Leukemia and Myeloid Malignancies

Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS is a Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He serves as the Chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Director of Hematology Early Therapeutics Research, and Assistant Director of the Clinical Trial Office for Hematology at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center (YCC). He is also the leader of Leukemia and Myeloid malignancies Clinical Research Team. Dr. Zeidan obtained his medical degree with honors from University of Jordan, followed by residency in Rochester General hospital, Rochester, NY. He then completed a Hematology/Oncology fellowship and a clinical research fellowship in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) at Johns Hopkins University where he also earned a Master of Health Science (MHS) degree in Clinical Investigation. He joined Yale Faculty in 2014 where he has become an internationally recognized expert in myeloid malignancies. Dr Zeidan has been conducting research on the development of novel therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a special focus on targeted and immunotherapy-based approaches. Dr. Zeidan has and continues to serve as study chair and principal investigator of multiple investigator-initiated, cooperative group and industry sponsored clinical trials for myeloid malignancies. He previously served as the vice chair of the YCC Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) and as chair of Protocol Review Committee (PRC). He has served on multiple steering committees and independent data and safety monitoring committees for randomized and registrational clinical trials. Dr. Zeidan is also a member of the MyeloMATCH Precision medicine initiative of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for MDS and AML and is very active within the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and Early Therapy Clinical Trial Network (ETCTN) focusing on early phase clinical trials of novel therapies for myeloid malignancies. Dr Zeidan has contributed to the approval of multiple drugs for myeloid malignancies including oral decitabine/cedazuridine (Lancet Haematology), luspatercept (NEJM and Lancet), and imetelstat (Lancet). Dr Zeidan has been active in organizing the scientific community on important initiatives including publishing a guidance on management of MDS/AML during the corona pandemic (Lancet Haematology) and revising the International Working Group response criteria for higher risk MDS (Blood Journal). He is also founder and chair of the International Consortium for MDS (icMDS) which has championed important initiatives such as harmonizing the WHO and ICC classification systems (Lancet Haematology) and standardizing eligibility for MDS clinical trials (Blood Journal). Dr Zeidan also delivered many invited talks at National and International meetings including grand rounds in several prestigious institutions. Dr. Zeidan’s work has been recognized by several prestigious awards including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research award, the National Cancer Institute Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership award, the AAMDSIF/Evan’s Foundation-MDS Clinical Research Consortium Fellowship award, the Tito Bastianello Young Investigator Award, the ASCO Young Investigator Award, and multiple other achievement awards. Dr. Zeidan also serves on the editorial board and is a reviewer of several important hematology and oncology journals. He is an author on more than 360 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and more than 250 scientific abstracts.

Curing hematologic cancers with precision medicine and minimal toxicity has been a multigeneration challenge and a highly prioritized work for our group at Yale. Through continual engagement with patients and their families, educational meetings and well informed decision making sessions, we help our patients navigate the field of transplantation and cellular therapy. Our multidisciplinary team while trying to harness the curative promise of cellular immunotherapy also has special focus to enhance its safety and provide long term supervision for cancer survivors. We strongly encourage our patients to learn the strengths and limitations of the existing standard of care, the knowledge of which could be applied to personalize treatment plans and foster research environment to advance the broader field.

Dr. Lourdes Mendez received her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as well as a PhD in Cell Biology. She completed her residency at Weill Cornell-New York Presbyterian and while a fellow in hematology/oncology at BIDMC, undertook a post-doctoral fellowship in cancer genetics. Most recently, Dr. Mendez was an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Leukemia Disease Group Leader at BIDMC. She is currently a member of the Yale Leukemia Clinical and Research Team with a focus on clinical care and trials for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dr. Mendez is dedicated to both the clinical care of patients and translational research with the goal of translating findings from the bench to the bedside to improve outcomes for patients with high-risk acute leukemia and precursor conditions (CHIP/CCUS).

Dr. Nikolai Podoltsev is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology). His practice is focused on management of patients with acute leukemias, including acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as myeloid neoplasms like myelodisplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), such as polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), myelofibrosis (MF), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) among others. He also provides care for patients with aplastic anemia and bone marrow failure syndromes and follows patients with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), and systemic mastocytosis and hypereosinophilic syndrome. He is the director of the Hematology/Leukemia Tumor Board. As the Associate Director of the Yale Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program and Yale-New Haven Hospital Duffy Firm Chief for Education, Dr. Podoltsev is involved in organizing and providing hematology education for hematology/medical oncology fellows, internal medicine residents, and medical students. The Yale Cancer Outcomes Public Policy and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center membership helps Dr. Podoltsev to study epidemiology, and the patterns of care and outcomes of patients with hematological malignancies. Dr. Podoltsev is engaged in the clinical research programs of the Leukemia Clinical Research Team as a Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials enrolling patients with acute leukemias and myeloid malignancies.

