GVHD often occurs after allogeneic bone marrow transplants when the donor’s immune cells attack the patient’s normal cells. The disease is the primary cause of transplant-related death.
GVHD researchers James Fererra, MD, DSc, director of the Center for Translational Research in Hematological Malignancies at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and John Levine, MD, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will lead the project.
Dr. Fererra and Dr. Levine will spearhead a consortium of 20 major medical centers in the U.S. and Europe that will share patient data on the disease. Participating U.S. hospitals include Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Baylor College of Medicine in Dallas.
“My colleagues and I have developed an exciting prognostic tool to identify those who will get GVHD and those who will not,” said Dr. Ferrara. “In doing so, we will design treatment to respond to each patient’s disease progression and possibly stop its escalation. The studies are highly significant and translational and have the potential to impact patients’ care.”
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