麻豆传媒

Dr. Danielle Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is formally trained in behavioral epidemiology and public health, receiving her PhD in Community Health and Health Behavior from the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in 2021. She also has experience working in select areas of health psychology and pharmacology/toxicology.

Dr. Smith has published nearly 50 papers on topics related to nicotine and cannabis use. Her work has appeared in Lancet Respiratory Medicine, JAMA Network Open, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, Tobacco Control, Thorax, and Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Assistant Professor of Oncology
Department of Health Behavior
School of Public Health and Health Professions, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Research Assistant Professor, Community Health and Health Behavior
Background
Education and Training:
2021 - PhD - Community Health and Health Behavior, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
2013 - MPH - Community Health and Health Behaviors, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Professional Memberships:
2021-present - Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC)
2019-present - International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS)
2019-present - Research Society on Marijuana (RSMj)
2015-present - Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT)
Honors & Awards:
2020 - Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society, Gamma Lambda Chapter, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions
2020 - Outstanding Doctoral Achievement Award, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions
2020 - Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CICC) Trainee Research Spotlight Award
Research
Research Overview:
Dr. Smith鈥檚 research focuses on behavioral and policy aspects of cannabis use, and ultimately seeks to address the question, 鈥淯nder what circumstances can cannabis yield therapeutic benefits, and how might cannabis-related harms be minimized?鈥� Her work addresses this question through studies that examine: 1) overlapping aspects of nicotine and cannabis and their impact on use behaviors and health; 2) contextual factors that contribute to cannabis use behaviors and associated health outcomes (e.g., policy and use contexts); and 3) cannabis use in the context of cancer prevention, care, and symptom management.

Dr. Smith is also interested in new and emerging forms of drug delivery, specifically electronic vaping products and heat-not-burn products used to administer nicotine and cannabis. Her work integrates mixed methods including laboratory, clinical, and observational studies. She is also involved in development and analysis of longitudinal cohort studies of nicotine use, including the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Survey and Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.

Publications
Smith DM, Goniewicz ML. The role of policy in the EVALI outbreak: solution, or contributor? Lancet Resp Med. Feb 7 2020. pii: S2213-2600(20)30065-5. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30065-5.

Smith DM, Miller C, O鈥機onnor RJ, Kozlowski LT, Wadsworth E, Collins RL, Wei B, Goniewicz ML, Hyland AJ, Hammond D. Modes of delivery in concurrent tobacco and cannabis use (co-use) among youth: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Survey. Substance Abuse. 2020; DOI: 10.1080/08897077.2019.1709603

Smith DM, O鈥機onnor RJ, Wei B, Travers MJ, Hyland A, Goniewicz ML. Nicotine and toxicant exposure among concurrent users (co-users) of tobacco and cannabis. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 2020; ntz122, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz122.

Smith DM, Kozlowski L, O鈥機onnor RJ, Hyland A, Collins RL. Reasons for individual and concurrent use of vaped nicotine and cannabis: their similarities, differences and associations with product use. Journal of Cannabis Research. 2021;3(39). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-021-00097-7.

Driezen P, Gravely S, Wadsworth E, Smith DM, Loewen R, Hammond D, Li L, McNeill A, Borland R, Cummings KM, Fong GT. Increasing cannabis use is associated with poorer cigarette smoking cessation outcomes: Findings from the ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys, 2016-2018. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Jun 10 2021;ntab122. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab122.

I am a gastrointestinal medical oncologist with a research focus on novel clinical trials and cancer immunotherapy. I have gained experience in translational research and clinical trial design through a Master's program in clinical and translational science. My current work involves understanding the biology of gastrointestinal cancers and designing novel clinical trials to improve patient outcomes. Besides, I am interested in studying mechanisms of immune dysfunction in obese cancer patients and the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors. I have led over a dozen clinical trials as a Principal Investigator (PI) and received six grants as a PI or co-investigator. Many of my studies are investigator-initiated and grant-funded through national organizations like the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the department of defense (DOD). My work has resulted in several national/international presentations and peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals. As a physician-scientist, my goal is to conduct innovative clinical trials using novel immunotherapy agents and take discoveries from the lab to the bedside to improve life expectancy as well as the quality of life of cancer patients. As an educator, I strive to improve the quality of oncology education and mentor the next generation of clinician investigators.

