In his current role as vice president of wealth management for UBS Financial Services in Boca Raton, Florida, Ralph Vartanian leads a team known as The Vartanian Group that specializes in fixed-income asset management. Outside of his professional life, Ralph Vartanian is a lifelong philanthropist and supports numerous charitable organizations, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
A research team spearheaded by St. Jude says it has discovered certain genetic markers that can help determine treatment and predict success in children suffering from acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL). The study was published in a recent issue of Nature Genetics.
AMKL is a type of cancer that affects cells called megakaryocytes. These cells develop into platelets, which are the drivers of clotting in the blood. The genetic link between AMKL and Down syndrome in children has been known, but St. Jude researcher Tanja Gruber, MD, PhD, said that her team found three distinct genetic alterations that can help them determine to what extent patients without Down syndrome experience this condition, and whether or not allogenic stem cell therapy will be effective in treating it. These new tests are already becoming the standard of care at the hospital.
