St. Jude Research

Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies

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About CELS

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The Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies (CELS) was established to advance basic research and diagnosis of childhood hematological malignancies and to facilitate the translation of novel scientific findings into the clinic to improve outcomes. CELS is led by Charles Mullighan, MBBS (Hons), MSc, MD of the Department of Pathology.

CELS aims to recruit exceptional research faculty focused on hematological malignancies, create a synergistic environment among investigators to accelerate the pace of discovery, and focus research efforts on disease mechanism. To foster innovation and enhance core infrastructure, CELS has established core resources in several key areas: flow cytometry, single cell technologies and metabolomics.

CELS brings together new and existing investigators researching leukemia in a collaborative enterprise that will serve to establish St. Jude as a global leader in hematological malignancies and have a sustained impact in improving cure rates.

CELS Research Groups

Selected publications

Fusion Oncoproteins and Cooperating Mutations Define Disease Phenotypes in NUP98-Rearranged Leukemia
Umeda et al. Blood, 2025
The NUDIX hydrolase NUDT5 regulates thiopurine metabolism and cytotoxicity
Maillard et al. J Clin Invest, 2025
Heterogeneity of IKZF1 genomic alterations and risk of relapse in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Wang'ondu et al. Leukemia, 2025
Multipotent lineage potential in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is associated with distinct cellular origins and clinical features
Iacobucci et al. Natg Cancer, 2025
KAT6A and KAT7 Histone Acetyltransferase Complexes Are Molecular Dependencies and Therapeutic Targets in NUP98-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Michmerhuizen et al. Cancer Discov 2025
CD44-mediated metabolic rewiring is a targetable dependency of IDH-mutant leukemia
Lyu et al. Blood, 2025
Genomic landscape and clonal architecture in pediatric myeloid neoplasms with chromosome 7 deletions
Westover et al. Blood Neoplasia, 2025
Genomic profiling of circulating tumor DNA for childhood cancers
Lei et al. Leukemia, 2025

Core Resources

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The CELS core resources are committed to assisting investigators in achieving and maintaining excellence in research. Providing access to innovative technologies, CELS has three state-of-the-art staff-operated facilities: flow cytometry, single cell technologies and metabolomics. These facilities are led by Kathryn Roberts, PhD, Director of Scientific Research for CELS and the Department of Pathology. 

Advanced Technology and Genome (ATG) Core

The ATG Core was established under the leadership of Dr. Jian Xu and aims to advance pediatric cancer research through the development of innovative technologies and strong collaborations.

Find out more

PROPEL

Public Resource of Patient-derived and Expanded Leukemias (PROPEL) is one of the world’s largest repositories of patient-derived xenografts for adult and pediatric leukemias and is designed to accelerate discovery and cures for acute leukemias.

Explore PROPEL
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Join Our Team

CELS is actively recruiting researchers who are motivated to undertake research focused on understanding hematological malignancies.

Explore Open Opportunities

CELS Staff

Kathryn Roberts, PhD – Director of Scientific Research

Kebreeya Bailey – Administrative Coordinator

Amit Kumar, MS – Scientist, CELS Single Cell Technologies

Hieu (Danny) Vu, PhD – Lead Scientist, CELS Metabolomics Core

Pooja Singh – Associate Scientist, Flow Cytometry Core

Josi Lott – Lead Researcher, Flow Cytometry Core

Paula Perez-Sanchez - Researcher, Flow Cytometry Core

Shaohua Lei, PhD – Sr. Bioinformatics Research Scientist

Xiaoming Zhong, PhD – Sr. Bioinformatics Research Scientist

Ben Johnson, PhD – Lead Bioinformatics Research Scientist