Fall 2026
By Kathy Clute
Five Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators are the recipients of $4.2 million in grants from Blood Cancer United to support their innovative work in blood cancer research. The organization supports the science that makes FDA drug approvals possible, including 80% of the 167 new blood cancer approvals between 2017 and 2025.
Blood Cancer United awarded its Equity in Access Research Grant to Andrew Hantel, MD, MPH. He oversees an initiative to improve the participation of several demographic groups traditionally underrepresented in blood cancer research.
The project will draw participants from Dana-Farber’s main campus in the Longwood area of Boston and eight other referral sites where more than 30% of patients are from underrepresented groups yet make up fewer than 3% of those enrolled in clinical trials for blood cancers.
“We are testing interventions that include greater collaboration between Dana-Farber oncologists and community physicians as well as the use of patient navigators who help enroll people in the trials while addressing financial, logistical, and literacy barriers that might otherwise keep them from participating,” said Hantel.
Nika Danial, PhD, won a Blood Cancer United Discoveries Grant to investigate why certain genetic alterations in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas render these tumors highly aggressive and likely to form secondary lymphomas in the brain. She is examining the cellular communication systems known as signaling pathways that allow cancer cells to survive and grow—work that could yield new treatments by revealing vulnerabilities in aggressive lymphomas.
Zuzana Tothova, MD, PhD, was honored with the prestigious Blood Cancer United Career Development Program Scholar Award for research focused on difficult-to-treat, high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). She is also exploring how to intercept development of specific types of preleukemic states called clonal hematopoiesis, which are at a particularly high risk for progression to MDS and AML.
Research Fellow Hayden Bell, PhD, received the Career Development Program Fellow Award for his investigation of how the loss of the Y chromosome (LOY) in men contributes to acute myeloid leukemia. In addition to determining male biological characteristics, the Y chromosome contains important genes that help regulate cell growth and repair.
These studies hold great promise for everyone with a blood cancer.
E. Anders Kolb, Blood Cancer United
Alba Rodriguez Meira, PhD, won a Career Development Program Special Fellow Award for her studies of the earliest molecular changes that lead to leukemia.
“These studies hold great promise for everyone with a blood cancer,” said E. Anders Kolb, MD, Blood Cancer United’s president and CEO. “It’s our privilege to sponsor this vital research.”