The Leukemia Research Fund supports a project founded at the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1971 by the late Richard Brown, a Twin Cities businessman whose 10-year old son died from leukemia. Since its inception, the primary goal of the project has been to support research in leukemia and related diseases through a basic science/interdisciplinary laboratory approach. Laboratory scientists and physicians with backgrounds in oncology, genetics, biochemistry, immunology, virology, and pathology have been and continue to be involved with the project. The interdisciplinary approach provides the greatest possibility of accelerating progress toward a cure of leukemia and related diseases.

The Leukemia Research Fund distributes research funds to University of Minnesota faculty in the form of two-year competitive grants that are peer-reviewed. Faculty are encouraged to submit novel, untested ideas so that the grants can function as seed money. This helps to move new ideas forward to the point where investigators can secure long-term national funding, for example, through the National Institutes of Health or the American Cancer Society. Grant recipients are required to submit an annual progress report on their research project. This process is organized and administered by the Masonic Cancer Center.

Since 1976, the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament in Sun Valley, Idaho has contributed more than $5 million to the Leukemia Research Fund. This contribution has leveraged additional funds of well over $20 million for leukemia research at the University.

The following is a list of the 2008-2010 recipients of Leukemia Research Fund support and their research projects:

Mukta Arora, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and Transplantation: "Association of genetic polymorphisms with clinical outcomes post hematopoietic stem cell transplant."

Vivian Bardwell, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development: "An in vivo dissection of the role of Bcor in MLL-AF9 mediated leukemogenesis."

Koho Iizuka, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation: "SHP-1 function in human NK cell development and function."

Dan Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Medicine: "Anti-leukemic activity of human embryonic stem cell-derived lymphocytes."

Ameeta Kelekar, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology: "Dissecting a Noxa-containing multi-protein complex in human hematopoietic cells."

Nobuaki Kikyo, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicine: "Novel epigenetic functions of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL)-fusion proteins."

Ashish Kumar, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics: "Identification of co-operating mutations in MLL-AF4 leukemia."

David Largaespada, Ph.D., professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development: "The interaction between molecularly targeted therapy and conventional chemotherapy studied in a mouse model."

Tucker W. Lebien, Ph.D., professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, and Chengguo Xing, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry: "Endoplasmic reticulum-localized Bcl-2 antagonist therapy for leukemia and lymphoma."

Michael Verneris, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics: "New approaches to identify minimal residual leukemia following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT)."

Xianzheng Zhou, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics: "Antigen-based targeting of leukemia stem cells."

To make a donation to the Leukemia Research Fund, visit the University of Minnesota Foundation Web site.