Director, Multiple Myeloma Research, Perlmutter Cancer Center

Dr. Morgan, director of myeloma research at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, is a recognized international expert and thought leader on multiple myeloma and is regularly invited to give both clinical and scientific talks around the world at international meetings such as ASCO, AACR, and ASH. He has received peer-reviewed project and program funding for the last 25 years and has contributed significantly to current clinical and genetic understandings of myeloma.

Within the laboratory, his initial work concentrated on chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Dr. Morgan was involved in the molecular characterization of the Philadelphia chromosome and was the first person to apply sensitive DNA- and RNA-based PCR for the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in CML, and in pediatric ALL where he published the first molecular characterization of the t(11;19). These interests in both MRD and how transcription factor abnormalities and epigenetic change act as drivers of cancer progression now continue in multiple myeloma, as he believes this disease provides an excellent model system of cancer progression with which to study such events.

Utilizing large patient sample databases from clinical trials on which he has been principal investigator, Dr. Morgan has published extensively on the genetics of myeloma initially utilizing FISH, SNP arrays, and more recently WES and WGS, and has identified the importance of evolutionary biology in myeloma progression. To study the role played by the cells of the bone marrow microenvironment, he has explored de-convolution algorithms, applicable to RNA extracted from whole bone marrow biopsies, and, more recently, utilized high-throughput flow cytometry and single cell technologies to further define these cells. Using 10X WGS, he has also defined missing driver variants and characterized complex structural chromosomal rearrangements and determined their prognostic significance.

Dr. Morgan has been a major force in translating molecular advances from the laboratory to the clinic in myeloma. He has contributed to the development of risk stratification systems including the international staging system (ISS) and its adaptation to include molecular markers; has identified key disease drivers, which have formed the basis for a new driver-based definition of ultra-high risk disease; and, has defined distinct biological segments of multiple myeloma that have prognostic importance and which are suitable for personalized medicine approaches.

Dr. Davies is the director of the clinical myeloma program at Perlmutter Cancer Center. In addition to seeing myeloma patients in the clinic and actively participating in phase 1–3 clinical trials, she has over 20 years’ experience in translational research. A key component of her work has been performed on patient samples associated with clinical studies. Analyses of this material highlighted the prognostic importance of achieving a complete response and the clinical utility of testing for minimal residual disease, enabled characterization the genomic landscape of myeloma, and determined the prognostic significance of genetic abnormalities.

Within the laboratory, Dr. Davies has investigated key growth and survival pathways in myeloma and determined mechanisms by which such pathways can be targeted therapeutically, including targeting protein homeostasis, receptor signaling, genetic abnormalities, and immune pathways. Results of these and other studies have led to development of nationally and internationally recognized approaches for the treatment of myeloma and to changes in clinical practice and guidelines. These have included, for example, the introduction of autologous transplantation for newly diagnosed myeloma patients, use of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) in all stages of myeloma therapy, and widespread use of intravenous bisphosphonate therapy. Her work has also been associated with the development of prognostic and predictive biomarkers for personalized-medicine approaches, for example, prognostic genetic abnormalities, minimal residual disease detection, and mutation-driven therapy. Dr. Davies’ current translational work focuses on myeloma mouse modeling.

Senior Bioinformatics Programmer
Patrick graduated from Penn State University with a BS in engineering science in 2016, after which he earned his MS in bioinformatics from Northeastern University in 2019. Patrick’s work focuses on bioinformatic analysis of single cell transcriptomic and structural variation analysis of myeloma.

Senior Scientist
Dr. Cervia is a Senior Scientist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. During her postdoctoral studies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Dr. Cervia applied functional genomics and genome-scale CRIPSR screens to identify and study genes implicated in cancers. Specifically, she worked to decipher the biological basis of cancer and to develop new therapeutic approaches with the use of systematic approaches to discover and study the underlying mechanisms of cancer-specific genetic vulnerabilities.

Dr. Cervia received her BS in biomedical engineering from Boston University and earned her PhD in biomedical engineering at Duke University. Her PhD studies focused on molecular and cellular engineering, including mechanistic studies to understand methods of nonviral gene delivery through delivery of exogenous DNA. This allowed her to enhance the efficiency by which new DNA can be introduced into a cell and successfully expressed. Dr. Cervia’s gene delivery expertise, specifically in-depth knowledge of electrotransfection and genome editing technology, allows her to have unique contributions to the field of cancer genetics and design delivery methods for therapeutics.

Dr. Cervia is currently utilizing functional genomics to study molecular mechanisms of multiple myeloma, including the development of new therapeutic targets and strategies for treating multiple myeloma.

Senior Scientist
Dr. Wang received his PhD in biology from the University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland, in 2014. His PhD thesis was focused on cellular and intercellular coordination mechanisms of sodium transport in the renal collecting duct. He completed a year of postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, followed by four years at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where his work focused on osteoclast physiology and protein tyrosine phosphorylation in breast cancer, respectively. He is now a research scientist in the Morgan Lab, working on projects that aim to dissect the molecular mechanisms of multiple myeloma driven by distinct genetic abnormalities.

Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Lee received his PhD in biomedical informatics from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2021. His PhD thesis focused on modeling cancer therapeutic response prediction using multiomics data of HER2-positive breast cancer clinical trial datasets. He used an integral genomic signature-based approach to capitalize high-dimensional redundant genomic features. He was trained as a postdoctoral associate for three years at the same university. During post-doctoral training, he researched chromatin accessibility landscape by analyzing ATAC-seq data and the interactions between cancer cells and macrophages by analyzing scRNA-seq data in breast cancer. He joined the Morgan Lab in 2024 August; his research project is to understand genomic alterations, hyperdiploidy, and copy number abnormalities (CNA) in multiple myeloma by analyzing single-cell whole genome sequencing (scWGS) data.

Associate Research Scientist
Dr. Neeraj Sharma earned his PhD in molecular epidemiology from King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India, in 2015. His doctoral research focused on the pediatric population at risk for developing asthma, specifically investigating how genetic variations in corticosteroid-responsive genes influence disease severity and responses to corticosteroid treatments in Indian children with asthma. Following his PhD, Dr. Sharma completed postdoctoral training at Tel Aviv University (Israel), Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota. His work during this period included predicting the topology and subcellular localization of neuronal sigma-1 receptors, exploring the role of genomic complexity and the tumor microenvironment in hematologic malignancy prognosis, and studying how vagus nerve stimulation affects the immune system. At the Morgan Lab, his research focuses on identifying mutational signatures associated with racial disparities in multiple myeloma and investigating their connection to immune status and the gut microbiome.

Associate Research Scientist
Di obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2018. In 2021, she transitioned to biological research at Weill Cornell Medicine, focusing on the E3 ubiquitin ligase UBR5 as a potential target for triple-negative breast cancer therapies. She developed expertise in diverse techniques, including cell culture, western blotting, qPCR, plasmid construction, transfection, DNA/RNA extraction, and mouse model work. As an associate research scientist in Dr. Morgan’s lab, Di is now focused on the study of genetic abnormalities in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia and multiple myeloma. Her current research involves processing peripheral blood and bone marrow samples for DNA and RNA sequencing, including whole-genome sequencing (WGS), single-cell ATAC+and gene expression, and DNA library preparation for sequencing.

Postdoctoral Researcher
Nate has worked within the Bar-Sagi and Morgan Labs over the last six years as a postdoctoral researcher, developing new mechanisms to treat mutant RAS cancers. Some of this work was highlighted at ASH in 2023 as the Morgan Team presented their latest findings on a mutant RAS-targeted biologic for treating multiple myeloma.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Hast received his PhD in Chemical Biology from Rutgers University in 2024, where his research explored the integration of synthetic and biological systems. His work focused on applications in biosensing, surface functionalization, and biochemical circuits, contributing to advancements in biorthogonal surface modification techniques and the use of functional nucleic acids to bridge dynamic DNA systems with biological signaling.

With an appreciation for understanding and engineering interactions between biological systems, he works to connect new capabilities in biotechnology and chemical biology with practical applications in fields like precision immunology and oncology. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Morgan Lab, he is investigating the interplay between monoclonal gammopathies and their tumor microenvironment, including understanding mechanisms by which this mutual influence effects disease progression.

Bioinformatics Programmer
Dylan received his BS in geology from Stony Brook University and his MS in astrobiology from Arizona State University, where his thesis project leveraged computational methods to identify scaling laws in enzyme biochemistry across the tree of life. After graduating from Arizona State University, Dylan worked as a bioinformatics analyst at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, analyzing clinical 16S rRNA microbiome data. He is now a bioinformatics programmer in the Morgan Lab, focusing on single-cell analyses of blood disorders, including Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia and multiple myeloma.

Research Scientist
Reva is a computational biologist. She has previously worked on bulk and single cell RNAseq data analysis in the context of drug development for cardiomyopathies, heart failure, and immuno-oncology, as well as clinical data from cancer patient cohorts at BC Cancer. She completed her MSc in bioinformatics in 2021 from Boston University, and BSc in biology with a focus in genetics in 2019 from the University of British Columbia. Reva is currently analyzing genetic data to uncover insights into the genetic mechanisms that lead patients to develop multiple myeloma.

Research Technician
Avital graduated with her MS in biology from NYU in 2021. Her courses included molecular and cellular biology, statistics, research analysis, and computational programming. Her master’s thesis focused on the negative correlation between COVID-19 and vitamin D. Prior to her master’s degree, she completed one year of research at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Canada, where she focused her analysis on the mTOR pathway in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome patients. During her time there, she conducted experiments comparing the effects of medications versus nutritional deprivation in cancerous fibroblasts by analyzing the changes in the proteins and the growth patterns. Avital is very interested in the genetic biomarkers of multiple myeloma patients. As an associate research technician in the Morgan Lab, her responsibilities include extracting various cells from patients’ blood and bone marrow samples for analysis.

Administrative Assistant to Dr. Morgan and Dr. Davies