Bio
Dr. Sakamoto received her B.A. in Biology from Williams College and her M.D. from the University of Cincinnati. She was a pediatric resident and hematology/oncology fellow at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Sakamoto was a research fellow at UCLA and then was a faculty member at UCLA in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology for over 20 years. She received her Ph.D. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Sakamoto was the Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UCLA for six years and was the Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Pediatrics; co-Associate Director of the Signal Transduction Program Area of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-Chair of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Committee for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health. From 2011-2014, she was the Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplant/Cancer Biology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. Dr. Sakamoto was the Fellowship Program Director and is the P.I. of an NIH T32 training grant at Stanford. Dr. Sakamoto was a member and Chair of the Academic Promotions Committee at Stanford University of School of Medicine. Currently, she is a member of the Child Health Research Institute Executive Committee at Stanford University. Nationally, she has been a standing and ad hoc member of National Institutes of Health grant review committees for the past 15 years. She is Chair of the Bear Necessities Scientific Review Committee. Dr. Sakamoto is currently a member of the NIDDK Council.
Dr. Sakamoto’s research has focused on signaling pathways and gene regulation in normal and aberrant hematopoiesis, including leukemia and bone marrow failure syndromes. She is specifically interested in targeted therapies for leukemia and other types of pediatric cancers. Dr. Sakamoto has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for 28 years. She currently holds the Shelagh Galligan Endowed Professorship and has received awards from the American Cancer Society, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Bear Necessities, and CDMRP(DOD). She is developing novel therapies to target CREB for the treatment of acute leukemia and bone marrow failure syndromes. Promising small molecule compounds that are effective in the lab and nontoxic will be tested and optimized to take to the clinic for patients with relapsed leukemia and Diamond Blackfan Anemia. This will provide novel approaches to treat leukemia in children.
Clinical Focus
- Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
- Leukemia
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Pediatrics - Hematology & Oncology
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Member, Bio-X
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Member, Stanford Cancer Institute
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Faculty Fellow, Stanford ChEM-H
Administrative Appointments
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Fellowship Program Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine (2011 - 2013)
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Chief, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplantation/Cancer Biology, Bass Cancer Center, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (2011 - 2014)
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Member, Maternal Child Health Research Institute, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
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Member, Appointments and Promotions Committee, Stanford University School of Medicine (2014 - 2020)
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Program Director, NIH Training in Pediatric Nonmalignant Hematology and Stem Cell Biology, Stanford University (2015 - 2025)
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Chair, Stanford School of Medicine Academic and Promotions Committee (2019 - 2020)
Honors & Awards
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Victor E. Stork Award, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (1988)
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STOP Cancer Career Development award, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (1992)
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Young Investigator Award, American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (1994)
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Junior Faculty Ross Research Award, Western Society for Pediatric Research (1996)
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Gift of Hope Award, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (2008)
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Fernbach Distinguished Visiting Professor Lectureship, Texas Children's Cancer Center (2009)
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Outstanding advances in cancer research award, Mendiburu Magic Foundation (2010)
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Brett Ely Visiting Professor in Pediatric Oncology, University of Colorado and Children's Hospital Denver (2011)
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Chair, Myeloid Biology Subcommittee, American Society of Hematology (2011)
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Standing Member, NIDDK-D Study Section for Training Grants and K awards (2011-2016)
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Shelagh Galligan Endowed Chair, Stanford University (2012)
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Jason Bennette Memorial Lectureship, Cohen Children's Hospital, Long Island, NY (2013)
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Steven Rosen Endowed Lectureship, Northwestern University School of Medicine (2015)
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Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Memorial Lecture Honoree, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (2016)
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Specialized Training and Research (STAR) Program Alumni Achievement Award, UCLA (2019)
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NIDDK Council Member, National Institutes of Health (2020-2023)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Scientific Advisory Board, St. Baldrick's Foundation (2016 - Present)
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Chair, Physician Scientist Special interest Group, American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (2017 - 2020)
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Chair, Scientific Review Committee, Bear Necessities Foundation (2017 - 2020)
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Grant Review Committee, Scholar Awards, American Society of Hematology (2017 - Present)
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Scientific Advisory Committee, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (2017 - Present)
Professional Education
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Fellowship: Children's Hospital Los Angeles (1991) CA
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Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatrics (1989)
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Residency: Children's Hospital Los Angeles (1988) CA
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Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology (1992)
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Medical Education: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (1985) OH
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B.A., Williams College, Biology (1979)
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M.D., University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Medicine (1985)
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Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, Biology (2004)
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Internship and Residency, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Pediatrics (1988)
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Fellowship, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (1991)
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Postdoctoral Fellowship, UCLA School of Medicine, Hematopoietic growth factors and signal transduction (1992)
Patents
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Kathleen Sakamoto, Raymond Deshaies, Craig Crews. "United States Patent CIT3284 Proteolysis Targeting Chimeric Pharmaceutical", California Institute of Technology
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Kathleen Sakamoto and Mark Wilkes. "United States Patent S20-270 U.S. Provisional Application No.: 63/046,877 (STAN-1769PRV) Small molecules to target Nemo-like Kinase for treatment of bone marrow failure syndromes", Stanford University
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Soichi Wakatsuki, Wah Chiu, Naoki Horikoshi, Kathleen Sakamoto. "United States Patent STAN-S20-404 Protein double-shell nano structures for guiding drug discovery", Stanford University
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Kathleen Sakamoto, Mark Smith, Bryan Mitton, Hee-Don Chae. "United States Patent STAN-1280WO (S15-428) Inhibitors of CREB:CBP Interaction for Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia", Stanford University, Mar 10, 2017