Research

Dr. Edward Ziga is an Assistant Professor and his clinical research focuses on improving the options for pediatric and adolescent patients who need hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) by developing new regimens that use HLA mismatched first-degree relatives as donors. His team has demonstrated the safety of this therapy through an initial pilot study of five patients who remain asymptomatic and disease free for a median of 12 months follow up since HSCT. Following this success, they have developed a phase I/II trial that is pending IRB approval to start enrollment. He collaborates with industry and is the site principal investigator for an ongoing chimeric antibody receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy study to treat children and adolescents with relapsed or refractory leukemia and lymphoma.

Dr. Warren Alperstein is an Assistant Professor and his area of focus includes bone marrow transplant and cellular therapies with an interest in graft vs host disease (GVHD) and haplo-identical transplants. His expertise also includes post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD).  He is a member of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s  (SCCC) Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Program and conducts clinics at SCCC Alex’s Place and SCCC at Deerfield Beach.  He was awarded the 2019 Hyundai Hope Scholar Grant for collaborative work on High-throughput drug screen for pediatric sarcomas and he is involved in clinical trials through the PTCTC, in addition to investigator driven protocols.  He participates on immunotherapy clinical trials with engineered cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) against EBV positive PTLD/lymphoma, and he is an active educator with the Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Julio Barredo is a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and performs basic, translational and clinical research. As a full member of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, he leads the cancer center efforts in the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Program. He continues to mentor PhD investigators and physician scientists, and as a member of the graduate school, teaches students enrolled in the Cancer Biology Program. His laboratory and clinical research are funded by federal, state, national and international foundations and industry. His laboratory and translational research focus on understanding the role of energy metabolism in resistant/refractory acute leukemia and his lab uncovered the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) as a therapeutic target in acute leukemia and other cancers. His clinical research focuses on refractory/resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and he has developed national protocols for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), TACL, the Sunshine Project, as well as investigator-initiated studies (IIS) for the treatment of relapsed/refractory acute leukemia.