I have had the opportunity to serve the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). I have been a member of the Trainee Council Working Group, Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, and the Professional Development Committee at ASCO. I have also served on multiple guidelines panels for ASCO. Currently, I am a guidelines panel member at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and at the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus. 

I have been fortunate to receive many national and international awards. I have been asked to review manuscripts for reputed journals and grant applications for federal funding agencies.

For me, caring for a cancer patient is more than treating a disease; it's a healing process involving both the patient's body, mind, and caregivers. I would like to see myself as a successful clinical and translational researcher and a compassionate physician, and a thought leader in the field of gastrointestinal cancers.

Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer
Assistant Professor of Oncology
Assistant Professor of Immunology
Department of Medicine
Co-Leader, GI Translational Research Group
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo
Assistant Professor
Background
Education and Training:
2010 - MD - Nilratan Sircar Medical College, West Bengal University of Health Sciences, India
2018 - MS - Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK
Residency:
2012-2015 - Saint Joseph Hospital, Chicago, IL
Fellowship:
2015-2018 - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Board Certification:
2018 - Medical Oncology - American Board of Internal Medicine
2018 - Hematology - American Board of Internal Medicine
2015 - Internal Medicine - American Board of Internal Medicine
Professional Memberships:
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer
American Association for Cancer Research
American College of Gastroenterology
North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society
European Society of Medical Oncology
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Professional Experience:
2021-present - Quality Subcommittee, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)
2018-present - Board of Directors, Esophageal Cancer Action Network
2017-2018 - Chief fellow, Hematology-Oncology, University of Oklahoma
2017-2018 - Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, ASCO
2016-2018 - Professional Development Committee, ASCO
Honors & Awards:
Clinical Investigator Scholarship Award, North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society
ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Workshop, Vail, CO
James N. George award for the outstanding fellow in hematology-oncology, University of Oklahoma
Gold Humanism Honor Society
Conquer Cancer Foundation Merit Award, ASCO
Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society
Early Career Reviewer, Developmental Therapeutics (DT), Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop participant
Young Investigator Award, ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer
Clinical Trials
Propranolol in Combination With Pembrolizumab and Standard Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Unresectable Locally Advanced or Metastatic Esophageal or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma
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EA2176: Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel +/- Nivolumab in Metastatic Anal Cancer Patients
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Nous-209 Genetic Vaccine for the Treatment of Microsatellite Unstable Solid Tumors
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Assistant Professor of Oncology
Department of Immunology
Education and Training:
2013 - Ph.D. - Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo
Professional Memberships:
The American Association of Immunologists
Radiation Research Society
American Urological Association
Society for Basic Urologic Research
Honors & Awards:
2021 - Chair, Radiation and Anti-tumor Immunity Session, Radiation Research Society
2019 - Chair, Understanding Immune Responses to Cancer, Upstate NY Immunology Conference
2018 - Early Career Investigator Travel Award, Radiation Research Society
2018 - Chair, Cell Therapies Session, Translational Research Cancer Centers Consortium
2014 - Best Poster, Northeastern Section of the American Urological Association
2013 - Travel award, Midwest Melanoma Partnership
2012 - The American Association of Immunologists Young Investigators Award, Upstate New York Immunology Conference
2012 - Junior Investigator Award, Translational Research Cancer Centers Consortium Meeting
2011 - 1st Place New Investigator Travel Award, Society for Thermal Medicine
Research
Research Overview:
The goal of my laboratory is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that limit renal cell carcinoma patient responses to immunotherapy. The laboratory鈥檚 translational studies are concentrated on enhancing anti-tumor immunity through improved myeloid cell function and cytolytic T cell activity within renal cell carcinoma. Our laboratory鈥檚 findings from a pilot trial in metastatic renal cell carcinoma combining high-dose radiation of kidney tumors with surgical resection, provide a glimpse into the immune activating effects of radiation in human cancer. The laboratory鈥檚 most recent studies performed in collaboration with Dr. Scott Abrams shed light on the role key transcription factors at play in macrophage behavior and patient outcome.


