Introduction

Eleni Louka was selected as one of the first recipients of this fellowship, awarded in November 2022, alongside Robert Watson, with both starting in 2023.

The project

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) is a childhood leukaemia with a very poor prognosis, with limited therapeutic options beyond bone marrow transplantation and a high rate of relapse. This project, led by Dr Louka, focuses on studying a specific subpopulation of tumour cells identified as being responsible for these relapses, with the aim of developing more targeted, effective and less aggressive therapies that can improve treatment outcomes and prognosis for children with JMML.