People

With extended training in Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Kurre’s clinical work is now focused on children with bone marrow failure. He strives to provide excellence in care for families and patients across a wide spectrum of inherited and acquired conditions that lead to loss of blood formation. As a Physician Scientist, both clinical and scientific goals of his work are therefore directed at improving understanding and broadening treatment options for patients with bone marrow failure. Dr. Kurre’s laboratory has longstanding expertise in Fanconi Anemia (FA), a genetic condition with prominent hematologic complications. With training in transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell biology, he hopes to improve our understanding of the progressive hematopoietic failure in patients with BMF and FA, and broaden diagnostic approaches, and develop next generation therapies.

Dr. Olson's clinical efforts focus on pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), with a specific emphasis on HSCT for patients with inherited and acquired bone marrow failure. Through his combined clinical activities in the Bone Marrow Failure Center within the Division of Hematology and the Blood and Marrow Transplant Section within the Division of Oncology, his goal is to facilitate outstanding care for patients with inherited bone marrow failure and acquired aplastic anemia during their transition from diagnostic evaluation to treatment through HSCT.

Dr Daria Babushok is a physician-scientist and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr Babushok laboratory conducts basic and translational research focusing on the immune pathogenesis of acquired aplastic anemia and the development of clonal hematopoiesis in acquired aplastic anemia and other bone marrow failure disorders.

Dr. Hartung’s clinical efforts focus on pediatric non-malignant blood disorders, with a specific emphasis on the diagnosis and management of children with inherited and acquired bone marrow failure syndromes. As a member of the Division of Hematology and the Bone Marrow Failure Center, his goal is to ensure state-of-the-art diagnostics for patients with suspected bone marrow failure syndromes and to assist in the development of optimal treatment plans.

Dr. Chen completed his PhD at the University of Waterloo in 2018 with research training at the interface of drug delivery, gene therapy, nanomedicine and regenerative medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow at Kurre’s laboratory, Dr. Chen aims to extend his multidisciplinary expertise towards research in the diseases of bone marrow failure, to explore novel treatment approaches by understanding and harnessing the intricate regulation of hematopoietic stem cells and extracellular vesicles trafficking in the bone marrow microenvironment.

Dr. Oved is a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellow and a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Timothy Olson’s laboratory. His clinical interests involve hematopoietic stem cell transplant, cell therapies and bone marrow failure. He is currently working on developing novel lentiviral gene therapies for inherited bone marrow failure conditions.

Dr. Ji Zha is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Timothy Olson’s laboratory. She is currently studying on the cellular and molecular roles of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche in donor HSC engraftment following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in mouse models of inherited bone marrow failure, including Fanconi Anemia, Shwachman Diamond Syndrome, and Dyskeratosis Congenita. This research will shed light on developing therapeutic strategies to improve the efficiency of donor HSC engraftment following clinical stem cell transplantation.

Jian-Meng Fan received her BS degree of Medical Laboratory from Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine. She has extensive experience and skill sets in molecular and cellular biology, hematology, telomere biology and aging. She also has strong hands-on experience and record on patient-derived cell isolation, culturing and manipulation.

Lori Kunselman joined the Bone Marrow Failure Center in September 2014. As a research assistant, her role is to support Dr. Tim Olson in his research of engraftment efficiency in HSCT murine models. She is responsible for maintaining the conditional knockout mouse models of IGF and PDGF, as well as models of inherited bone marrow failure such as Fanconi Anemia, Shwachman Diamond Syndrome, and Dyskeratosis Congenita.

Theresa Menna, BS, became a Research Technician for the Bone Marrow Failure Center in December 2018. Her role is to design and conduct experiments in tissue culture and mouse models to further understand the processes in hematopoietic stem cells that contribute to Fanconi Anemia.

Seul Jung received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology at Temple University in 2019. Her previous research involved sequencing zebrafish to study the effects of mutations in the Pygopus2 gene. She was also involved in research focused on the relationship between invadopodia and cell cycle progression in breast cancer cells. Seul became a Research Technician for Dr. Kurre’s Lab in the Comprehensive Bone Marrow Failure Center in July 2019.

Melissa focused on public health and nutrition throughout undergrad and spent free time in the chemistry lab. After graduating in 2013, she did volunteer research at the San Francisco VA Medical Center studying the roles of miRNAs in prostate cancer and developed a skillset in molecular biology. She later accepted a full-time research position in an immunology lab at Stanford studying viral responses in transplant patients and immune regulation. Melissa is excited to contribute to translational research and investigate bone marrow failure through the lens of the immune system

An has a Master of Science in Biology from the University of Leuven in Belgium, and did a master thesis project on the contributions of ARF6 and Presenillins in endosomal trafficking in Alzheimer’s Disease. After graduating in 2015, she lived in Tanzania, Spain, and Belgium, where she worked on several science and animal rescue projects. In addition, An went back to school to get a degree in Veterinary Technology.

Ben received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Haverford College in 2019. Before becoming a Research Specialist, Ben worked in the Comprehensive Bone Marrow Failure Center as an undergraduate, and he wrote one of his undergraduate theses on research related to acquired aplastic anemia. The scope of his research has since broadened to include other bone marrow failure disorders such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

Peter Nicholas joined the Bone Marrow Failure Center in June of 2010 and is currently the Study Coordinator/Lab Manager. Peter oversees all the current IRB approved studies that are open within the Bone Marrow Failure Center, and makes sure they continue to be IRB compliant. He is responsible for speaking with families and consenting patients and coordinating clinical sample collection for the research team.; Peter also manages the day to day operation of the research lab. Peter graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000 with a degree in Medical Microbiology and Immunology.

As an administrator, Millicent provides coordination of research and clinical operations of the Center.  Her duties include human resource functions, coordinating meetings, submitting employee reimbursements, approving invoices, managing budget, requesting IT support, and other administrative functions.  Millicent also supports the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program and works closely with the Program Coordinator and Program Director with day to day administration.

Beverly J. Paul is a graduate of St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing. She has been a nurse for 43 years and a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia employee for 39yrs. Her past experience has included Critical Care, Post Anesthesia Recovery, Sedation, & Radiology Nursing (particularly Interventional Radiology). Her experience includes leadership and mentoring, policy and procedure development and implementation, parent education and development of teaching tools for parents. She has spoken at National Nursing Conferences.