Publications
Chow J, Hoffend NC, Abrams SI, Schwaab T, Singh AK, Muhitch JB. Radiation induces dynamic changes to the T cell repertoire in renal cell carcinoma patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Sep 8;. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2001933117. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32900949.
Muhitch JB, Hoffend NC, Azabdaftari G, Miller A, Bshara W, Morrison CD, Schwaab T, Abrams SO. Tumor-associated macrophage expression of interferon regulatory Factor-8 (IRF8) is a predictor of progression and patient survival in renal cell carcinoma. J Immunther Cancer. 2019; 7: 155.
Singh AK, Winslow T, Habiby Kermany M, Goritz V, Heit L, Miller A, Hoffend NC, Stein LC, Kumaraswamy LK, Warren GW, Bshara W, Odunsi KO, Matsuzaki J, Abrams SI, Schwaab T, Muhitch JB. A pilot study of stereotactic body radiation therapy combined with cytoreductive nephrectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2017; 23: 5055-5065.
Ku A, Muhitch JB, Diehl M, Abrams SI, Ostrand-Rosenberg S, Evans SS. Myeloid-derived suppressor cell-mediated downregulation of L-selectin limits T cell trafficking in lymph nodes which can be alleviated by systemic thermal therapy. eLife. 2016; 5:e17375.
Battaglia S and Muhitch JB. Unmasking targets of antitumor immunity via high-throughput antigen profiling. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2016; 42: 92-97.
Fisher D, Muhitch JB, Kim M, Doyen K, Bogner P, Evans SS, Skitzki J. Intraoperative intravital microscopy permits the study of human tumour vessels. Nat Commun. 2016; 7: 10684.
Mikucki M, Fisher D, Matsuzaki J, Skitzki JJ, Gaulin N, Muhitch JB, Frelinger J, Odunsi K, Gajewski T, Luster A, Evans SS. Non-redundant requirement for CXCR3 signalling during tumoricical T-cell trafficking across tumour vascular checkpoints. Nat Commun. 2015; 6: 7458.
Muhitch JB and Schwaab T. High-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) for metastatic renal cell carcinoma: can the first anti-tumor immunotherapy be reinvented? Immunotherapy. 2014; Sep 6; (9): 955-958.

Bone Marrow Leukemia Lymphoma Multiple Myeloma Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Specializing In:
Cellular Therapies, including stem cell transplantation, CAR-T cell therapies, TILs, TCR gene therapies

Biography:
My research is dedicated to developing gene-engineered cell therapies that target cancer cells in pre-clinical models. The goal of this research is to identify optimal cell therapies that can then be evaluated in cancer patients. It is my goal that our innovative laboratory and clinical research will lead to therapeutic options for patients with cancers. 

Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Vice Chair for Cellular Therapies
Senior Vice President and Associate Director for Translational Research
Department of Medicine
Background
Education and Training:
1997-2004 - PhD - Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
1995-2004 - MD - Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
1991-1995 - BS - Biochemistry/Chemistry, Texas Christian University, Forth Worth, TX
Residency:
2004-2006 - Resident, Department of Medicine, New York Presbyterian Weill/Cornell, Cornell Medical Center, New York City, NY
Fellowship:
2010-2011 - Research Fellow, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY
2006-2010 - Clinical Fellow, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, NY
Professional Memberships:
Society of Immunotherapy for Cancer
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Association for Cancer Research
American Association of Immunologists
Professional Experience:
2021-2022 - Senior Member, Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL
2016 鈥�2022 - Medical Director, Cell Therapy Facility, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
2015-2022 - Associate Professor, Department of Oncologic Sciences, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
2015-2021 - Associate Member, Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
2014鈥�2015 - Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2014-2015 - Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2014-2015 - Assistant Member, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN
2011鈥�2013 - Clinical Instructor, Department of Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY
2011鈥� 2013 - Assistant Attending Physician, Leukemia Service, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Oncology, Memorial Hospital, New York, NY
2011鈥�2013 - Assistant Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Honors & Awards:
2018 - Miles for Moffitt Award
2018 - National Trio Achievement Award
2015 - Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award
2015 - SWASAP TRiO Achiever
2015 - TASSSP TRiO Achiever
2014 - ASCI Council Young Physician-Scientist Award
2012 - Amos Medical Faculty Development Program Scholar, American Society of Hematology
2011 - TRiO Achiever Award, Texas Christian University
2010 - K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Career Development Award
2010 - Young-Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology
2010 - Clinical and Translational Science Center KL2 Scholars Award
2009 - Mortimer J. Lacher Fellow
2003 - Bernard Amos Immunology Graduate Student Research Award, Duke University
2001 - Sammuel DuBois Cook Graduate Student Award, Duke University
1995 - Summa Cum Laude, Texas Christian University
1995 - Phi Beta Kappa, Texas Christian University
1995 - Senior Scholar in Chemistry, Texas Christian University
1994 - Ronald E. McNair Fellowship for Undergraduate Research, Texas Christian University
1994 - Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA
1993 - Honors Premedical Academy, Rice University, Houston, TX
1992 - M.D. Anderson Pre-Med Scholarship

Cervical Endometrium Fallopian Tube Ovarian Uterine Endometrial Vaginal Vulvar
Specializing In:

Abnormal pap smear Cervical dysplasia Cervical lesions Cervix biopsy Colposcopy Cervical cancer Endometrial cancer Ovarian and Fallopian tube cancer Vulvar and vaginal cancer Trophoblastic disease Gynecologic cancer surgery Gynecological chemotherapy Laparotomy Complex laparoscopic surgery Robotic surgery Minimally invasive surgery Cancer prevention Cancer vaccine therapies and novel clinical trials
Research Interests:

Immunotherapy approaches for gynecological malignancies Early phase clinical trials Cancer immunotherapy Microbiome research Healthcare quality research
About Emese Zsiros
Biography:
Dr. Emese Zsiros is a clinician scientist and the Shashi Lele MD Endowed Chair in Gynecologic Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Zsiros received her MD and Ph.D. from the University of Debrecen in Hungary, where she was ranked in the top 1% among medical students and received accolades for her research accomplishments, winning several university and national awards. She also conducted basic science research during her OB/GYN residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. In addition, she completed a gynecologic oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was actively involved in designing and overseeing early-phase immunotherapy clinical trials for patients with ovarian cancer under the mentorship of George Coukos, MD, Ph.D., an international expert in ovarian cancer immunotherapy.

After completing her fellowship, Dr. Zsiros joined Roswell Park in 2014 as a gynecologic oncologist and clinician scientist. In addition to being the first female surgical chair appointed at Roswell Park, she was recently appointed a Co-Leader in the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy (TII) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) program at Roswell Park, one of 53 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States. As a Co-Leader for TII, she is responsible for developing a strategic plan for the overall research direction of TII, developing and coordinating new and ongoing scientific activities, recruiting and mentoring faculty, and translating efforts that lead to clinical trials.

Dr. Zsiros has several research interests. She is passionate about treating her patients with effective treatments that offer increased survival, reduced toxicities, and good quality of life. She has designed and successfully executed several interventional clinical trials, gained crucial experience in clinical trial design, management, and data analysis, and has been involved in more than fifty trials as a PI or Co-I. For example, she successfully conducted an investigator-initiated clinical trial (NCT02853318) sponsored by Merck & Co, published in JAMA Oncology, which recruited forty patients with recurrent OC who received pembrolizumab, an anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, combined with bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF, and oral cyclophosphamide. This clinical trial in a very heavily pretreated patient population showed a remarkable objective response rate (47.5%) and disease control rate of 95%. Patients鈥� biospecimens are being analyzed using a variety of multi-omic means to determine the genomic, transcriptomic, immune, metabolomic, and microbiome signatures that may be indicative of patients who have exceptional responses. This immunotherapy regimen from our trial is now being used across the country.

