Project Grant K08DK140636

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) awarded a $169,548 Project Grant under CFDA 93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program to Yale University. The grant supports a 5-year project titled "Therapeutic Targeting of Transcription-Driven Epigenetic Defects in SF3B1 Mutant Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)." The project aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms linking SF3B1 gene mutations to disruptions in RNA polymerase II transcription and altered chromatin accessibility in MDS, a common cause of bone marrow failure. The research will explore approaches to therapeutically target these transcription-driven epigenetic defects, utilizing patient-derived xenograft models. The grant provides funding for the career development of the Principal Investigator, Dr. Prajwal Boddu, as an independent physician-scientist, under the mentorship of experts in RNA biology and epigenetics at Yale.