2021 Scientist Development Awards – Dr. Christopher D’Angelo

The UNMC Department of Internal Medicine Scientist Development Award was recently given to Christopher D’Angelo, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, for his proposal titled "Prebiotics to Improve Gut Microbiome Diversity After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma and Lymphoma: The PRIMAL Trial.”
 
As part of the award, Dr. D’Angelo will receive support for one year and will dedicate 50% percent of his time to research, career development and other scholarly activities.
In his proposal, Dr. D’Angelo said the main objective is to perform a randomized controlled trial to determine if a prebiotic, specifically resistant potato starch, is effective in targeting the gut microbiome and improving the diversity of the bacterial population during the course of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma or lymphoma. Dr. D’Angelo’s prior research as well as other published literature suggests that a loss of gut microbial diversity occurs during transplant and that this may have a detrimental impact on disease outcomes including response to transplant and overall survival. Dr. D’Angelo believes this study may be an important first step in understanding how the gut microbiome can be manipulated for therapeutic advantage in the course of cellular therapy for hematologic malignancies.
Julie Vose, MD, MBA, the Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professor of Medicine and Division Chief of Hematology and Oncology, will serve as Dr. D’Angelo's mentor for this grant. Dr. Vose has extensive expertise in clinical research of malignant lymphomas including leading multiple national and international lymphoma research projects and has previously served as the president for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
 
The Department of Internal Medicine accepted applications for its Scientist Development Award in January. The award is designed to support promising Department of Internal Medicine faculty candidates making the transition from fellowship training into an initial academic appointment at UNMC. Dr. D’Angelo joined the UNMC faculty as an Assistant Professor in Hematology/Oncology in August of 2020. The grant provides one year of support for a mentored research project.