USA institutions fund research into acute myeloid leukemia

Researcher Delfim Duarte was recently recognized by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) with the Global Research Award, to the amount of 150 thousand dollars (about 127,000 euros), and by the Pablove Foundation with a scholarship to the amount of 52,500 dollars (about 45 thousand euros). The two award-winning projects focus on the study of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and finding new therapeutic strategies.
As part of the project recognized by ASH, the team led by Delfim Duarte will “characterize immune cells (monocytes/macrophages) throughout the progression and response to treatment of acute myeloid leukemia”. The objective, explains the researcher, “is to identify new therapeutic targets in order to more effectively eliminate chemoresistent malignant cells and promote the maintenance of non-malignant hematopoiesis”.
This year, the ASH 2021 Global Research Award distinguished 12 scientists from ten countries, including Delfim Duarte, leader of a research group at i3S, hematology intern at IPO-Porto and guest assistant professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP). The purpose of the American Society of Hematology is to facilitate the continuation of the work of young investigators outside the United States and Canada.
“The ASH Global Research Award recipients will develop valuable research that will help increase hematology capacity in their home countries”, ASH President Martin S. Tallman said in a statement. “Through the ASH Global Research Award we are able to support the career growth of these future leaders and foster cross-border collaboration by fostering a diverse, global hematology research workforce”, he added.
As for the project funded by the Pablove Foundation, the researcher’s goal is “to develop a new strategy to eliminate acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells that survive chemotherapy (chemoresistant cells) and that are responsible for the relapse of the disease”. The idea, he explains, “is based on the principle of using ‘cellular competition’ to promote the elimination of chemoresistant clones from their niche or microenvironment in the bone marrow”. Delfim Duarte's team will use pre-clinical (mouse/mouse) AML models to test this idea.
The Pablove Foundation said that this project “was chosen on the basis of scientific merit, overall quality of the written proposal, evidence of previous productivity or mentoring, and consistency with the Foundation’s objectives”.
Leukemia is a type of tumor that affects the bone marrow - which is responsible for producing blood cells such as white blood cells, platelets, and erythrocytes. Hematopoietic progenitor cells are produced in the bone marrow. In a healthy organism, these cells undergo a process of maturation and differentiation to give rise to blood components. In acute myeloid leukemia, the myeloid progenitor cells, which give rise to blood cells (leukocytes, erythrocytes, and platelets) undergo genetic alterations. This process forms blasts, which are malignant cells that cannot mature and multiply uncontrollably and that interfere with the development of healthy cells. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most common types of leukemia.