Research Program: Transplant Biology & Therapy
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Clinical Medical Director and Fellowship Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program

macmi002@umn.edu
612-626-2778 — office
Preferred method of contact: e-mail

Dr. MacMillan's clinical profile
(University of Minnesota Physicians Web site)

Dr. MacMillan received her MSc degree at the University of Toronto in 1989 and her M.D. degree at the University of Toronto in 1991. She completed her internship residency in pediatrics, and postdoctoral fellowship in hematology-oncology at the University of Toronto School of Medicine in 1997. She then completed a blood and marrow transplant fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 1999 after which she joined the faculty, where she is currently an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation and attends on the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation service. Dr. MacMillan is the clinical medical director and fellowship director of the Pediatric BMT Program.

Dr. MacMillan's research is focused on the development and implementation of novel strategies for preventing the immunologic complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. She is the principal investigator of 12 phase I/II clinical trials at the University of Minnesota. In collaboration with Bruce Blazar, M.D., she is studying the safety and efficacy of T regulatory cells to prevent graft-versus-host disease. Dr. MacMillan is co-director with John Wagner, M.D. of the University of Minnesota Fanconi Anemia Comprehensive Care Clinic, which follows the largest number of Fanconi anemia patients in the world. Dr. MacMillan has authored more than 50 articles and book chapters on the subject of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and is a member of numerous professional societies. She is board certified in pediatrics.

Research Interests

Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease
— T regulatory cells to prevent GVHD
— Novel pharmacologic agents/ regimens

Fanconi anemia
— Novel preparative therapies
— Multipotent adult stem cell
— Mechanisms to speed immune recovery and reduce infection after transplantation

Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia
— Novel phase I agents
— Novel preparative therapies

Selected Publications

MacMillan ML, Weisdorf DJ, Brunstein CG, Cao Q, DeFor TE, Verneris MR, Blazar BR, Wagner JE. Acute graft-versus-host disease after unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation: analysis of risk factors. Blood. 2009 Mar 12;113(11):2410-5

Polgreen LE, Thomas W, MacMillan ML, Wagner JE, Moran A, Petryk A. First phase insulin release and glucose tolerance in children with Fanconi anemia after hematopoietic cell transplantation. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2009 Apr 7. [Epub ahead of print]

MacMillan ML. Where is the start line? Blood. 2009 Mar 26;113(13):2872-3

Davies SM, Wang D, Wang T, Arora M, Ringden O, Anasetti C, Pavletic S, Casper J, Macmillan ML, Sanders J, Wall D, Kernan NA. Recent decrease in acute graft-versus-host disease in children with leukemia receiving unrelated donor bone marrow transplants. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2009 Mar;15(3):360-6.

MacMillan ML, Blazar BR, DeFor TE, Wagner JE. Transplantation of ex-vivo culture-expanded parental haploidentical mesenchymal stem cells to promote engraftment in pediatric recipients of unrelated donor umbilical cord blood: results of a phase I-II clinical trial. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2009 Mar;43(6):447-54

MacMillan ML, Davies SM, Nelson GO, Chitphakdithai P, Confer DL, King RJ, Kernan NA. Twenty years of unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation for pediatric acute leukemia facilitated by the National Marrow Donor Program. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008 Sep;14(9 Suppl):16-22.

MacMillan ML, Couriel D, Weisdorf DJ, Schwab G, Havrilla N, Fleming TR, Huang S, Roskos L, Slavin S, Shadduck RK, Dipersio J, Territo M, Pavletic S, Linker C, Heslop HE, Joachim Deeg H, Blazar BR. A phase 2/3 multicenter randomized clinical trial of ABX-CBL versus ATG as secondary therapy for steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease. Blood. 2007 Mar 15;109(6):2657-62

Wagner JE, Eapen M, MacMillan ML, Harris RE, Pasquini R, Boulad F, Zhang MJ, Auerbach AD. Unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of Fanconi anemia. Blood. 2007 Mar 1;109(5):2256-62

Tan PL, Wagner JE, Auerbach AD, DeFor TE, Slungaard A, and MacMillan ML. Successful engraftmment without radiation after fludarabine-based regimen in Fanconi Anemia patients undergoing genotypically identical donor hematopoietic cell transplantation. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2006;46:630-636.

MacMillan ML and Wagner JE. Hematopoietic cell transplantation on congenital bone marrow failure. Curr Opin Oncol. 2005;17:106-113.

Pinto-Cardoso SM, DeFor TE, Tilley LA, Bidwell JL, Weisdorf DJ and MacMillan ML. Patient interleukin-18 GCG haplotype associates with improved survival and decreased transplant-related mortality after unrelated-donor bone marrow transplantation. Br J Haematol. 2004; 126:704-710.

Lee SJ, Zahrieh D, Agura E, MacMillan ML, Maziarz RT, McCarthy PL Jr, Ho VT, Cutler C, Alyea EP, Antin JH, Soiffer RJ. Effect of up-front daclizumab when combined with steroids for the treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease: results of a randomized trial. Blood. 2004 Sep 1;104(5):1559-64

Wagner JE, Tolar J, Levran O, Scholl T, Deffenbaugh A, Satagopan J, Ben-Porat L, Mah K, Batish SD, Kutler DI, MacMillan ML, Hanenberg H, Auerbach AD. Germline mutations in BRCA2: shared genetic susceptibility to breast cancer, early onset leukemia, and Fanconi anemia. Blood. 2004 Apr 15;103(8):3226-9

MacMillan ML, Radloff GA, Kiffmeyer WR, DeFor TE, Weisdorf DJ, Davies SM. High-producer interleukin-2 genotype increases risk for acute graft-versus-host disease after unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation. Transplantation. 2003 Dec 27;76(12):1758-62.

MacMillan ML, Radloff G.A, DeFor TE, Weisdorf DJ and Davies SM. IL-1 genotype and outcome of unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation. Br J Haematol. 2003;121:597-604.