Leadership

Nelson Chao, MD
Director
chao0002@mc.duke.edu

David Rizzieri, MD
Assoc. Director Clinical Research
rizzi003@mc.duke.edu

John Chute, MD
Assoc. Director Basic Science
john.chute@duke.edu

Program Overview

It is the broad, long-term goal of the Hematologic Malignancies Research Program to build on and extend the current knowledge in the field of bone marrow transplantation and hematological malignancies. 

This program is a multidisciplinary clinical, basic and translational research effort whose overall goal is to improve outcomes for patients with solid and liquid malignancies.

To this end, the investigators of this application will utilize the approach of translational research, bridging the novel experimental concepts and observations made at the laboratory bench to clinical application at the patients’ bedsides. In both basic and clinical areas, the program fosters interactions between many programs and members of the Duke Cancer Institute.

The aims of the program are to:

• Optimize the use of allogeneic and autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells
• Use and compare various alternative sources of hematopoietic stem cells for allogeneic transplantation
• Develop novel preparatory regimens for allogeneic stem cell transplantation
• Understand the basic biology of graft versus tumor (GvT) and to explore new ways to induce GvT effects following transplantation
• Study the nature of and define the problems associated with hematopoietic and immunologic reconstitution after allogeneic transplantation with the overall goal of developing novel supportive care measures for patients transplanted with stem cells from alternative and mismatched donors
• Understand hematopoietic stem cell development and control of differentiation
• Promote effective interactions of the members of the Duke Cancer Institute that will stimulate new translational research efforts to improve the care of patients with hematologic malignancies
• Identify new cellular and stromal targets for therapy with antibodies or small molecules, leading to evaluation of various labeling techniques, such as using radiolabels or diphtheria toxins, of small molecules and antibodies with subsequent clinical evaluation of safety and efficacy
• Evaluate the importance of different signaling mechanisms in leukemogenesis or lymphomagenesis