Dr. Seropian is a Professor of Medicine in the department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hematology, Yale University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at Yale-New Haven Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine in 1996.  Dr. Seropian serves as Interim Director of the Stem Cell Transplant Program, Co-Director, Immune Effector Cell Therapy, and Chairman, Car-T Cell Joint Steering Committee, Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Seropian’s research interests include methods to improve the outcomes of transplantation through use of novel anti-cancer agents and new methods of treating graft versus host disease

Dr. Shallis received his MD from Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, completed his residency training at Brown University-Rhode Island Hospital and fellowship training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is focused on the care and research of patients with myeloid malignancies, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). He also participated in the K12 Calabresi Immuno-Oncology Training Program and currently participates as an investigator in several clinical trials aimed at improving the outcomes of patients with AML and MDS.Dr. Shallis also maintains research interest in epidemiological, outcomes and effectiveness research as it pertains to the hematologic malignancies with a goal of identifying barriers to effective care and ultimately strategies to improve the outcomes of patients with these malignant diseases. Dr. Shallis conducts research with the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center at Yale University. Dr. Shallis has presented his research at multiple regional, national and international meetings and is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) clinical guidelines for MDS and AML panels. He is an author on more than 75 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, most of which as first author and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for many journals including Leukemia, Haematologica, Blood Advances, Leukemia Research, Leukemia & Lymphoma, Acta Haematologica, Hematology, Therapeutic Advances in Hematology, Expert Review of Hematology, BMC Hematology, eJHaem and Future Oncology among others.

Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS is a Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He serves as the Chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Director of Hematology Early Therapeutics Research, and Assistant Director of the Clinical Trial Office for Hematology at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center (YCC). He is also the leader of Leukemia and Myeloid malignancies Clinical Research Team. Dr. Zeidan obtained his medical degree with honors from University of Jordan, followed by residency in Rochester General hospital, Rochester, NY. He then completed a Hematology/Oncology fellowship and a clinical research fellowship in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) at Johns Hopkins University where he also earned a Master of Health Science (MHS) degree in Clinical Investigation. He joined Yale Faculty in 2014 where he has become an internationally recognized expert in myeloid malignancies. Dr Zeidan has been conducting research on the development of novel therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a special focus on targeted and immunotherapy-based approaches. Dr. Zeidan has and continues to serve as study chair and principal investigator of multiple investigator-initiated, cooperative group and industry sponsored clinical trials for myeloid malignancies. He previously served as the vice chair of the YCC Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) and as chair of Protocol Review Committee (PRC). He has served on multiple steering committees and independent data and safety monitoring committees for randomized and registrational clinical trials. Dr. Zeidan is also a member of the MyeloMATCH Precision medicine initiative of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for MDS and AML and is very active within the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and Early Therapy Clinical Trial Network (ETCTN) focusing on early phase clinical trials of novel therapies for myeloid malignancies. Dr Zeidan has contributed to the approval of multiple drugs for myeloid malignancies including oral decitabine/cedazuridine (Lancet Haematology), luspatercept (NEJM and Lancet), and imetelstat (Lancet). Dr Zeidan has been active in organizing the scientific community on important initiatives including publishing a guidance on management of MDS/AML during the corona pandemic (Lancet Haematology) and revising the International Working Group response criteria for higher risk MDS (Blood Journal). He is also founder and chair of the International Consortium for MDS (icMDS) which has championed important initiatives such as harmonizing the WHO and ICC classification systems (Lancet Haematology) and standardizing eligibility for MDS clinical trials (Blood Journal). Dr Zeidan also delivered many invited talks at National and International meetings including grand rounds in several prestigious institutions. Dr. Zeidan’s work has been recognized by several prestigious awards including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research award, the National Cancer Institute Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership award, the AAMDSIF/Evan’s Foundation-MDS Clinical Research Consortium Fellowship award, the Tito Bastianello Young Investigator Award, the ASCO Young Investigator Award, and multiple other achievement awards. Dr. Zeidan also serves on the editorial board and is a reviewer of several important hematology and oncology journals. He is an author on more than 360 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and more than 250 scientific abstracts.