AML using a combination of medicinal chemistry and screening for novel molecules.

Kenneth Anderson, M.D., Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Project title: Serine threonine kinase STK4/MST1 inhibition in the treatment of hematological cancers with low hippo expression. YAP1 is a protein that helps induce apoptosis, the normal process that rids the body of diseased or unwanted cells. In some blood cancers YAP1 is present at exceedingly low levels. The team is testing whether inhibiting an enzyme called STK4/MST1 will restore YAP1 levels and induce apoptosis of cells for a number of different blood cancers. A medicinal chemistry approach will be used to identify novel inhibitors.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ® (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.lls.org. Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

Contact: Andrea Greif
(914) 821-8958
[email protected]

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SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society