M.D./Ph.D. student Jeffrey Cooney in the Cancer Biology track recently published a first author review publication in the American Society of Hematology journal Blood.

“As the premier journal for hematological malignancies, it is not trivial to get published in Blood,” said his mentor Dr. Ricardo Aguiar. “Jeff’s paper gives him an initial “stamp of approval” from the field and it should help him achieve his future professional goals.”

His review is entitled “Phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors have wide-ranging activity in B cell malignancies.”

“Jeff is a terrific Ph.D. candidate and budding scientist – he has the passion, determination and intellect to become a first rate physician-scientist,” said Dr. Aguiar. “It is a pleasure to have him contribute his talent to the overarching goals of my research group.”

Cooney is studying the repurposing of a FDA-approved phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor named roflumilast to treat patients with mature B cell malignancies, including diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

“This is important because these malignancies are common and are associated with a poor outcome, so there is an unmet need for new therapies,” Cooney said. “The review allowed us to share the rationale for using phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors in these cancers and highlight several of the unique advantages for using these agents.”

After graduation, Cooney hopes to treat patients and perform translational research in the field of oncology.

In Press is a section in The Pipette Gazette that highlights publications by students. To read more In Press articles, click here.