The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center’s Sarah Skuli, MD, PhD, has received a two-year, $150,000 New Investigator Research Grant from the Leukemia Research Foundation. The funds will go toward a project that focuses on leukemia carrying mutations in the TP53 gene, which leads to very poor outcomes for patients.
Patients with TP53-mutated leukemia often don’t respond well to the treatments that are currently available, with survival usually measured in months. Skuli’s previous research found TP53-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells rely on a specific metabolic pathway that produces molecules that help activate proteins the cancer cells need to grow and survive.
“In preliminary studies, I identified one of these proteins, called RhoA, as a potential key driver of drug resistance in TP53-mutant AML,” said Skuli, assistant professor in the UC College of Medicine and a Cancer Center physician. “Importantly, RhoA can be blocked with experimental drugs, making it a promising new treatment target.”
Supported by the grant funding, Skuli will test whether blocking RhoA makes TP53-mutant AML cells more sensitive to these AML therapies using cell and animal models and patient-donated samples.
“If successful, this project will identify RhoA as a new therapeutic vulnerability of TP53-mutant AML and provide the preclinical evidence needed to support future clinical trials testing RhoA-targeted strategies,” Skuli said.
A total of 20 investigators from across the country and beyond received New Investigator Research Grant funding from the Leukemia Research Foundation.
Research projects selected this year span a range of topics to advance discoveries in one of four areas:
Cancer cell biology, including employing artificial intelligence to guide therapy development
Treatments, including those for rarer leukemias
Causes and risk factors, including how chromosomal changes can occur with AML
Relapse prevention, including the most common type of childhood leukemia
“These investigators, such as Skuli, represent some of the most promising minds in leukemia research, and we are inspired by the exciting ideas they bring to the field,” said Kevin Radelet, executive director of the Leukemia Research Foundation. “The caliber of these proposals is extraordinary, and every new discovery that results from them brings us one step closer to better treatments and, ultimately, a cure.”
In total, the Leukemia Research Foundation has invested $3 million this year in leukemia and MDS research. This is in addition to currently funded leukemia research for the 2025-2027 period, as well as the hundreds of other previously funded cutting-edge projects. Overall, the foundation has funded nearly 800 projects since its inception.
Read more about Dr. Skuli’s research stud y, or learn about the Leukemia Research Foundation’s New Investigator Research Grant Program and its deadlines for 2027.