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Based on the progress to date, Dr. Rahnama was awarded a new grant in 2024 to fund an additional year of this Fellow grant.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer that affects children. While there have been important advances in treatment and care of pediatric patients with AML, 20-40% relapse and have poor outcomes. Novel therapies are urgently needed to combat this disease. One treatment modality under investigation involves manipulation of the body's immune system by reprogramming immune cells with inherent anti-leukemia properties to specifically target AML cancer cells. Dr. Rahnama is focused on the study of natural killer (NK) cells as immune cells of interest. NK cells can be engineered to express Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) that recognize specific proteins on leukemia cells in order to attack and kill them. The site where the CAR-modified NK cell and the target leukemia cell come together is known as the immunological synapse (IS). The IS is highly organized and plays a key role in activating the NK cell. Dr. Rahnama aims to better understand the interaction between CAR-modified NK cells and target leukemia cells by studying the biology of the IS as related to how tightly the two cells interact. Her goal is to improve CAR-NK cell design for ultimate use as pediatric AML treatment. This grant was awarded at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and transferred to the University of California, San Francisco.

This grant is funded by and named for the Aiden's Army Fund. When he was 8 years old, Aiden Binkley was diagnosed with Stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma. He had a huge tumor in his pelvis and the cancer had metastasized to his lungs. But this bright, funny and courageous boy believed he got cancer so he could grow up to find a cure for it. Aiden’s story has inspired so many people and his vision to cure cancer is being carried on by Aiden’s Army through the funding of research. They will march until there is a cure!