The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $2.2 million grant to help City of Hope researchers explore the underlying mechanisms of graft-versus-host disease, the leading cause of long-term sickness and death following transplantation of bone marrow cells from a donor. The grant, awarded to Defu Zeng, M.D., a professor of diabetes immunology and hematopoietic cell transplantation at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, will be used by researchers to study the interactions of immune cells known as T cells and B cells during the development of GVHD.

City of Hope is an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope also is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, with research and treatment protocols that advance care throughout the nation. City of Hope’s main hospital is located in Duarte, Calif.