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Paula Restrepo, BA; Sacha Gnjatic, PhD; Andrew Ji, MD, and colleagues
Single-Cell Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Skin Anatomy
Nature Genetics. 2026 Mar 23. PMID: 41872488
Dr. Ji and colleagues constructed an organ wide atlas of human skin at single cell and spatial resolution, identifying how cell types are distributed across anatomic sites, and how they organize into spatially defined neighborhoods that, in turn, undergo remodeling in disease.
The findings establish a conceptual framework to understand skin at many scales from molecular signatures to anatomical organization; they underscore regional immune specialization in the skin, point to potential biomarkers of site-specific disease susceptibility, and indicate that anatomical sites differ in their inflammatory thresholds and therapeutic responses.
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Claudia Henschke, PhD, MD, and Kenneth Rosenzweig, MD, were honored with the 2026 Jacobi Medallion at a ceremony in March. The Jacobi Medallion recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of medicine or extraordinary service to the Mount Sinai Health System, its hospitals, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, or the alumni community.
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Thomas Marron, MD, PhD, was an organizer and faculty member for the Class of 2026 Sparkathon: Next-generation Cellular Therapies, T cell Engagers, and Combinations, held in March. Brian Brown, PhD, also served on the faculty.
The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Sparkathon program brings together early career investigators with established leaders in cancer immunotherapy to foster leadership development, collaborations and scientific exchange.
| | New Faculty - Flow Cytometry Director | | |
Siu-hong Ho, PhD, has joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as Director of the Flow Cytometry CoRE and Associate Professor in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. With over 20 years of experience managing academic core facilities at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Ho has technical expertise in high-dimensional spectral flow cytometry and immunology. His background at Cytek Biosciences provides a deep understanding of spectral unmixing and the extraction of autofluorescence, essential for analyzing primary tumor samples. Currently overseeing a fleet of 22 instruments—including the latest BD FACSymphony S6 and FACSDiscover S8—Dr. Ho is focused on providing expert consultation for high parameter panels, implementing standardized QC metrics for data reproducibility, and developing training modules for 24/7 self-operation of spectral cytometers and high-speed sorters.
Dr. Ho can be reached at 917-946-5790.
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Christopher Sturgeon, PhD, has been awarded an Outstanding Investigator Award (R35) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Hemogenic Mesoderm Heterogeneity, Regulation, and Function.” The overall goal is to understand the origins and development of the spatio-temporally separated programs—each of which harbors different functional potential, culminating in the specification of the hematopoietic stem cell—in the embryonic hematopoietic system. Findings will enable development of technology to generate distinct blood cell types from a patient’s own cells for a wide array of regenerative medicine applications, such as using engineered immune cells for therapies to treat cancers and blood diseases.
Press Release
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2026 Scholars Program Awardees
The Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center Scholars Program provides promising early to mid-career investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with annual awards to support innovative cancer research.
The 2026 award recipients are:
Xiaoqi (Kevin) Sun, PhD – Dubin Breast Center Advisory Board Award
"Metalloimmunotherapy for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Mechanism and Optimization"
Elvin Wagenblast, PhD – Shirley and Dennis Kluesener Award
"Clonal Hematopoiesis as a Host Determinant of Solid Tumor Metastatic Seeding"
Deborah Marshall, MD – TCC Honors Award
"A Soft, Home-Based Thermistor Wearable to Objectively Quantify Female Genital Arousal After Genitopelvic Cancer Therapy"
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Mount Sinai has received a grant for the fifth consecutive year from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to help with the provision of transportation at all Mount Sinai locations for cancer patients identified by oncology social workers. This $35,000 grant helps the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center’s Community Outreach and Engagement Program address cancer disparities and ease the burden of cancer for patients and families.
