MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (March 4, 2009)—The Leukemia Research Fund at the University of Minnesota received $335,000 from the 2008 Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament in Sun Valley, ID.

The funds will support interdisciplinary research in leukemia and related diseases at the University's Masonic Cancer Center and elsewhere at the University of Minnesota. The goal of the Leukemia Research Fund is to accelerate progress toward a cure of leukemia and related blood cancer diseases. The funds are competitively distributed to University faculty with research interests in oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, pharmacology, and other fields.

Since 1976, the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament 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.

"Money from the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament has helped fund dozens of leukemia research projects at the University of Minnesota that have brought us many steps closer to better understand and treatment of leukemia," said Tucker LeBien, Ph.D., associate director of Basic Sciences of the Masonic Cancer Center and the University's liaison with the golf tournament's president and board of directors.

Eleven investigators are the current recipients of funds, conducting innovative research ranging from using stem cells and natural killer cells to discovering new drugs for treatment of leukemia. The investigators and the titles of their awards are:

• 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, 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."

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Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota is designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute for cancer research, treatment, and education. It is part of the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center. For more information visit or call: www.cancer.umn.edu; 612-624-2620.

Media Contact:

Mary Lawson, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, 612-624-6165, mlawson@umn.edu