Dr. Zsiros also has a translational lab that focuses on the ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment (TME) to identify ways to overcome immunosuppression so that different immunotherapeutic approaches may be more efficacious. Several approaches, including using various mouse models, involve identifying specific pathways to target, including metabolomic, microbiota, and humoral and cellular pathways, and collaborating with colleagues using adoptive cell therapy approaches.

Dr. Zsiros is committed to training the next generation of physicians/researchers. As Research Director and Associate Program Director, she actively participates in mentoring all Gyn Onc fellows with their research projects, includes them in activities related to her clinical trial research protocols, helps them prepare for national meetings, and assists them with writing research protocols, scientific reports, book chapters, and peer-reviewed manuscripts. In addition, she also mentors several junior faculties involved in translational ovarian cancer research projects.

That focus on her patients鈥� overall well-being has been a hallmark of Dr. Zsiros鈥� work in the operating room, in the clinic, and as a translational researcher. Dr. Zsiros is a dedicated clinician and has been named Buffalo Spree鈥檚 Top Doctor since 2019. As a visionary leader, she is committed to leading a top-tiered Gynecologic Oncology Department and driving innovative immunotherapy approaches to impact patient care and survival.

Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Associate Professor of Oncology
Chair, Department of Gynecologic Oncology
Director of Research, Department of Gynecologic Oncology
Associate Program Director, Fellowships in Gynecologic Oncology
Department of Translational Immuno-Oncology
Shashi Lele, MD, Endowed Chair in Gynecologic Oncology
Co-Leader, Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy CCSG Program
Jacobs School Of Medicine And Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo
Clinical Assistant Professor
Background
Education and Training:
2011 - PhD - Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology 鈥� University of Debrecen Medical and Health Science Center, Debrecen, Hungary in conjunction with the Universidad de Complutense, Madrid, Spain
2005 - MD/PhD - Membrane Physiology Program 鈥� University of Debrecen Medical and Health Science Center, Debrecen, Hungary and Universidad de Alcala de Henares, Spain
Residency:
2011 - OB/GYN 鈥� McGaw Medical Center, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Fellowship:
2014 - Gynecologic Oncology 鈥� University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Board Certification:
Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Gynecologic Oncology: American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professional Memberships:
Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG)
Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG)
Full member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)
Full Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Full Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Associate Active Member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)
Full Member of Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)
Professional Experience:
2020-present - Redesigning Oncology Care for the Future 鈥� Physician Champion, Member, Roswell Park
2020-present - COVID-19 Patient Safety Committee, Member, Roswell Park
2018-present - Physician Quality Officer, Roswell Park
2018-present - Data Safety Monitoring Board, Roswell Park
2018-present - Microbiome Interest Group, Physician Co-leader, Roswell Park
2017-present - Surgical Services Executive Committee, Roswell Park
Honors & Awards:
2019, 2020 Buffalo Spree鈥檚 Top Doctors
2011 - Ralph Reis Research Award, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University
2005 - Paul Harris Fellowship, Rotary International
2005 - Outstanding Research Award, Hungarian Society of Physiologists
2003, 2004 - Educational Scholarship, Republic of Hungary (awarded to the top 1% of medical students in Hungary)
Research
Research Overview:
I am a well-trained clinician scientist with a strong clinical and research background that extends across continents, who is involved in direct patient care for women with gynecological malignancies, who has a successful translational research laboratory, who is heavily involved in clinical trial conduct, infrastructure, development, negotiation and budgeting, who has established statewide, national, and international collaborations, who has spearheaded attempts to better manage narcotics during a rampant opioid epidemic, and who is committed to training the next generation of gynecological oncology physicians conducting clinical trial research.

