(July 17, 2008) Michael Verneris, M.D., member of the Masonic Cancer Center's Transplant Biology and Therapy Research Program, has received a $720,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to investigate new strategies that reduce the chances of leukemia recurrence after a bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

Verneris is an assistant professor of pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation. As a physician, he specializes in umbilical cord blood and/or bone marrow transplantation for patients diagnosed with acute leukemias. His laboratory research focuses on studying the development and functions of natural killer (NK) cells.

About 25 percent of patients relapse after receiving a BMT. While the reasons for relapse after BMT are not well understood, researchers think that alloreactive NK cells can help prevent leukemia relapse. NK cells are part of the body's immune system and serve to defend the body against infection and possibly some types of cancer, particularly leukemia. Alloreactive NK cells are one of multiple subsets of NK cells found in the blood after BMT.

With this grant funding, Verneris and his research team will define the stages of alloreactive NK cell development and the conditions that support the NK cell development process. They believe this information may lead to researchers being able to increase alloreactive NK cell development in patients after BMT, or to generate these cells in the laboratory to give back to patients who undergo BMT. The goal is to boost these patients' immune system so that they can remain leukemia-free.

Working with Verneris on this four-year project will be Bartosz Grzywacz, Ph.D., and Justin Stewart.

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