John Crispino, PhD, MBA
Vice Chief for Research of the Division of Hematology/Oncology; Associate Director of Education and TrainingRobert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern UniversityDr. John Crispino is the Robert I. Lurie, MD and Lora S. Lurie Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, Vice Chief for Research of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the Associate Director of Education and Training for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Dr. Crispino received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research on the mechanisms of RNA splicing performed in the laboratory of Dr. Phillip Sharp, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He then performed post-doctoral hematology research at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital of Boston with Dr. Stuart Orkin.
Over the past 15 years, Dr. Crispino and members of his laboratory have made many important contributions to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of normal and malignant blood development. He was the first to identify specific genetic mutations that are associated with leukemia in children with Down syndrome and his laboratory is at the forefront of research on the relationship between trisomy 21 and abnormal blood cell development. Currently, his research is focused on understanding the role of transcription factors in the specification and maturation of blood cells, characterizing genetic defects that lead to myeloproliferative neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia, and developing novel, targeted therapies for patients with these malignancies.
He has authored over 100 manuscripts, with recent papers in Cell, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, Molecular Cell, Journal of Clinical Investigation and Blood. Dr. Crispino is a former scholar of the American Society of Hematology and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and was named the 2011 Illinois Leukemia Researcher of the year by the Pamela B. Katten Memorial Leukemia Research Foundation. He is on the editorial boards of Blood, Leukemia and Blood Cancer Journal and reviews grants for the NIH, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the American Society of Hematology. He is currently the Scientific Advisor to the Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Research Foundation and on the medical advisory boards for the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research and the Leukemia Research Foundation.
