Research Summary
As a physician-scientist in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Dalton has a clinical specialty in myeloid leukemias and a research laboratory that focuses on the study of DNA mutations that drive those leukemias. In particular, he is working to better understand DNA mutations in the spliceosome, which occur in many patients with MDS and AML and are currently difficult to treat. He uses bone marrow and blood samples generously donated by patients, together with cell ‘models’ that he genetically engineers in the lab, to understand what these DNA mutations do and how they might be targeted with new treatments. His work has led to identification of vulnerabilities in cells containing these mutations that he aims to translate into novel therapeutic approaches in MDS and AML.
Clinical Trial Keywords
Myelodysplastic Syndromes; Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Myeloproliferative Neoplasms; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Selected Publications
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Dalton WB, Helmenstine E, Pieterse L, Li B, Gocke CD, Donaldson J, Xiao Z, Gondek LP, Ghiaur G, Gojo I, Smith BD, Levis MJ, DeZern AE. The K666N mutation in SF3B1 is associated with increased progression of MDS and distinct RNA splicing. Blood Adv. 2020 Apr 14;4(7):1192-1196. PMID: 32211880 PMCID: PMC7160262 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019001127
Dalton WB, Helmenstine E, Walsh N, Gondek LP, Kelkar DS, Read A, Natrajan R, Christenson ES, Roman B, Das S, Zhao L, Leone RD, Shinn D, Groginski T, Madugundu AK, Patil A, Zabransky DJ, Medford A, Lee J, Cole AJ, Rosen M, Thakar M, Ambinder A, Donaldson J, DeZern AE, Cravero K, Chu D, Madero-Marroquin R, Pandey A, Hurley PJ, Lauring J, Park BH. Hotspot SF3B1 mutations induce metabolic reprogramming and vulnerability to serine deprivation. J Clin Invest. 2019 Aug 8;130:4708-4723. doi: 10.1172/JCI125022.
Dalton WB, Forde PM, Kang H, Connolly RM, Stearns V, Gocke CD, Eshleman JR, Axilbund J, Petry D, Geoghegan C, Wolff AC, Loeb DM, Pratilas CA, Meyer CF, Christenson ES, Slater SA, Ensminger J, Parsons HA, Park BH, Lauring J. Personalized Medicine in the Oncology Clinic: Implementation and Outcomes of the Johns Hopkins Molecular Tumor Board. JCO Precis Oncol. 2017;2017. doi: 10.1200/PO.16.00046. Epub 2017 May 31.
Dalton WB, Yu B, Yang VW. p53 suppresses structural chromosome instability after mitotic arrest in human cells. Oncogene. 2010 Apr 1;29(13):1929-40. doi: 10.1038/onc.2009.477. Epub 2010 Jan 11.
Dalton WB, Nandan MO, Moore RT, Yang VW. Human cancer cells commonly acquire DNA damage during mitotic arrest. Cancer Res. 2007 Dec 15;67(24):11487-92.
