Pulikkan Lab Secures Major NIH Grant for Breakthrough Leukemia Research
May 14, 2025
Hope gained momentum at Versiti Blood Research Institute (VBRI) last month as the Pulikkan Lab, led by John A. Pulikkan, PhD, secured a coveted R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health. This significant funding will advance groundbreaking research into new treatment approaches for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a devastating blood cancer.
The research focuses on AML with chromosome inversion 16, a genetic characteristic found in approximately 10% of AML cases. By understanding how these cancer cells survive and identifying their unique vulnerabilities, Pulikkan's work aims to deliver new hope to patients facing limited treatment options.
"This discovery represents a potential turning point for patients with specific forms of AML," Pulikkan explains. "By targeting the fundamental processes that cancer cells depend on for survival, we're working toward therapies that could be more effective and less toxic than current options."
Pulikkan's innovative research identifies a previously unknown mechanism driving AML—the N-MYC/eIF4G1 pathway—which opens doors to entirely new therapeutic strategies. His team discovered that N-MYC, a protein typically associated with other cancers, plays a crucial role in certain types of AML and controls cancer cell survival through the regulation of protein synthesis.
"This grant allows us to accelerate our progress toward developing targeted therapies that address the unique biology of AML," Pulikkan says.
Continued and robust NIH funding underscores VBRI's position as a premier institution in blood health research and reflects our commitment to investing in hope through rigorous scientific exploration.
Hope. It's in Our Blood.