Biophysical & Morphological Characterization of Minimal Residual Disease

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), unlike many other cancer types, is a malignancy for which the primary clinical obstacle lies not in achieving remission, but in preventing relapse. The rarity, genetic heterogeneity and poorly-defined phenotype of residual leukemia has made mere identification of minimal residual disease (MRD) challenging, and as such little is known about the specific biology of this relapse-initiating population.

To address these questions, we are developing a machine-learning platform for the morphological discrimination of residual leukemia cells, with the goal of isolating patient MRD cells and enabling a suite of functional assays that have not thus far been possible. Additionally, in a collaboration with the Manalis Lab at MIT, we are exploring how different therapies alter biophysical properties of AML cells in order to elucidate the mechanisms of chemotolerance and identify actionable vulnerabilities introduced at MRD.