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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a high-risk blood cancer in children. Even after intensive chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant, small numbers of leukemic cells, called measurable residual disease (MRD), can persist and later cause relapse. Current hospital tests examine large mixtures of cells and can miss these dangerous clones, causing clinicians to underestimate a child's relapse risk. Dr. Furlan and team will apply advanced single-cell genomic technologies to profile tens of thousands of cells from each child, pinpoint rare residual leukemia cells, and define the programs that allow them to survive treatment. Using these insights, Dr. Furlan and colleagues will develop practical, more sensitive MRD assays that children's hospitals could implement to better identify which patients are truly in deep remission and which remain at high risk, guiding earlier intervention and improving long-term cure rates for children with AML.

This grant is generously supported by Super Soph's Pediatric Cancer Research Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. Sophie Rossi was diagnosed with AML at 3 months of age. Throughout her courageous battle, she was always smiling, always joyful. This fund was created to honor her spunky, sweet spirit by funding research to find cures for AML and all childhood cancers.