Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD is the Chair, Professor of Medicine and holds the Samsung Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Medicine in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson cancer Center. Dr. Kantarjian is actively involved in developmental therapeutics research in leukemia. Dr. Kantarjian earned his medical degree at the American University of Beirut, Beirut and completed his medical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Over the past 30 years he has developed chemotherapeutic and biologic agents in leukemias and contributed to the development of others. These include: 1) the Hyper CVAD regimens in ALL; 2) Hyper CVAD + imatinib/dasatinib in Ph-positive ALL; 3) clofarabine; 4) decitabine; 5) imatinib, nilotinib, dasatinib, and bosutinib in CML. This research has also provided insight into the biology of leukemias. Dr. Kantarjian developed clofarabine that was approved in 2005 by the FDA for ALL, and decitabine that received FDA approval for myelodysplastic syndrome in 2006. He was lead investigator in the pivotal and successful study of imatinib for CML failing standard therapy. The study along with two other studies in advanced CML phases resulted in the drug's approval by the FDA in May 2001. More recently, Dr. Kantarjian has led the development of nilotinib which received FDA approval in 2006, and has led studies of dasatinib which received FDA approval in 2007. He also led frontline studies of nilotinib and dasatinib which resulted in FDA approval of these agents for frontline CML therapy in 2009. His current work includes developing monoclonal antibody studies in adult ALL. Dr. Kantarjian has authored or co-authored more than 1,800 peer reviewed medical publications, serves as the Associate Editor of JCO, and is on editorial boards of several scientific journals.

Dr. Kantarjian is the distinguished recipient of numerous accolades including the Thomas Reuters Highly Cited Researcher, Medal in Health Care Excellence, Lebanon Health Ministry, Giants of Cancer Care Award, OncLive, Charles A. Lemaistre, MD Outstanding Achievement Award in Cancer, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 9th Annual Division of Cancer Medicine Faculty Recognition and Award Program, Award for Excellence in Team Science, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, President’s Recognition, MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Lifetime Achievement Award, American Lebanese Medical Association.

Sagar Lonial, MD completed his medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky. He completed his internship and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas; served as Chief Medical Resident at the Ben Taub General Hospital and the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital; and completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.

Board certified in hematology and medical oncology, Dr. Lonial is internationally recognized as a leading authority in multiple myeloma treatment and research. He is involved in numerous professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. He is Vice Chair of the Myeloma Committee in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and Chair of the Steering Committee for the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium. Additionally, he is on the board of directors for the International Myeloma Society and the scientific Advisory Board for the International Myeloma Foundation. He is also a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.

Dr. Lonial’s recent research has focused on combinations of novel agents as therapy for myeloma and lymphoma, and particularly on evaluating combinations that may result in synergistic inhibition of the PI3-K/Akt pathway. His lab has recently received funding from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the Lymphoma Research Foundation, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Dr. Lonial has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Leukemia; is the myeloma editor for Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma, and Leukemia; and is the hematologic malignancies section editor for the journal Cancer. In addition, he is an invited or ad hoc reviewer for several publications, including Blood, and Haematologica, Clinical Cancer Research, The New England Journal of Medicine, and others.

Dr. Lonial’s research focuses on combination therapy in B-cell malignancies focusing on myeloma. He is a trained bone marrow transplant physician with an interest in molecular therapy for lymphoma and myeloma. His clinical interests include evaluating the combination of new molecular targeted agents for B-cell cancers, as well as methods to enhance immunity following allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplant.

Dr. Lonial is a member of several local committees as well as a member of several committees for the American Society of Hematology. He is also involved in numerous professional organizations including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. In addition, he serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Clinical Oncology and as an invited or ad hoc reviewer for several publications, including Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Haematologica, Clinical Cancer Research, Leukemia, and others. Dr Lonial has authored or coauthored numerous publications and abstracts and has given several presentations, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Loretta J. Nastoupil, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX USA. Dr. Nastoupil received her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed her internal medicine training at Washington University and hematology/medical oncology fellowship at Emory University. She is Section Chief of the indolent lymphoma and new drug development teams which are in line with her research interests of designing and conducting prospective trials aimed at exploiting the immune system to eradicate B-cell lymphoma. She is also interested in real world evidence and has been involved in exploring outcomes among patients treated with standard of care CAR T cell therapy.

