Overview
My translational research program investigates the aberrant immunologic mechanisms underlying lung complications after hematopoietic cell transplantation, relapse, and graft failure. In the field of lung complications, we have performed studies that refined the diagnosis of lung chronic graft versus host disease. Our prospective interventional trials led to the current standard of care therapy for this disease. Current work focuses on elucidating disease pathogenesis and identifying new targeted therapies. Leveraging this work in lung cGVHD, we are now also interrogating another devastating transplant lung complications, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, to understand the immune/endothelial dysregulation and targetable pathways.
Our work on novel imaging and blood biomarkers of graft failure culminated in a funded R01 project with a multicenter clinical trial. We have also developed a minimal residual disease test for acute leukemia after transplant and investigated the failure of immunosurveillance in relapse after transplant. Finally, our group is working to optimize, clinically test, and use correlates to understand novel immunotherapies for acute leukemia. Collectively, these efforts are focused on my long term goal—to improve the outcome for patients with the most devastating complications of hematopoietic cell transplant.