I joined Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2014 as gynecologic oncologist and physician scientist. My current time contribution is 50% clinical and 50% research and I have my own laboratory and postdoctoral fellow focusing on ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment and microbiome research. I am also interested in developing novel therapeutic targets that offer better clinical outcomes and quality of life to our patients with gynecological cancers. I have designed and successfully executed several interventional clinical trials in which I gained a lot of experience on trial design, management, and data analysis.

I have recently led a successful investigator-initiated clinical trial (NCT02853318) sponsored by Merck &Co, where I designed and successfully enrolled 40 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer to receive pembrolizumab combined with bevacizumab and oral cyclophosphamide. This clinical trial showed a remarkable response rate in a heavily pretreated patient population with an overall response rate of 47.5% and a disease control rate of 95%. Interestingly, we saw 12 patients on this clinical trial who were outstanding responders with a very durable clinical response (>18 months). We have collected numerous biospecimens during this clinical trial and our major goal is to understand the factors that led to durable disease control in 30% of our patients by analyzing all of the collected translational specimens.

My ultimate goal is to develop new treatment approaches that optimize the tumor microenvironment and augment existing immunotherapy approaches, thus, to improve the quality of life of our patients and extend their survival. Currently, we have several new immunotherapy clinical trials in development for patients with recurrent ovarian and endometrial cancer.

Another portion of my research focuses on immunotherapy and quality of life interventions to improve the lives of our cancer patients. Our patients often live for years and sometimes decades with their cancer diagnosis, which frequently alters their level of activity and engagement in the society. I have designed and executed 2 clinical trials to understand the relationship between physical activity, microbiome, antitumor immune response, as well as the quality of life in our ovarian and endometrial cancer patients using state of the art wearable devices to monitor physical activity, sleep, and heart rate while collecting serial biospecimens. With these 2 trials, we have demonstrated the wearable activity tracking devices are feasible for research in both ovarian and endometrial cancer patients and the activity level of our patients is very low. We are actively working to develop new applications that could be further used to motivate our cancer patients to increase their activity level and also to maintain the lifestyle change for years or as long as physically possible with their diagnosis.

Besides my interest in basic and translational science, I am also interested in quality improvements projects, which improve the lives of our patients and our community. I have designed and implemented a restrictive opioid prescription policy in our institution, which led to significant decrease in perioperative opioid use across all surgical services without compromising patient recovery.  I serve as a Quality Officer at Roswell Park and my goal is to further extend opioid-sparing approaches to other medical centers across the country and continue to develop evidence-based guidelines for opioid prescribing.

As an associate program director, I actively participate mentoring all fellows with their research projects and help them prepare for national meetings, as well I assist them with writing research protocols, scientific reports, book chapters, and peer-reviewed manuscripts. I am passionate about training the next generation of gynecologic oncologists and physician scientist.

Lab Members:

Shanmuga Chilakapati, PhD, Postdoctoral researcher
Area of study: Role of human microbiome in antitumor immune responses; Role of SEMA4D on ovarian cancer progression

Aaron Varghese, MD, Clinical fellow
Research project: Understanding the role of opioids in cancer immunotherapy; Translational data analysis for phase II clinical trial of pembrolizumab with bevacizumab and oral cyclophosphamide
 

Clinical Trials
APL-2 and Pembrolizumab Versus APL-2, Pembrolizumab and Bevacizumab Versus Bevacizumab Alone for the Treatment of Recurrent Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer and Malignant Effusion
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Pembrolizumab/Placebo Plus Paclitaxel With or Without Bevacizumab for Platinum-resistant Recurrent Ovarian Cancer (MK-3475-B96/KEYNOTE-B96/ENGOT-ov65)
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A Safety and Tolerability Study of NC762 in Subjects With Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors
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Study of LN-145, Autologous Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in the Treatment of Patients With Cervical Carcinoma

