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null Eric Grignano, MD, PhD

Junior Scientist, RI-MUHC, Glen site

Cancer Research Program

Centre for Translational Biology

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University

Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, MUHC

 

Keywords

acute myeloid leukemia • myelodysplastic syndrome • leukemic stem cells • ferroptosis • iron metabolism

Research Focus

My research focuses on targeting iron metabolism and ferritinophagy as critical dependencies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Leukemic cells rely on ferritinophagy, a selective autophagy pathway that mobilizes intracellular iron, to sustain redox balance, mitochondrial function, and survival. My work investigates how dysregulated ferritinophagy creates a vulnerability that can be exploited to induce ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death. By combining metabolic profiling, functional genomics, and patient-derived leukemia models, my research aims to identify biomarkers of ferritinophagy dependence and develop novel therapeutic strategies for high-risk and relapsed AML.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Grignano E, Cantero-Aguilar L, Tuerdi Z, et al. Dihydroartemisinin-induced ferroptosis in acute myeloid leukemia: links to iron metabolism and metallothionein. Cell Death Discovery. 2023;9:97. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00426-1. PMID: 36928207.

  • Hosseini H, Voisin V, Chegini A, Cathelin S, Grignano E, et al. Metformin reduces the competitive advantage of Dnmt3aR878H HSPCs. Nature, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08871-w. PMID: 40240595.

  • Birsen R, Larrue C, Decroocq J, Grignano E, et al. APR-246 induces early cell death by ferroptosis in acute myeloid leukemia. Haematologica. 2021. DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001086. PMID: 33406814.

  • Grignano E, Birsen R, Chapuis N, Bouscary D. From iron chelation to overload as a therapeutic strategy to induce ferroptosis in leukemic cells. Frontiers in Oncology. 2020;10:586530. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2020.613756. PMID: 33042852.

  • Chabane T, Bouscary D, Grignano E. NCOA4 and ferritinophagy in hematological malignancies: a double-edged regulator of iron metabolism and cell fate. Frontiers in Oncology. 2026. 15:1717435. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1717435. PMID: 41640441.