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Hematology/Medical Oncology Grand Rounds Thursday, May 21
Gedalio and Sonia Grinberg/Nathaniel Wisch, MD Endowed Visiting Lectureship
Michael Andreeff, MD, PhD
Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
MD Anderson Cancer Center
“Decoding PT53 in Myeloid Leukemias: When Guardian Becomes Gatekeeper of Resistance”
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Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
Seminar Series
Tuesdays at noon, Davis Auditorium
April 14
Alex Papachristodoulou, PhD
Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Center for Cell Signaling
Rutgers Cancer Institute at University Hospital Newark
“Investigating Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Prostate Cancer Progression and Treatment”
Hosted by Jerry E. Chipuk, PhD
April 28
Yibin Kang, PhD
Department of Molecular Biology
Princeton University
Hosted by Igor Bado, PhD
May 19
Patricia LoRusso, DO
Chief, Experimental Therapeutics
Associate Cancer Center Director, Experimental Therapeutics
Yale School of Medicine
May 26
Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD
Co-Director, Center of Excellence for Gynecologic Cancer
Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
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Michelle Tran, PhD; Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD; Matthew Galsky, MD; Diego Chowell, PhD, and colleagues
A Tumor-Promoting Inflammatory SPP1+ Macrophage-IL-6-CRP Axis Drives Immune Dysfunction in Bladder Cancer
Cancer Discovery. 2026 Feb 27. PMID: 41747249
This study provides novel insights into the tumor immune landscape of urothelial cancer (UC), linking elevated plasma IL-6 and CRP to tumor-promoting inflammation and macrophage-driven immune regulation in the UC tumor microenvironment. The research team identifies a functional dichotomy of SPP1+ and CXCL9 + macrophage subsets, which shape anti-tumor T cell responses and are associated with unfavorable and favorable immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) outcomes, respectively. The findings link systemic inflammation to local immune dysfunction, define a macrophage driven axis associated with ICB resistance and identify therapeutic targets to improve immunotherapy outcomes in UC.
Press Release
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Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD, and colleagues
Targeted Therapy for DNA Damage Response and Homologous Recombination Repair Defects: The Olaparib Combinations Trial
Cancer. 2026 Mar 15. PMID: 41808580
Dr. Doroshow and colleagues report on the Olaparib Combinations (OLAPCO) trial (NCT02576444), a phase 2, open-label therapeutic trial in patients with germline or somatic alterations of DDR genes (including homologous recombination (HR) repair genes) or genes in the PI3K-AKT pathway, investigating whether agents targeting such mutations could similarly be used in a lineage-independent manner to select patient treatment. The trial showed that it is feasible to efficiently identify patients with tumors harboring HR defects using currently available molecular genetic testing platforms for combination targeted therapy studies targeting the DNA damage response. Although the study failed to meet its primary end point of overall response rate, several groups of patients experienced prolonged stable disease, including patients with PARP inhibitor- and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and those with IDHmt sarcomas.
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David Dominguez-Sola, MD, PhD, Eirini Papapetrou, MD, PhD, and colleagues
Sustained MYC Overexpression Drives Myeloid Differentiation Block and Acquisition of Leukemic Phenotypes
Experimental Hematology. 2026 Mar 6. PMID: 41796634
Using human pluripotent stem cell-derived myelopoiesis models, Drs. Dominguez-Sola and Papapetrou and colleagues show that overexpression of the proto-oncogene MYC from its endogenous locus causes a transient, reversible differentiation block that is insufficient for leukemogenesis, whereas constitutive ectopic MYC produces a persistent differentiation arrest that drives leukemia-associated phenotypes. Persistent MYC rewires epigenetic landscapes and transcription factor networks, revealing that sustained deregulation, not expression alone, underlies MYC-driven leukemic transformation. The findings shed new light on the mechanisms underlying MYC-induced malignant transformation and leukemogenesis, particularly the interplay between cellular differentiation and oncogenesis.
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Michael Christian Virata, MD; Jorge Samanamud, MD; Nadejda Tsankova, MD, PhD; Timothy Richardson, DO, PhD, and colleagues
Expanding the Molecular Grading Criteria in IDH-Mutant Astrocytoma
Neuro-Oncology. 2026 Mar 28. PMID: 41903203
This study examined the prognostic effects of molecular alterations in IDF-mutant astrocytomas beyond those outlined in the WHO Classification of Central Nervous System Tumour guidelines. Findings show that the presence of CDK4, CCND2, PDGFRA, PIK3R1, MYCN, and EGFR alterations were each associated with reduced overall survival compared to WHO grade 2/3 astrocytomas without these molecular features, suggesting that these molecular alterations should be considered in future diagnostic classification systems to improve stratification of high-risk patients.
