The Edward P. Evans Foundation has awarded three-year, $750,000 Discovery Research Grants to Jeremy Baeten, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine, and Matthew Walter, MD, the Edward P. Evans Endowed Professor of Myelodysplastic Syndromes, both in the Division of Oncology at WashU Medicine. Walter treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, and Baeten is a research member at Siteman.
These awards represent an investment in research that is advancing the field of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of blood cancers characterized by low blood cell counts.
Baeten aims to improve treatments for patients who have MDS with mutations in an important gene called TP53, which causes resistance to current therapies. Baeten will study how a new drug combination kills these cancer cells better than available drugs and how blocking another gene might make these treatments even more effective.
Walter will explore using whole-genome sequencing to monitor mutated blood cells in patients with MDS or clonal cytopenias of undetermined significance, a disease that predisposes patients to developing MDS, including tracking whether changes in mutations are linked to disease progression. The funding also will help advance his work in collaboration with Kelly Bolton, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine in oncology, to examine how mutated cells respond to targeted treatments, which could help guide more personalized treatment choices.
The Edward P. Evans Foundation previously provided grant funding to WashU Medicine, including support for Baeten and Walter. In 2019, the foundation established the Edward P. Evans Center for Myelodysplastic Syndromes at WashU Medicine, one of four MDS-supported centers nationally. The foundation also funded the endowed professorship that Walter holds.
