The Leukemia Research Foundation invests $3M in 20 promising projects

The Leukemia Research Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026-2028 New Investigator Research Grant Program. Grants of $150K, over a two-year period, have been awarded to 20 investigators with transformative projects from across the country and beyond. This total investment of $3M 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 Leukemia Research Foundation has funded nearly 800 projects since its inception.

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Leukemia Research Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026-2028 New Investigator Research Grant Program. Grants of $150K, over a two-year period, have been awarded to 20 investigators with transformative projects from across the country and beyond.

This total investment of $3M 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 Leukemia Research Foundation has funded nearly 800 projects since its inception.

"Research is the center of our mission," said Kevin Radelet, executive director, "and the caliber of the proposals this year is extraordinary. We are especially proud to be able to make our largest annual investment to date supporting some of the brightest minds in the leukemia research field."

Transformative projects

The Leukemia Research Foundation's competitive, peer-reviewed program funds innovative projects from early-career investigators who propose research that can lead to scientific breakthroughs.

The research projects selected span a range of topics to advance discoveries in:

• 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

The New Investigator Research Grant recipients for 2026-2028 are included below, and specific details about their background and projects can be found on ourwebsite.

• Katerina Cermakova, PhD, Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
• Lai Chan, PhD, Assistant Staff, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Ryan Day, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis
• Yang Ding, MD, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Asiri Ediriwickrema, MD, PhD, Instructor in Hematology, Stanford University
• Tzu-Chieh Ho, PhD, Assistant Research Professor, Indiana University
• Sumaiya Iqbal, PhD, Sr. Group Leader/PI Bioinformatics and Machine Learning, Broad Institute (Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)
• Lyn Jones, PhD, Member of the Faculty – Independent Investigator, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Shih-Han Lee, PhD, Assistant Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Li Li, PhD, Instructor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Mary Mohrin, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• Varun Narendra, MD, PhD, Assistant Attending, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
• Teresa Sadras, PhD, Affiliated Senior Fellow, La Trobe University Australia
• Sarah Skuli, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati
• Ruslan Soldatov, PhD, Assistant Attending, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
• Pamela Sung, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Research Corporation
• Bon Trinh, PhD, Tenure-track Assistant Professor, University of Virginia
• Maria Velegraki, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University
• Bocheng Wu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas State University
• Zhuoer Xie, MD, Lead Clinical Investigator for Clonal Hematopoiesis Clinic, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Inc.

Peer-reviewed process

The Foundation is grateful to the 28 physician-scientists and researchers from prominent medical institutions around the world who participated in this year's grant review. The panel evaluated the proposals using similar methodology to that used by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Led by Justin Kline, MD, professor of medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, the review process culminated in the recommendation of the projects for funding.

To learn more about the Leukemia Research Foundation's New Investigator Research Grant Program and the deadlines for the 2027 grant program, visit leukemiarf.org/research.

About the Leukemia Research Foundation

The Leukemia Research Foundation, headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, is committed to funding innovative leukemia research worldwide and supporting people affected by leukemia. Since its founding in 1946, more than $115M has been raised to pursue better treatments and the ultimate cure for leukemia. As the nation's largest nonprofit focused exclusively on funding leukemia research, the Leukemia Research Foundation has invested millions in nearly 800 research projects worldwide to accelerate the development of new and better treatments.

For additional information, please visit: www.leukemiarf.org

Media Contact
Maureen Jones, Leukemia Research Foundation, 1 847.919.6250, [email protected], leukemiarf.org

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SOURCE Leukemia Research Foundation