Our PAX5 research is supported by an NIH/NCI R01 Award

We are excited to share that, just days after our first NIH/NCI award, the National Cancer Institute has awarded the Gu Lab a second five-year grant (R01CA303874; 09/2025–08/2030) to dissect the functional role of PAX5 mutations in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This award will support our continued effort to understand how PAX5 alterations drive multiple high-risk B-ALL subtypes and to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities downstream of these lesions. The grant was originally issued as a MERIT (R37) award and was converted to an R01 in accordance with NIH policy; the science and scope remain unchanged. We are deeply grateful to our team, our collaborators, and the NCI for this strong vote of confidence in our science.

Our BCR::ABL1 (Ph) B-ALL research is supported by an NIH/NCI MERIT (R37) Award

We are thrilled to share that the National Cancer Institute has awarded the Gu Lab its first NIH/NCI grant — a five-year MERIT Award (R37CA300358; 08/2025–07/2030) that will let us define how a novel signature gene shapes leukemogenesis and therapeutic response in BCR::ABL1 (Ph⁺) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Many thanks to our team and the NCI for making this work possible.

Our single-cell research in high-risk leukemias is funded by the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation

We are excited to announce that alongside Zunsong's recent publication, we have received the Translational Research Grant from the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. This award, arriving just as the holidays approach, feels like a special recognition of our efforts in studying high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtypes. It is a wonderful acknowledgment of our dedication to advancing leukemia research, and we are incredibly grateful for this support as we continue to make meaningful strides in this field.

Congratulations to Zunsong!!! Two first-author papers published!

Congratulations to Zunsong and our team members for their remarkable work in advancing leukemia research. Zunsong's contribution has been instrumental in developing MD-ALL, a platform that combines various aspects of RNA-seq data for integrative leukemia classification. This groundbreaking work, which included collaboration with Children's Hospital Los Angeles, demonstrated the platform's effectiveness in a clinical setting.

Our PAX5 research in B-ALL is generously funded by the V Scholar Award from the V Foundation

PAX5 is the key transcription factor in B cell development and commitment. Over 30% of B-ALL patients are reported with PAX5 alterations. Rather than being secondary events in B-ALL, PAX5 mutations can drive multiple B-ALL subtypes, many of which are defined as high-risk. Thanks to the continuous efforts from our lab members, we have made significant strides in answering major questions about the molecular function of PAX5 mutations in driving leukemia development.

Our single-cell research in high-risk leukemias is funded by the Leukemia Research Foundation

We are steadfast in our commitment to employ cutting-edge technologies and in vitro/vivo experimental models to understand the molecular mechanisms of high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, particularly the PAX5alt and CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like subtypes. This approach is significantly advancing our understanding of these malignancies and their mechanisms of drug resistance. We deeply appreciate the support of the LRF, which has been instrumental in our research endeavors in this field.

Our MD-ALL platform is under review and here is the preprint

Congratulations to Zunsong! This is the first fully independent research paper from our lab. Now, there is an integrative RNA-seq analysis platform that can handle multiple aspects of information to assist B-ALL molecular classification. Many thanks to the hard work and innovative ideas from our team.

We had a great time at ASH 2022 in New Orleans

Congratulations go to Zunsong for his excellent poster presentation and to Zhilian for her outstanding oral presentations at ASH 2022. It was indeed an exciting and proud experience for our lab to be able to showcase our research on such a grand stage. Well done, Zunsong and Zhilian!

We received grant from Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation!

The Childhood Cancer Research Award from Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation will support our research in understanding the function of PAX5 mutations in leukemia development. The B+ Foundation raises a large amount of money from events on college campuses. To give the students a closer connection to the work that they make possible, they pair some of the schools with the research grants. Our application was well-received, and we are honored to be paired with the students at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).

The first Gu Lab paper

Congratulations to Dr. Zhilian Jia! The first Gu Lab paper is published in Frontiers in Oncology, Section of Hematologic Malignancies. In this review paper, we summarized recent advances in understanding the function of PAX5 in orchestrating the development of both normal and malignant B cells, with a focus on the PAX5 alterations as the initiating or driver events in B-ALL.

Joshua Tree National Park

It was summer, and it was hot. Zunsong, Xiaohua, Zhilian, and Ke were there. A lonely brown table was settled for a hotpot dinner. “Oh look” cried Ke, and then the crystal dark night of the National Park was abruptly there. The end.

RNAseqCNV is published

Congratulations to Jan and Zunsong! The concept initiated in our previous work (Gu et al., Nat. Genet., 2019) of calling large-scale copy number alterations from bulk RNA-seq data is published in Leukemia. The software is freely available from GitHub RNAseqCNV.

Hiking

A group hiking to the Sunset Bench (5XFV+29 Monrovia, California). We were happy to host the rotation students Alex, Jiangyue, and Yu-Hsuan in our laboratory.

Merry Christmas to the team

You may not be able to tell, but we were holding our breath while taking this photo, to comply with the COVID policy.

Happy Thanksgiving & Welcome & Congratulations

Happy Thanksgiving to all our lab members! It was a great day in the Lacy Park. Thanks for the Party Committee led by Helen and Zhilian, the table-runner and decorations are exquisite. We warmly welcomed our new lab member Dr. Ke Wang, celebrated Behzad's birthday with his significant one, and we were very excited about the upcoming baby for Jibin.

An official lab photo

An official lab photo was taken at Biomedical Research Center, Monrovia, where our lab is located. We enjoyed the days that we had Judd, Carrie, and Elmah working with us this summer.

Our first lab photo

Surprise birthday party for Zhaohui. More importantly, we had our excellent first lab photo.

Lab webpage is online

The first version of the Gu Lab website is online. For now, the webpages are mainly for recruiting lab members, but it will evolve into a hub to host and present our future research and lab life.

Gu Lab @ City of Hope

Today, the official offer from City of Hope is accepted, which announces that the Gu Lab will kick-start on June 29th, 2020. Talented postdoc candidates are invited to embark on the inaugural of this brand new lab. Together, we can lead a productive, memorable and enjoyable research life in beautiful Los Angeles!