Principal investigator
Gillian V. Kupakuwana, MD, PhD
Current research
Gillian is a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in Hematology/Oncology and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Her research connects the molecular biology of leukemia with questions arising from the care of patients with myeloid malignancies.
Gillian is building a longitudinal acute myeloid leukemia (AML) research program to understand how leukemia changes through treatment and why some cells persist or return at relapse. This work combines molecular profiling, including single-cell approaches, with patients’ clinical courses. It asks whether patterns of gene activity, chromatin accessibility and cell-surface proteins reveal important differences that genetic classification alone may miss. Those observations will generate hypotheses for experimental testing.
A developing longitudinal hematology research specimen collection will support this work. By preserving patient samples collected at clinically-meaningful points and linking them with clinical information, Gillian aims to create a resource for studying disease over time. Building that resource involves the practical work of establishing reliable collection, processing, storage and documentation from the outset.
Her clinical practice primarily focuses on leukemia, myeloid disorders and cellular therapy, with patient care at Upstate Cancer Center and Upstate Community Hospital. The questions that emerge in clinic help shape the questions she brings to the lab: why a treatment works for one patient, why disease persists in another, and what changes at relapse?
Focus: Acute myeloid leukemia · Myelodysplastic neoplasms · Gene regulation and chromatin accessibility · Leukemia cell states · Single-cell multiomics · KMT2A-rearranged leukemia · Menin-directed therapy · Hematology and oncology