Abbas Laboratory

Leukemia is a malignant blood disorder that disrupts the normal production of blood cells and compromises the body's immune function. Leukemic cells emerge from the bone marrow, which is also the home for many immune cells, suggesting that leukemic cells acquire mechanisms to evade immune recognition. Furthermore, leukemic cells can be resistant to chemotherapy. Our lab applies experimental (wet lab) and computational (dry lab) tools to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that govern therapeutic resistance in leukemia and shape the immune microenvironment. Our goal is to leverage our access to samples collected from patients during conventional and novel therapies to identify vulnerabilities that can be exploited in the treatment of leukemia and improve patient outcomes. While our primary focus is on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), our research work also extends to other disciplines in leukemias including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and other myeloid neoplasms.

Topics of interest include:

• Reconstituting immunologic control in AML
  
• Inflammation and AML
• Venetoclax resistance in AML
  
• AML with deletion in chromosome 7/7q

Learn more about our research