School of Medicine


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  • Parveen Shiraz, MD

    Parveen Shiraz, MD

    Instructor, Medicine - Blood & Marrow Transplantation

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am a physician-scientist in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation/Cell Therapy (BMT/CT) at Stanford University. The dearth of effective therapies for refractory leukemias and the curative potential of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) prompted me to pursue a career in HCT. As a BMT clinician, caring for patients suffering from the toxicities of HCT and post-HCT leukemia relapse motivated me to pursue laboratory and translational research in search of less toxic and more effective HCT conditioning strategies. In 2021, I became an instructor in the laboratory of Dr. Judith Shizuru who specializes in CD117 antibody based non-toxic HCT conditioning. We have produced anti-CD117 multi-antigen targeting and NK, macrophage or T cell engaging antibodies to eradicate residual leukemic clones and permit engraftment of normal donor HSCs. Our invitro studies are already showing superiority of the multiantigen targeting NK engaging antibodies and invivo studies of these antibodies in xenograft models of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia are in progress.

  • Judith Shizuru

    Judith Shizuru

    Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTransplantation of defined populations of allogeneic hematopoietic cells. Specifically, the way in which hematopoietic cell grafts alter antigen specific immune responses to allo-, auto- and viral antigens. The cellular and molecular basis of resistance to engraftment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells.

  • Surbhi Sidana, MD

    Surbhi Sidana, MD

    Associate Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)

    BioDr. Surbhi Sidana is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and specializes in the treatment of multiple myeloma and related disorders. She leads the Myeloma CAR-T/Immunotherapy program at Stanford.

    Dr Sidana grew up in Delhi, India, where she completed her initial medical training. She then moved to the U.S and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Following this, she completed an Advanced Hematology Fellowship in Myeloma, Amyloidosis and Related Disorders at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN before joining Stanford University as a faculty member in 2019, where she has led the development of the myeloma CAR-T and bispecific antibody program.

    Dr Sidana has an active, broad research portfolio that includes clinical trials of novel therapies in myeloma and related disorders, translational research, epidemiologic and patient reported outcome studies. She has a special focus on research with immunotherapies such as CAR-T cell therapy and bispecific antibodies. She has published over 80 research manuscripts. Dr Sidana is the Leader of the Myeloma Disease Focused Group and the Associate Director for Clinical Research in the BMT and Cell Therapy Division at Stanford University. She also co-leads a multi-institutional collaboration on real world outcomes with immunotherapies in myeloma.

    Dr Sidana is actively involved in and holds leadership positions in national and international professional societies. She co-chairs the Quality-of-Life Committee of the International Myeloma Working Group and is the Vice-Chair of the American Society of Hematology Committee on Communications. She also a member of the ASH Editor Search Committee and the SWOG Myeloma Committee.

  • Melody Smith, MD, MS

    Melody Smith, MD, MS

    Assistant Professor of Medicine (Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy)

    BioDr. Smith is a board-certified, fellowship-trained medical oncologist and hematologist. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Blood & Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.

    She is also a physician-scientist who conducts extensive research. As a medical student, she completed a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Clinical Research Training (now, the Medical Research Scholars) Program. Subsequently, following her clinical fellowship, she was a post-doctoral researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The research in her lab focuses on investigations of the biology of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to improve the efficacy and safety of this therapy (1) by investigating donor (Nature Medicine, 2017) and off-the-shelf CAR T cells in mouse models and (2) by assessing mechanisms for the impact of the intestinal microbiome on CAR T cell response (Nature Medicine, 2022).

    Dr. Smith presents the findings of her research at regional, national, and international conferences. Further, she has co-authored articles on topics within the field of cancer immunology, including cancer immunotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and CAR T cell therapy. Her work has appeared in journals, among others Nature, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Blood, and Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. She serves a peer reviewer for publications in journals, such as NEJM Evidence, Science Advances, Blood, Cancer Cell, and Molecular Therapy. She also has contributed to chapters in books, including Pocket Oncology, Current Concepts and Controversies in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, and Advanced Concepts in Human Immunology: Prospects for Disease Control.

    She has earned numerous honors; the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and several other professional organizations have recognized her achievements as a clinician, researcher, and scholar.

    Dr. Smith is a member of the ASH Committee on Emerging Gene and Cell Therapies and the ASH Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Additionally, she serves on committees within the institution and professional organizations focused on promoting diversity among hematology and cell therapy specialists.