
The goal of our research is to improve our understanding of the genetic basis of blood disorders known as myeloid malignancies, and to use this knowledge to improve therapies for patients with these disorders. Our efforts are focused on the identification and characterization of somatic mutations in hematologic malignancies using candidate gene, genome-wide, and functional approaches, with a specific interest in the role of aberrant signal transduction in malignant transformation and in the effects of mutations in epigenetic modifiers in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). As a physician-scientist, we have a specific interest in translating this knowledge back to the clinic, in the preclinical and clinical evaluation of targeted therapies for leukemia patients, and in the development of clinically tractable genomic assays for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Ross L. Levine, MD
Professor
Research Focus
- Mechanisms of genetic and epigenetic cooperativity which drive myeloid transformation
- Elucidating and modeling evolution from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells to clonal hematopoiesis and then to myeloid malignancies
- Identification and credentialing novel therapeutic dependencies in myeloid malignancies
Education
MD, Johns Hopkins School of MedicinePublications
- Sykes SM, Kokkaliaris KD, Milsom MD, Levine RL, Majeti R. Clonal evolution of preleukemic hematopoietic stem cells in acute myeloid leukemia. Experimental hematology. 2015; 43(12):989-92.
- Guryanova OA, Lieu YK, Garrett-Bakelman FE, Spitzer B, Glass JL, Shank K, Martinez AB, Rivera SA, Durham BH, Rapaport F, Keller MD, Pandey S, Bastian L, Tovbin D, Weinstein AR, Teruya-Feldstein J, Abdel-Wahab O, Santini V, Mason CE, Melnick AM, Mukherjee S, Levine RL. Dnmt3a regulates myeloproliferation and liver-specific expansion of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Leukemia. 2016; 30(5):1133-42. NIHMSID: NIHMS745048
Selected Achievements
- Scholar, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar (2012)
- Louis and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2011)
- Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation (2011)
- Sir William Osler Young Investigator Award, Interurban Clinical Club (2011)