Faculty Biographies
August 23–24, 2024, Webinar
Elias Jabbour, MD
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Dr Elias Jabbour is professor of medicine, Department of Leukemia, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), Houston, Texas. He graduated from the Saint Joseph University School of Medicine, Beirut, and joined the Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital as a resident. He pursued a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Gustave Roussy Institute, France. In 2003, he joined MDACC as a fellow in the Department of Hematology/Leukemia and Stem Cell Transplantation. He later joined the faculty in the Leukemia Department as assistant professor.
Dr Jabbour is actively involved in research in both acute and chronic forms of leukemia. He was involved in clinical trials that led to the approval of several drugs in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He actively assisted in developing chemotherapeutic and biologic agents in leukemias and contributed to the development of others. Dr Jabbour has designed more than a dozen clinical trials assessing new combinations for the management of de novo ALL, elderly ALL, and relapsed/refractory disease. Of note, he developed a protocol that has shown significant improvements in survival rates for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL. In addition, he developed another innovative treatment approach for these patients by combining blinatumomab, a bispecific monoclonal antibody, with ponatinib, offering a chemotherapy-free regimen that it is hoped will further increase cure rates. Another area on which he focused his research is elderly patients with ALL. The aggressive biology of the disease and elderly patients’ poor tolerance of intensive chemotherapy leads to low survival rates for this patient population.
Dr Jabbour is currently investigating an innovative strategy combining new monoclonal antibodies such as inotuzumab ozogamicin, a conjugated anti-CD22 antibody, and blinatumomab with minimal chemotherapy. If successful, such strategies will likely increase the cure rates of adult patients with ALL to the high level achieved in pediatric patients.
Dr Jabbour has taken an active role in the medical community, participating in numerous scientific meetings. He has authored or co-authored numerous publications (>550 peer-reviewed publications) and abstracts, and serves as a reviewer for many scientific journals. He has received several prestigious awards, among them merit awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (2005, 2006, 2007) and the American Society of Hematology (2005, 2006, 2007). He also received several other honors, including the Kimberly Patterson and Shannon Timmons fellowships and the highly coveted Celgene Future Leader in Hematology (2007) and Young Investigator in Hematology (2016) awards.
Naval Daver, MD
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Dr Naval Daver is an associate professor and director of the Leukemia Research Alliance Program in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in Houston, TX. He is a clinical investigator with a focus on molecular and immune therapies in AML and myeloid disease, and is principal investigator on more than 25 ongoing institutional, national, and international clinical trials in these diseases. These trials focus on developing a personalized therapy approach by targeting specific mutations or immune pathways expressed by patients with AML, evaluating novel combinations of targeted, immune, and cytotoxic agents, and identifying and overcoming mechanisms of resistance. He is especially interested in developing monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, immune checkpoint and vaccine-based approaches, as well as targeted and apoptotic therapies in AML, and he is leading a number of these trials at MDACC. Dr Daver has published over 240 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is on the editorial board of numerous hematology journals.
Shaun Fleming, MBBS(Hons), FRACP, FRCPA
Melbourne Haematology, Richmond, VIC, Australia
Dr Shaun Fleming is a consultant hematologist at Melbourne Haematology, Richmond, VIC, Australia. He practices as both a clinical hematologist and hematopathologist. He is also a clinical and laboratory hematologist at the Alfred Hospital. He is a graduate of Monash University and completed his training at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and Melbourne Pathology.
Dr Fleming has a particular interest in leukemia and related myeloid disorders such as myelodysplasia. He provides expert management of other malignant hematologic disorders such as lymphoma and thrombosis, and interprets diagnostic tests. Dr Fleming is an investigator on several clinical trials in leukemia and myelodysplasia and conducts translational research in acute myeloid leukemia.
Jae Park, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
Dr Jae Park is an associate attending physician in the leukemia service, Division of Hematologic Oncology, director of the adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) program, and assistant director of the cellular therapeutics service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, and completed an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and a hematology-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr Park’s research focus is on translating and establishing novel targeted and immunotherapies for patients with hematologic malignancies. He is principal investigator of several clinical trials in adult patients with ALL and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/non-Hodgkin lymphoma using CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells, bispecific T-cell engagers, oral targeted agents, and immunomodulators.
Dr Park has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles appearing in New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Science Translational Medicine, Cancer Discovery, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Journal of Clinical Oncology. His research has been recognized and funded by the American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Geoffrey Beene Research Foundation, and National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Junichiro Yuda, MD, PhD
National Cancer Center Hospital East, Chiba, Japan
Dr Junichiro Yuda is head of the Office for the Promotion of Hematological Treatment Development and chief physician in the Department of Hematology, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, at the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba, Japan. Dr Yuda completed his postgraduate training in hematology at Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, and he received his PhD from Kyushu University in Fukuoka.
The staff physicians and residents of the Department of Hematology carry out clinical and research activities related to the multidisciplinary treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies. The department focuses on early and late phases of clinical trials in collaboration with the Research Center for Innovative Oncology.
Recently, they have been working on a project to develop early-stage regenerative medicine products, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and to conduct cross-organ multiomics analysis.
Dr Yuda has authored or co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Cancer Discovery, Blood, Science Immunology, Cancer Medicine, Annals of Hematology, and Cancer Science. He is active in several professional organizations, including the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine, the Japanese Society of Hematology, the Japanese Society of Clinical Oncology, the Japanese Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and the Japanese Society for Lymphoreticular Tissue Research.
