Meet the 2022 Career Development Award, Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Follicular Lymphoma Priority Research Grantees

In April, the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) announced its 2022 grant class— 29 research grants awarded to scientists based at many of the world’s leading cancer research institutions—totaling more than $5.7 million in innovative lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) research.

LRF maintains a strong commitment to supporting early career investigators, ensuring they can build a successful career in the field of lymphoma research. This commitment is illustrated in the more than one dozen grants awarded to early career investigators this year. They include four dynamic Clinical Investigator Career Development Awards
(CDA), which support physician investigators at the level of advanced fellow or junior faculty member who will contribute to the development of new lymphoma therapies and diagnostic tools. Also included are eight Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants, designed to support investigators at the level of advanced fellow or postdoctoral researcher in laboratory or clinic-based research with results and conclusions that must be relevant to the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of lymphoma.

“The benefits of early career awards include ensuring that scientists obtain a depth of knowledge in a field like lymphoma, which otherwise proves difficult—if not impossible—to pursue mid-career or later,” said LRF Chief Executive Officer Meghan Gutierrez. “As public funding for such grants decreases and therefore becomes more competitive, the need for private foundations is more critical than ever before.”

Also this year, LRF funded the inaugural Follicular Lymphoma Priority Research grants, part of the Jaime Peykoff Follicular Lymphoma Initiative. Established in 2020 through the generosity of the Peykoff Family and Niagara Cares, the $10 million Initiative is poised to transform the follicular lymphoma (FL) treatment landscape for tens of thousands of patients by harnessing the Foundation’s unique resources, convening the world’s experts in FL research and patient care, and driving direct investment in clinical research. Five FL Priority Research grants were funded in 2022 and an additional five grants will be awarded in 2023.

Clinical Career Development Award (CDA)

Juan Alderuccio, MD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami
Research Study: Loncastuximab Tesirine in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: B-cell lymphomas, indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Zachary Epstein-Peterson, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Research Study: Enasidenib for IDH2-mutated Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: T-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Lorenzo Falchi, MD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
Research Study: Mosunetuzumab for the Treatment of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Follicular Lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: Indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Boyu Hu, MD
Health Equity Initiative
The University of Utah
Research Study: Targeting DNA Damage Repair Pathways in Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Lymphoma Focus: B-cell lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant

Tomohiro Aoki, MD, PhD
Health Equity Initiative
BC Cancer
Research Study: Treatment Failure in Hodgkin Lymphoma: Correlates with Genetic Mutations and Tumor Microenvironment
Lymphoma Focus: Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Ivan Cohen, PhD
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Research Study: Precision Targeting of non-Hodgkin Lymphomas Using CAR T Cells Directed Towards the B-cell Receptor
Lymphoma Focus: Aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Clarissa Corinaldesi, PhD
Dr. Bruce D. Cheson Fellow
Columbia University
Research Study: Identifying pathogenetic markers for therapy-refractory Burkitt lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: Aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas, Adolescent/Young Adult Lymphoma Pediatric Lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Antonio Ferreira, PhD
Condon Family Fellow
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Research Study: The Follicular Lymphoma Stromal Cell Microenvironment
Lymphoma Focus: Indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell Lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Huan-Chang Liang, PhD
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Research Study: Oncogenic role of NPM1-TYK2 in T-cell lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: T-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Patrick Reville, MD
The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Research Study: CD38 as a Targetable Antigen in Large B Cell Lymphoma Combined with CD19 CAR T Cells
Lymphoma Focus: B-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

David Russler-Germain, MD, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
Research Study: Elucidating The Role Of ZNF608 In B Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: Indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Ran Xu, PhD
Dr. Oliver Press Memorial Fellow
Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute
Research Study: Interrogating extremely rare MRD in mantle cell lymphoma treated with CAR T-cells
Lymphoma Focus: B-cell lymphomas
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Follicular Lymphoma Priority Research Grant

Stephen Ansell, MD, PhD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Mayo Clinic, Rochester
Research Study: The Immunological Phenotype of Intratumoral T-cells in Follicular Lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: Non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Todd Fehniger, MD, PhD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Washington University School of Medicine
Research Study: NK cell biology and therapy for follicular lymphoma
Lymphoma Focus: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, follicular lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Abner Louissaint, MD, PhD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Massachusetts General Hospital
Research Study: Interplay of Microenvironment and Epigenetics in a Novel Model of FL
Lymphoma Focus: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas, follicular lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

David Scott, MBCHB, PhD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
BC Cancer
Research Study: Four-dimensional characterization of FL to predict clinical trajectory
Lymphoma Focus: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas, follicular lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >

Hans Guido Wendel, MD
Peykoff Initiative Investigator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Research Study: Understanding and therapeutically targeting epigenetic drivers of oncogenesis & immune evasion in FL
Lymphoma Focus: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas follicular lymphoma
Read full Researcher Spotlight >