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John Mascarenhas, MD, and colleagues
Phase 1b Study of ABBV-744, a Novel, Selective BET Inhibitor, as Monotherapy in Patients With Myelofibrosis
Blood Advances. 2026 Mar 17. PMID: 41843794
Dr. Mascarenhas and colleagues report the outcomes of a multicenter, open-label phase 1b study of ABBV-744, a novel small molecule that targets the bromodomain (BD)II domain of BD and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins, in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) who received one or more prior lines of therapy, including a Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKi). This study, focused on safety and efficacy, represents the first investigation of a BD2 selective inhibitor in patients with MF, a population with significant unmet therapeutic needs and limited treatment options. Findings indicate that ABBV-744 monotherapy had clinical activity but was also associated with treatment related myelosuppression which, coupled with the correlative studies, provide deeper understanding of BET biology and future therapeutic development in blood cancers.
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Melanie Kier, MD, MBA, and colleagues
Acute Oncology Hospital Care at Home for Post-Chemotherapy Monitoring
Supportive Care in Cancer. 2026 Mar 23. PMID: 41866617
This study examined the implementation and outcomes of a hospitalization at home (HaH) program for post-chemotherapy monitoring in patients with multiple myeloma. More than 90% of patients receiving HaH successfully completed acute care without complications. Findings demonstrate the feasibility, safety, and potential benefits of this care model, particularly in terms of resource utilization and equity of access among patients with cancer requiring monitoring.
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Emily Bernstein, PhD, will present “Mechanisms of Chromatin Remodeling Mutations in Cancer” at the Markey Cancer Center Seminar Series at the University of Kentucky on April 15.
Eirini Papapetrou, MD, PhD, will be the keynote speaker at the NYU MD/PhD Program Retreat on April 17. She will also present at the 2026 Hematopoietic Stem Cell and Myelodysplastic Syndromes Symposium at MD Anderson Cancer Center, May 6-7.
Scott Friedman, MD, presented The 2026 Alan Hofmann & Family Lectureship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on March 5. Lecture title: “MASH Fibrosis & HCC: Emerging Mechanisms and Therapeutic Horizons.”
Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference in Copenhagen, March 27.
- “PD-L1 Blueprint AI: Validation of an AI-Assisted PD-L1 Scoring Algorithm Against Original Blueprint Study Data”
- Keynote Lecture: “Biomarkers in the Era of ADCs in Lung Cancer”
Jose Javier Bravo-Cordero, PhD, and Lucas Ferrari de Andrade, PhD, presented at Advancement in Cancer Research and Therapeutics, held March 25-27 in Boston.
- Dr. Bravo-Cordero: “The Textures of the Tumor Microenvironment: An Integrated Imaging Perspective”
- Dr. Ferrari: “Selective Inhibition of Fc Receptor Shedding to Promote Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity Against Tumors”
| | Michelle Rudshteyn Korostin, MD, and Graham Wehmeyer, MD, will serve as Chief Fellows for Hematology and Medical Oncology in 2026-2027. | | Michelle Rudshteyn Korostin, MD | | | |
Leslie Kim, MD, breast surgery fellow at Mount Sinai West, won a $1000 Young Investigator Award for the abstract she will present at the Global Breast Cancer Conference, April 23 – 25, in Seoul: "Mammographic Screening Delays and Higher Breast Cancer Stage at Presentation Observed in a New York City Health System After the Acute Phase of the COVID Pandemic: Effects of Socioeconomic Factors." Dr. Kim will also participate in the Young Doctors Debate, to be moderated by Tristen Park, MD.
| | World Cancer Day Celebration | | |
Do you have news for the next issue of TCC Connections?
Please send to Janet.Aronson@mountsinai.org.
Remember to share breaking news and high impact news that might be appropriate for media coverage with Diego Ortiz Quintero in the Press Office. This may include pending FDA drug/device approvals, studies/trial results being published in high-impact journals, and patient stories. The more lead time you can give Diego, the better—ideally, four weeks or when a paper is accepted by the journal. Embargoes will always be honored and news will only be released with your approval. Contact Diego at diego.ortizquintero@mountsinai.org or 201-572-5703.
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TCC Connections is a monthly publication of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director
Janet Aronson , Editor
Past issues of TCC Connections are available on the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center website
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