Nina Shah, MD is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on multiple myeloma clinical trials, specifically immunotherapy and cellular therapy. She performed the first-in-human clinical trial of umbilical cord blood-derived natural killer cell therapy for myeloma and is one of the lead principal investigators for the multi-center BMT CTN 1401 dendritic cell vaccine trial for myeloma patients. Additionally, she is the institutional PI for numerous cellular therapy and immunotherapy protocols.

Dr. Shah is also interested in outcomes research for myeloma patients undergoing autologous transplantation/ cellular therapy and led a randomized trial to determine the impact of stem cell dose on symptoms in this patient population. She has published on the link between patient reported outcomes and physical testing in this clinical context and is conducting a study to investigate digital life coaching during transplant recovery. She is heavily involved in the myeloma research community and led the effort to define myeloma-transplant practice guidelines for the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplant (ASBMT). She also serves as a Co-Chair for the Plasma Cell Disorders and Adult Solid Tumors Working Committee at the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) and is a member of the American Society of Hematology Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia

Dr. Soumit Basu is a board-certified internist and hematologist. He is trained to diagnose and treat patients with a variety of cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other blood cancers, non-cancerous blood disorders, and blood stem cell disorders. His areas of interest include blood and bone marrow transplantation, hematologic malignancies, bone marrow failure disorders, bone marrow stem cell disorders, myeloproliferative neoplasms, bleeding and clotting disorders, and rare blood disorders.

Dr. Basu earned his medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). He then completed an internship and internal medicine residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, followed by a hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Washington’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Additionally, Dr. Basu holds a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from RWJMS.

Dr. Basu has served in several leadership roles, such as medical director, region director of cancer services, director of the allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation program, and vice-chairperson of the Johns Hopkins University Board of Elections. He has participated in many research studies and has an extensive list of publications.

Emily K. Curran, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology & Oncology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She joined UC Health in 2019. Dr. Curran is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Hematology & Oncology at the University of Chicago, along with an additional fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, where she gained additional training in conducting early phase clinical trials.

Dr. Curran’s clinical interest focuses on the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and, in particular, acute leukemia. Her expertise is in treatment of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with hematologic malignancies. Her research focuses on developing novel therapies and treatment approaches for patients with acute leukemia, and translating these discoveries to the clinical setting. She has published numerous articles on treatment of acute leukemia and is involved in clinical and translational research in leukemia.

Dr. Saulius Girnius is a hematologist at TriHealth Cancer Institute, with a focus on hematologic malignancies and especially plasma cell dyscrasias. He attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine and hematology/oncology fellowships at Boston Medical Center, which included a 6 month transplant fellowship at Harvard’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He spent an additional fellowship in management of amyloidosis at Boston University. He worked as a clinical associate at Boston Medical Center, as well as an assistant professor at University of Cincinnati, before moving to TriHealth Cancer Institute.

He is committed to advancing myeloma care in Cincinnati, providing individualized patient care and actively opening clinical trials, ranging from early-stage, first-in-class to Phase IV clinical trials. He has presented in national and international conferences and provides annual updates to the multiple myeloma support group in Cincinnati.

James H. Essell, MD, is a hematologist, oncologist, blood and marrow transplant expert, and cellular therapy specialist at OHC. Dr. Essell specializes in malignant hematology, sarcoma, cellular therapy and cancer research. He is actively involved in clinical trials and research, always in search of new and innovative treatments.

Dr. Essell received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency and a hematology and oncology fellowship at Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He completed a post-fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Essell is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Hematology.

