V Scholar Plus Award- extended funding for exceptional V Scholars
Myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) is a chronic blood cancer without curative treatments. In MPN, blood stem cells obtain mutations that result in excessive numbers of blood cells. Mutations in a gene named calreticulin have been recently found in a large percentage of MPN patients. It is unknown how calreticulin mutations drive MPN. Our goal is to identify how calreticulin mutations cause MPN and to develop drugs targeting calreticulin to treat this disease.
