Tannishtha Reya, PhD, CRI-V Foundation CLIP Investigator University of California, San Diego Area of Research: Leukemia Each year, leukemia accounts for 60,000 new cases and 24,000 deaths in the United States. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is particularly hard-to-treat, and patients often experience a relapse when their cancer cells grow back after treatment with many current therapies. To provide more effective options for people with leukemia, Dr. Tannishtha Reya is exploring the value of targeting tetraspanin3 (Tspan3), an important surface protein on immune cells that she previously identified. In mice, blocking the activity of Tspan3 inhibited leukemia growth and improved survival. Now Dr. Reya is looking into ways to use that knowledge to create novel antibody-based immunotherapies for AML patients. Additionally, Dr. Reya seeks to identify biomarkers that could help doctors determine which patients will be more likely to respond favorably to this new approach, in order to maximize its benefits in the clinic. Projects and Grants Developing Antibody-Based Therapies for Myeloid Leukemia University of California, San Diego | Leukemia | 2021
