The Center for Blood Cancers, part of NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, integrates basic, translational, and clinical research for blood cancers to prevent, diagnose, and improve outcomes for patients. Our team includes scientists, physicians, and educators who engage in research to understand the origins and progression of blood cancers. Our researchers study not only the molecular and genetic makeup of stem cells that contribute to stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, but also engage in research specific to leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma to study prognostic markers, identify new therapies, and determine the best and individualized treatment possible for patients.

Research Laboratories

Our center includes researchers and laboratories working around the clock to discover world-class treatments for blood cancers. Our basic, translational, and clinical science research operates in a continuous feedback loop so that discoveries in the lab are the treatments needed for patients, and vice versa. To achieve this, we host regular meetings where scientists and clinicians can collaborate and share their research and findings.

The Center for Blood Cancers is funded via many sources including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) as well as pilot funding from our center. Through these different avenues, researchers get the support needed in the lab to produce high-impact publications that lead to practice-changing treatments and clinical trials.

The breadth of our research spans genetics, epigenetics, cell signaling, metabolism, the microenvironment, and immunology. We also use advanced technologies, such as single-cell sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and bioinformatic pipelines, making our research highly interdisciplinary in nature.

We perform research in a number of laboratories, including the following.

Morgan Lab

Led by Gareth J. Morgan, MD, PhD, the Morgan Lab aims to cure and prevent blood cancer by understanding and manipulating the genetic and epigenetic basis for the progression of multiple myeloma to increasingly aggressive high-risk stages of leukemia. Learn more about the Morgan Lab.

Aifantis Lab

The Aifantis Lab, led by Iannis Aifantis, PhD, researches the molecular mechanisms driving normal stem cell differentiation and malignant transformation. Using the hematopoietic system as a model of study, this lab focuses on the genomic, epigenetic, and proteomic regulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and development and progression of leukemia and lymphoma. Learn more about the Aifantis Lab.

Park Lab

Led by Christopher Y. Park, MD, PhD, the Park Lab focuses on blood cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes with the aim of developing improved diagnosis and treatments. His laboratory works to identify genes that regulate cancer stem cell renewal, differentiation, and chemoresistance in the hematopoietic system and has also developed engineered antibodies to treat hematologic malignancies. Learn more about the Park Lab.

Beck Lab

The Beck Lab, led by David B. Beck, MD, PhD, works to understand the genetic origins of diseases using advanced sequencing methods and bioinformatic pipelines. The lab specializes in research on inflammatory and blood diseases, including VEXAS syndrome—a rare autoimmune condition, and using this information to understand pathologic processes. Learn more about the Beck Lab.

Carroll Lab

Led by William L. Carroll, MD, the Carroll Lab focuses on the discovery of biological pathways involved in drug resistance and relapse in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). By identifying the mutations and other modifications involved, this lab is working to modify these pathways so that cancer cells remain responsive to chemotherapy.

Reizis Lab

The Reizis Lab, led by Boris Reizis, PhD, uses genetics to understand how hematopoietic stem cells function and how they transform into malignant cells that lead to leukemia. The lab also studies dendritic cell development and function, and autoimmune diseases. Learn more about the Reizis Lab.

Koralov Lab

The Koralov Lab, led by Sergei B. Koralov, PhD, specializes in adaptive immune responses, B/T-cell development and function, the growth and development of lymphomas, tumor immune surveillance, and has a special interest in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Learn more about the Koralov Lab.

Schwab Lab

Led by Susan R. Schwab, PhD, the Schwab Lab focuses on, lymphocyte migration, the different trafficking requirements of normal and leukemia T-cells, and ways to target cell movement therapeutically. Learn more about the Schwab Lab.

BioBank Lab

Led by Faith E. Davies, MD, the Center for Blood Cancers is developing an extensive bank for blood and bone marrow biospecimens to facilitate research on blood cancers with the goal of developing more effective diagnosis and treatment methods.

How to Acknowledge the Center for Blood Cancers Biorepository

The Center for Blood Cancers Biorepository should be acknowledged in any publication, grant application, or media release that includes using our specimens, instruments, materials, and expertise. Please use the following wording:

The Center for Blood Cancers Biorepository and The Center for Biospecimen Research and Development are partially supported by NYU Langone’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center [support grant P30CA016087]. Additionally, all such publications are required to abide by National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy and be accessible through PubMed Central.

Translational Research

Catherine S. Diefenbach, MD, has been investigating how the gut microbiome plays an important role in regulating systemic immunity in malignant lymphomas, and developing novel immune-based treatments for patients with lymphoma.

Michelle Krogsgaard, PhD, has been researching the role that the immune system, particularly T cells, plays in acute leukemia and how this may be manipulated as a potential therapy. Learn more about research in the Krogsgaard Lab.

Blood and Marrow Transplant Program Translational Research

NYU Langone’s Blood and Marrow Transplant Program clinical team leads the way in pioneering innovative approaches to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) while preserving the crucial graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect. Collaborating closely with laboratory scientists, we are actively engaged in unraveling the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying GvHD prevention and leukemia relapse following allogeneic stem cell transplant.

Clinical Trials

Our researchers offer an extensive portfolio of blood cancer clinical trials in leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma for adults and children across our locations. We also offer clinical trials for patients who require blood and marrow transplants. Through clinical trials, we provide advanced treatment options for blood cancers that may be less responsive to standard therapies.

Mentorship and Training for Scientists and Clinicians

We recognize that training and mentoring physicans and scientists with an interest in blood cancers early in their career is important. We work closely with the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship to achieve this.