Dr. Essell serves as a principal investigator for hematologic malignant clinical trials and is the national principal investigator for The US Oncology Network for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T-cell) clinical trials. He serves as Chair, Cellular Therapy for The US Oncology Network and is the Medical Director of the Cincinnati Center for Cellular Therapy at The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Essell served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. He has participated in more than 100 research studies and contributed to the publication of more than 30 publications in peer reviewed journals.

Dr. Asad Dean, MD has served on the Speakers Bureaus as faculty since 2014 having completed seven consecutive seasons and is within the top three speakers annually across the country. He has lectured in thirty-five states, national medical scientific research meetings for US Oncology and Cardinal Health. He served on the Janssen International Advisory Panel held in Lisbon, Portugal with academic physicians from five continents April 2014. Dr. Dean has sixteen years of faculty public speaking experience on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.

Ralph V. Boccia, MD, FACP; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and Medical Director for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Bethesda, Maryland

Ralph V. Boccia, MD, FACP Dr Boccia is Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and Medical Director for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Bethesda, Maryland, He is also Chief Medical Officer for the International Oncology Network (ION), and chairman for ION’s Medical Advisory Panel. Dr Boccia completed training in internal medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)– affiliated hospitals. His hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplant fellowships were completed at the combined UCLA-VA Program and The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He is a member of the American College of Physicians, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. With his vast experience and research, Dr Boccia has published more than 10 articles in journal such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Cancer, Blood, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet, and Oncology amongst others. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, and has been voted into Washingtonian’s Best Physicians in Washington and Consumers’ Checkbook’s Guide to Top Doctors in Washington, DC every year since 1992.

Dr. Edward Faber recently joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati, as Clinical Professor of Medicine.

He will specialize in Transplant and Cellular Therapy, as well as Multiple Myeloma.

Dr. Faber is a Western Pennsylvania product, having attended Allegheny College for his undergraduate degree, and receiving a Master's in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Duquesne University. He graduated with honors from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed Internal Medicine residency at UPMC in Pittsburgh, and completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at Michigan State University. After training, Dr. Faber joined the Division of Hematology/Oncology at University of Nebraska, where his focus of myeloma began as he participated in the Myeloma Committee of the Alliance and collaborated with the BMT CTN. He then transitioned to Oncology Hematology Care, here in Cincinnati, serving on the Board of Directors and continuing his research interests by participation in clinical trials through the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, as well as Dayton Clinical Oncology Program.

Dr. Khan earned a medical degree from Ayub Medical College, Peshawar University in Pakistan and completed an internal medicine residency at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. He also finished a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital/Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh. Dr. Khan is board certified in hematology and oncology.

Dr. Saulius Girnius is a hematologist at TriHealth Cancer Institute, with a focus on hematologic malignancies and especially plasma cell dyscrasias. He attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine and hematology/oncology fellowships at Boston Medical Center, which included a 6 month transplant fellowship at Harvard’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He spent an additional fellowship in management of amyloidosis at Boston University. He worked as a clinical associate at Boston Medical Center, as well as an assistant professor at University of Cincinnati, before moving to TriHealth Cancer Institute.

He is committed to advancing myeloma care in Cincinnati, providing individualized patient care and actively opening clinical trials, ranging from early-stage, first-in-class to Phase IV clinical trials. He has presented in national and international conferences and provides annual updates to the multiple myeloma support group in Cincinnati.

Dr. Chenn is board certified in clinical pathology and molecular genetic pathology. He earned his undergraduate degree in biochemical sciences at Harvard University and his MD and PhD in neurosciences from Stanford University. He completed his residency in clinical pathology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and post-doctoral training in the lab of Dr. Christopher Walsh at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and was an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chenn was a faculty member at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and served as the director of molecular diagnostics at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Most recently, Dr. Chenn was a tenured associate professor of pathology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where his research lab focused on understanding developmental brain disorders and brain cancer. Dr. Chenn's laboratory received funding from NIH (NINDS, NCI), Sontag Foundation for Brain Tumor Research, Searle Scholars Program, March of Dimes, Simons Foundation for Autism Research Initiative, and the V Foundation.