Programs and Research Activities
Division of Hematology/Oncology examining room.
Basic research studies in the Division are aimed at understanding the molecular basis of human blood diseases and cancer, and include programs in basic cancer biology and genetics, developmental biology (including angiogenesis, stem cell biology, and cardiac development), vascular biology (including atherosclerosis), and immunology.
Translational research refers to studies performed on materials derived from patients, and to studies designed specifically to bring new treatment and/or diagnostic approaches to patients. These include research projects on leukemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, thrombosis, bone marrow/stem cell transplantation, and tumor immunology.
Clinical trials research in the Division is aimed at testing new therapies in patients with cancer and blood diseases, allowing our patients to receive agents that are not widely available in the community. Some examples of recent protocols include a new oral treatment for leukemia, gleevec, a COX-2 inhibitor for thoracic tumors, radioactive antibody treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer, monoclonal antibody combinations in lymphoma, anti-angiogenesis therapies, new therapies for myeloma, and new stem cell transplantation protocols.
Research in the Division is supported by a large number of grants from the National Institutes of Health (including the National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), the American Cancer Society, the Department of Defense, the American Heart Association, the Dorothy Rodbell Cohen Foundation, the American Society of Hematology, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Research Foundation, the American Foundation for AIDS research, and many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Currently, faculty hold more than 50 grants for laboratory science with annual funding of over $10 Million, as well as sponsored clinical trials funded at over $2 Million.
