CLL Academy: Shaping the Next Generation of CLL Cure Innovators

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Transcript: 

Dr. Rama Soundararajan: Good afternoon and thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here today. My name is Rama Soundararajan, and I serve at the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology at MD Anderson. I also run the ITERT Core, which is an advanced educational training platform dedicated to developing the next generation of translational researchers for over 12 years now. Now, the presentations you’ve heard today were truly inspiring, showcasing the remarkable advances in dedication driving CLL research forward, and it is very clear, so we stand at the crossroads of discovery and hope, united by a shared mission, and that is to transform CLL from challenge to cure.

Cures, though, are not achieved in isolation, and they come from the united efforts of researchers, educators, working together with the community to turn knowledge into career-driving lasting impact and a shared vision that philanthropy only brings to life, so it truly takes a village, and thank you all. Let me take a moment to pivot from the scientific focus of the talks you’ve heard today and turn our attention to yet another critical challenge we must address in the CLL field, and that is ensuring the sustainability and training of the next generation of translational researchers who will continue to take these discoveries forward from the lab to cures at the bedside.

In my talk today, I will highlight this urgent and unmet need towards innovating the CLL cure, and that is the need for investing in CLL education and training. I will then present an implementation-ready solution to this knowledge gap we have designed at MD Anderson, a dedicated training program called CLL Academy. Here, I will highlight the program curriculum and training goals and how it is designed to foster careers in CLL research and ensure that the talent that we develop today is best equipped to innovate the cures of tomorrow, and how its mission is aligned with that of CLL Global and MD Anderson. I will then discuss why MD Anderson is best equipped to put on a CLL-specific training program, and along with the rest of the team here, I do firmly believe that together, we can accelerate the cure for CLL.

Now, despite significant advances in the development of CLL therapeutics and treatment regimens over the years, the rate of new incidence of the disease has not dropped significantly, and even with targeted therapeutics, complete remissions are challenging. So, there continues to be an urgent demand for new combination, new drugs, to address recurring cancers and improve patient quality of life, and this requires integrated, multidisciplinary expertise and skills of translational research teams highlighting the dire need to invest in the next generation of translational researchers.

Now, the clinical challenge in this field is amplified by the complete lack of structured CLL-specific training programs in the country. And like the broader hem malignancy, so pediatric malignancies where there is a precedence for student training models, there isn’t one quite for CLL yet, specifically. Lack of tailored career training programs, since CLL impacts talent retention within the field, and without new talent, innovation slows and cures stay out of reach.

So, we at MD Anderson have developed, to bridge this critical instructional gap, a multidisciplinary comprehensive training program in CLL research called CLL Academy. Now, this concept is an immersive, two-year mentor training program for pre- and post-doctoral fellows as well as medical fellows to facilitate the path to successful and sustained careers within the broader CLL research enterprise and train the new generation of scientists in the vast depth and breadth of context-specific skills that’s unique to CLL biology and pathophysiology.

Now, the three pillars of experiential learning here include hands-on research in the CLL mentor labs at MD Anderson, intensive cross-disciplinary education in CLL-focused areas, biology, micro-environment, genetics, genomics, therapeutics, survival, and epidemiology, complemented by the third pillar, which is an immersive professional development training. Now, patients and philanthropy voices are integrated into this design from Day One. Now, adhering to the MD Anderson trifecta of breakthrough, reach, and value, our goal with this program is twofold. 1.) Build the skills that are necessary to drive discovery, and 2.) Enable sustainable career pathways so that the students we train stay to develop the cures.

Now, this will be the first CLL-focused training curriculum in the U.S., serving as a prototype for other niche diseases like lymphoma, acute leukemia, myeloma, etcetera. The learnings from this initiative can be directly applied in real time to these other malignancies. Now, a training program like CLL Academy, owing to its unique design, future-proofs our ability to continue the pipeline for developing CLL cures. Now, why MD Anderson? Because of the opportunity it offers for a transformative impact. At MD Anderson, we have globally renowned CLL experts with a proven track record of training success, many of whom you’ve heard today.

The combined strength of collaborating physicians and bench experts provides a rich intellectual milieu for training like none other. We are grateful to our outstanding trainee talent pool, both from a graduate school and from the fellows who join us from across the world. Availability of resources to study CLL biology, genomics, mechanisms, therapeutics, is one of a kind. Established infrastructure, at MD Anderson, we have over 40 research cores, platforms and animal facilities, and we also have a dedicated, customized, career state specific curriculum designing core, the ITERT Core at MD Anderson.

As CLL Global said it very aptly, the way they’re going to cure CLL is by putting together all the pieces of the puzzle. Education and training is certainly one important piece of this puzzle, and as you’ve heard from Steve Winfield earlier today, we must find a way to support the young researchers. The next cure for CLL will come from the young minds we train today, and we are grateful for your partnership that will make that future possible. Thank you.