Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are studying proteins at the single-cell level to develop new immunotherapies for leukemia, using sophisticated CyTOF equipment (shown above).While CAR-T and other forms of immunotherapy are providing new hope for people with acute B-cell leukemia (B-ALL), much less progress has been made in treating acute T-cell leukemia (T-ALL).

Drs. Marjorie Brand and Jill Fulcher are hoping to change this with a $48,000 Translational Research Grant from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the Department of Medicine and the Division of Hematology.

Their project focuses on using sophisticated single-cell proteomics techniques (CyTOF) to identify rare T-ALL cells that are capable of evading chemotherapy. If these cells can be identified, future research will focus on developing immunotherapy approaches to target and destroy them.

OHRI is able to support these kinds of peer-reviewed translational research grants because of support from generous donors through The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

Core resources: CyTOF, Bioinformatics, Hematology BioBank.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa. 

Media Contact 
Jenn Ganton
613-614-5253
jganton@ohri.ca