Our lab develops and studies mouse models of mature B cell malignancies, including models of multiple myeloma and Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, to recapitulate the disease state in patients. This allows us to examine novel treatment strategies for these diseases and gives an accurate model of the natural history of the diseases. My current project concerns further analysis of the C.IL6/iMyc mouse model of multiple myeloma using a variety of proteomic and transcriptomic analyses to increase our understanding of myeloma pathology. This model takes advantage of IL-6, an inflammatory cytokine long recognized as a growth and survival factor for myeloma cells, and the oncogenic T(12,15) myc translocation. My other project is to further elucidate immune interactions in mature B cell malignancies in current and emerging mouse models. This will allow for a more well-rounded understanding of disease progression as well as shine light on potential biomarkers and novel treatment strategies.

Sun F, Cheng Y, Walsh SA, Acevedo MR, Jing X, Han SS, Pisano MD, Tomasson MH, Lichtenstein AK, Zhan F, Hari P, Janz S. Osteolytic disease in IL-6 and Myc dependent mouse model of human myeloma. Haematologica. 2019 Jun 20. pii: haematol.2019.221127. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2019.221127. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31221780.

Janz S, Zhan F, Sun F, Cheng Y, Pisano M, Yang Y, Goldschmidt H, Hari P. Germline Risk Contribution to Genomic Instability in Multiple Myeloma. Front Genet. 2019 May 8;10:424. doi:10.3389/fgene.2019.00424. eCollection 2019. Review. PubMed PMID: 31139207; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6518313.