Luis F.Z. Batista, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Developmental Biology, WashU Division of Hematology, Member – Center for Genome Integrity, received grants from the Department of Defense as well as Siteman Cancer Center for his work to uncover novel mechanisms related to telomerase dysfunction in bone marrow failure and pre-malignant patients.
Dr. Batista’s research aims at uncovering the molecular regulation of telomerase in human cells, and how impaired telomerase function contributes to tissue failure and human disease.
“These grants come at a critical point and nicely synergize to allow our laboratory to understand different aspects of the molecular regulation of telomere biology disorders, and how small disturbances to telomerase cause such severe phenotypes. Moreover, these grants give us new targets to try to mitigate phenotypes and restore quality of life in patients”
Through a grant from the Department of Defense, Bone Marrow Failure Program (https://cdmrp.health.mil/bmfrp/default) his laboratory will utilize targeted in vitro hematopoietic differentiation to decipher novel alternatives to sustain efficient hematopoietic development in cells with short telomeres.
Additionally, Dr. Batista’s laboratory has been awarded a Pre-R01 Award from the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University (https://siteman.wustl.edu/research/cancer-research-funding-for-investigators-at-washington-university-and-consortium-partners/siteman-investment-program-sip-awards/) to decipher novel mechanisms involved in the degradation of telomerase in human stem cells. The goal of this award is to find pathways that can be modulated to prevent malignant transformation in patients harboring common mutations in telomerase.