Research in multiple myeloma has been hampered by the lack of animal models. We have generated a mouse engineered to overexpress an oncogene called NPM-ALK; these mice develop a disease that appears to mimic the multiple myeloma seen in humans. Preliminary data also suggest that in these mice, the activation of another gene called STAT3 might be important in the development of the myeloma. We intend to characterize this model further and use the model to knockout the STAT3 gene and study the function of the STAT3 gene.