Between 50 to 60 percent of patients who receive donated bone marrow or stem cells develop a major complication called graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD. Symptoms can be life-threatening, with a mortality rate of 75 to 100 percent among those with the most severe cases of the disease.

That’s why Sung Won Choi, MD, MS has devoted the past decade of her career to research intended not only to better treat GVHD but also to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Dr. Choi is this year’s recipient of Hyundai’s Hope on Wheels Impact grant, which will support her team’s work to detect the disease in patients by identifying new markers of disease before it occurs.

Read the full Michigan Medicine article here.

This study was supported by services from MICHR’s MIAP and Participant Recruitment programs. Dr. Choi has also received a Translational Science Award to help advance portions of this study, including a clinical trial in children.