Origins of Childhood Leukemia

Created by: Jessie Brown, PhD of Columbia University in collaboration with Rutgers University

91 backers contributed $10,012.62 to help bring this project to fruition.

Latest update: January 2023

🏆  Recipient of a $500 award from WeSci's Children's Health Fund

Phase 1 | Fundraising goal: $10,000

The initial phase of this project includes collecting patient cohort samples and optimizing cell preparation for maximal live cell quality. We also will need to troubleshoot the first samples for their sample quality and library preparation steps, as well as optimize sequencing efforts to be the most cost effective. We will wrap up this phase with performing initial data analysis on matched patient samples.

Costs: Plasticware, sequencing and sample mutation panel

Phase 2 | Fundraising goal: $20,000

In this phase, we will prepare cells, libraries and sequencing on the full cohort of pediatric patients (minimum 45) following optimal conditions set in Phase 1. In this phase we will also streamline the data analysis pipeline to incorporate the full cohort of patient samples vs the smaller set we started out with initially.

Costs: Sequencing and full mutation panel

Phase 3 | Fundraising goal: $20,000

In this phase, with the data at hand we will complete data analysis and figure preparations using Tapestri Insights. We will then plan and implement follow-up experiments to test the observations made from the single-cell sequencing data. Lastly, we will prepare a manuscript with the findings from the AML pediatric patient cohort and submit our study for publication.

Costs: Sample analysis, software, manuscript and publication costs

Jessie Brown, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Institute for Cancer Genetics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Molecular Oncology and Immunology
New York University School of Medicine

About the lab

The Ferrando Laboratory is endeavoring to understand the molecular mechanisms that promote and sustain the malignant proliferation and survival of leukemic cells. They are engaged in a number of projects analyzing the functions of specific oncogenes and their role in the pathogenesis of childhood leukemia using a combination of genomic technologies, biochemical and genetic analysis. The lab’s goal is to uncover the mechanisms that operate in leukemic cells to disrupt normal cell growth and survival, and to translate this understanding on to clinical use through the identification of therapeutic targets for the design of highly effective and less toxic, molecularly-tailored anti-leukemic drugs.

Select publications by this team

What is AML & why is it important?

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. The word "acute" denotes the disease's rapid progression. It's called myeloid or myelogenous (my-uh-LOHJ-uh-nus) leukemia because it affects a group of white blood cells called the myeloid cells, which normally develop into the various types of mature blood cells, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

AML results from the malignant transformation of early precursors in the bone marrow. These abnormal cells overtake the bone marrow and lead to blood cancer. Although AML is more often diagnosed in the elderly, the incidence of pediatric acute leukemia is increasing and the mortality of pediatric AML is set to eclipse the mortality associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer.