T-Cell and NK-Cell Lymphomas

Christiane Querfeld is director of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Program at City of Hope National Medical Center and an Assistant Professor in Dermatology and Dermatopathology. She has specific training and expertise in cutaneous lymphoma and her clinical practice is dedicated to patients with cutaneous lymphoma and to diagnosis and study at a microscopic and molecular level (dermatopathology). Her research focus has been on investigations of the biology of cutaneous lymphomas and novel therapies for these diseases and she serves as co-principal investigator on several clinical Phase I and II trials of cutaneous T cell lymphomas. Her laboratory-based projects aim to identify the contributing elements of the tumor microenvironment in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Jasmine Zain is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and the Director of the T- cell-Lymphoma Program at the City of Hope National Medical Center. Her focus is to conduct early phase clinical trials of novel small molecules in the treatment of lymphomas and other hematological malignancies in an attempt to define targeted therapies for this group of diseases. Her particular area of interest is in T cell malignancies and Cutaneous T cell lymphomas. The lymphomas represent a very diverse group of diseases comprised of approximately 65 different sub-types. T cell lymphomas in particular are poorly understood and standard therapies to treat this heterogenous group of over 20 subtypes of diseases is lacking. Jasmin Zain is interested in linking emerging concepts in molecular pathogenesis and molecular pharmacology in T cell lymphomas to clinically relevant information. The major objective is to identify the relevant biological targets which are known to play a critical role in lymphomagenesis, and then to develop targeted small molecules for these agents, with the ultimate goal of evaluating these potential drug candidates in patients. Thus these targeted therapies will be less toxic, and potentially more curative. She is also part of the stem cell transplant program at City of Hope thus allowing a unique opportunity to integrate the work she does to develop targeted therapies in the Lymphoma program with stem cell transplantation.