An article from University of Michigan highlighted Jolanta Grembecka and her husband Tomasz Cierpicki, both assistant professors in U of M’s Department of Pathology, who have been working to restore hope to patients who have one of the deadliest forms of blood cancer: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Hope for these patients comes in the form of the FDA’s recent approval of the drug ziftomenib for patients with treatment resistant or recurrent NPM1 gene mutation.
As with most forms of cancer, the primary risk factor for AML is age; the average age at diagnosis is 68. Over 20,000 individuals in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with AML each year. The ACS anticipates over 11,000 deaths.
New Hope
Such hope in this case is provided by assistant professors Jolanta Grembecka and her husband Tomasz Cierpicki, formerly assistant professors at the University of Virginia’s Medical School.
University of Virginia’s Executive Director Richard Chylla stated that the dedication of the professors over the last two decades is now coming to fruition and saving lives.
Grembecka and Cierpicki met during graduate school; the couple began thinking about developing new drugs to address various cancer types, and began working on menin inhibitors — a class of targeted therapies that primarily treat AML — under mentor John Bushweller in 2008. Both professors give credit to their mentor for allowing them to continue independent work. The professors also expressed gratitude for critical funding they received for the menin project.
When asked about the effect of the project on their marriage, they agreed that although it adds many more hours of discussion at home, it facilitates unified support.
About the Process
The process began with a collaboration between the Michigan University Partnership Office and the UVA Licensing Group.
The drug blocks a critical protein, allowing cells to be healthy rather than become cancer cells. Mark Esser, the Manning Institute’s chief scientific officer, stated the urgency of an option for patients who are without any hope and credited the professors for finding that option.
The U.S. FDA approved ziftomenib to treat patients with treatment-resistant and recurrent Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The approval was effective as of November 13, 2025, to treat patients with the NPM1 mutation and cancer that is recurrent or treatment resistant.
