Grant: Project Grant

Drug resistance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a major hurdle for successful therapy. MicroRNA (miRNA) are small RNA with critical roles in most cellular processes that can be disrupted to promote diverse diseases. Aberrant miRNA expression has been implicated in the development and maintenance of AML, however little is known about the specific role and clinical utility for miRNA in AML chemoresistance. The overarching goal of this project is to characterize miRNA that drive and maintain chemoresistant AML as novel actionable targets in AML therapies. We have developed advanced cellular and molecular tools, novel bioinformatic approaches and access to human samples that will allow us to identify and validate miRNA that are critical for chemoresistance. Our efforts represent fundamental work required to identify novel microRNA-associated therapeutic strategies to improve treatments for AML.