For one, she realizes the critical importance of raising money for cancer research at Ohio State.
For another, she and her research colleagues at the OSUCCC – James have directly received Pelotonia-funded Idea Grants to boost their studies enough that they could successfully apply for larger grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
And for still another, she serves as director of the Pelotonia Fellowship Program that each year issues $2 million in competitive grants to Ohio State students who want to conduct research in the labs of faculty mentors.
“I love to support Pelotonia as a rider or virtual rider and in other ways as well, such as participating when I can in the Dunk-a-Tonia dunk booth (an event held each summer by OSUCCC – James researchers and staff to raise money for Pelotonia),” says Lapalombella, an associate professor in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State and member of the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James.
Apart from her Pelotonia rides, Lapalombella has never ridden a bike for any appreciable distance, neither as an adult nor as a child growing up in southern Italy.
“That’s why I keep it low,” she smiles, referring to the 25-mile routes she chooses to ride in Pelotonia. “I can do that distance without much training. The week before the event, I ride a 21-mile round-trip trail from Bethel Road to downtown and back, and that’s good enough.”
This year, she rode with a new peloton, Team Buckeye-EHL (Experimental Hematology Lab). Her own lab is part of the larger EHL, which contains the labs of 11 faculty members who study hematologic malignancies, or cancers of the blood, bone marrow and lymphoid tissues.
Lapalombella’s research focuses on epigenetic (nongenetic) alterations of cancer cells and on developing experimental therapies for patients with leukemia. Her work has translated to clinical trials on several novel agents for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). She also seeks to understand the molecular mechanics of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and use this knowledge to devise treatments.
Two of Lapalombella’s recent projects have benefited from Pelotonia-funded Idea Grants. One, which she received with John C. Byrd, MD, who co-leads the Leukemia Research Program, was for a preclinical study testing a new NAMPT (gene) inhibitor agent for treating AML. The other involves an agent designed to inhibit PRMT-5, a protein that is variably expressed in CLL. Clinical trials for both agents will open in the near future.
“I’m so grateful to Pelotonia for providing initial funding for those two innovative projects,” Lapalombella says, noting that both have since received larger R01 grants worth millions of dollars from the NCI.
She also loves directing the Pelotonia Fellowship Program, a role in which she oversees the process for awarding student research fellowships with input from a committee of faculty experts in many areas of cancer research. After first reviewing all student applications, Lapalombella assigns them to appropriate and unbiased committee members for further review. The committee later meets with her to discuss the applications before voting on which ones to fund. Afterward, she writes and issues constructive summary assessments to the applicants.
“I love to read those applications because they come from students in many different colleges at Ohio State, not just the College of Medicine,” she says. “It’s beautiful to see how students can contribute to cancer research and to improving people’s lives from many different perspectives.”
With such strong ties to Pelotonia funding, Lapalombella is more than happy to ride in the event, as is her husband, Lapo Alinari, MD, PhD, a physician scientist who also is in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State and the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James.
What does Lapalombella like best about her Pelotonia ride?
“I think it’s the emotional aspect of showing the community that we care so much about our research that we want to participate in this great event, and of having all those people cheer you on, and of reading all those creative signs along the way,” she says. “My husband and I normally have our three kids waiting for us at the finish line, and that’s nice too.”