Steve Long has served as Principal Investigator and Director of the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Project since its inception in 2012.  He is the Ikenberry Endowed Chair of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Steve's research has increased our understanding of how global climate change is affecting plants and how photosynthetic efficiency in crops may be improved to effect sustainable yield increases. His expertise ranges from plant molecular biology and mathematical modeling to in silico crop design and field analyses of the impacts of atmospheric change and transgenic modifications of photosynthesis on crop performance. Steve is also the director of Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE) He served as Deputy Director of the UC Berkeley-U Illinois-BP Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) until 2012. He is Founding and Chief Editor of Global Change Biology, of GCB Bioenergy and of in silico Plants. 

Steve was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 2013 and as a Member of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America in 2019.  He has been recognized by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate as a highly cited researcher in Plant and Animal Sciences in every year from 2005 to 2021. His work has been published in more than 400 peer-reviewed journals, including Nature and Science. He has been recognized with many awards, including the Marsh Award for Climate Change Research from the British Ecological Society, the Kettering Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists, the Innovation Award from the International Society for Photosynthesis Research and the Graduate Student Mentoring Award of the University of Illinois. He served as the Newton-Abraham Visiting Professor at Oxford University, UK, where he retains a Visiting Professorship. He has given briefings on food security and bioenergy to President George W. Bush at the White House, to the Vatican, and to Bill Gates. He earned his bachelor鈥檚 in agriculture from Reading University and his doctorate in plant sciences from Leeds University.

Realizing increased Photosynthetic (RIPE) Project Deputy Director Donald Ort is the Robert Emerson Professor in Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. His research seeks to understand and improve plant growth and photosynthetic performance in changing environmental conditions, such as increasing CO2 temperature and drought. Don's research ranges from improving photosynthetic efficiency to the molecular and biochemical basis of environmental interactions with crop plants to ecological genomics. His research spans from the molecular to crop canopies in the field. Don earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology from Wake Forest University and his doctorate in plant biochemistry from Michigan State University. He has served as the president of the American Society of Plant Biologists, the International Society of Photosynthesis Research, and the International Association of Plant Physiology. He also served as editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology and is an associate editor of Annual Review of Plant Biology. Don has received numerous awards and recognitions, including election to the National Academy of Sciences and being named one of Thomson Reuters鈥� Most Influential Scientific Minds. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers in journals that include Science.

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Project Deputy Director Lisa Ainsworth is a Research Plant Physiologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and an adjunct professor of plant biology and crop sciences at the University of Illinois. Lisa鈥檚 research applies physiological, biochemical, and genomic tools to understand the mechanisms of plant responses to global climate change. Her current research is quantifying genetic variation in response to elevated ozone concentrations among diverse inbred and hybrid maize lines in the field. She is also developing high-throughput phenotyping techniques to identify ozone sensitivity and the genes and gene networks underpinning these ozone responses in corn and soybeans. For the RIPE project, she is working on understanding the architecture of crop canopies and how this structure impacts their photosynthetic efficiency. 

Lisa earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and went on to earn her doctorate from Illinois. She has received the Charles Albert Shull Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists, the President鈥檚 Medal from the Society of Experimental Biology, and was named a University Scholar by Illinois. She was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. In addition, Lisa was honored with the 2019 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences, and she was elected to the NAS in 2020. In 2021, Lisa was named the USDA-ARS' Distinguished Senior Research Scientist of the Year. Currently, she serves on the editorial boards of Science Advances and Plant, Cell & Environment. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, including Science, PNAS, and Plant Physiology. 

Batteries, large and small, are essential to modernize our grid and power our homes, businesses, and vehicles. As battery technology evolves, safe practices must also evolve. Matt Paiss works at the front lines of battery safety and its intersection with fire risk and first-responder preparation.

Paiss understands how the technology works and how to impart that information to first responders. He served as a paramedic and then fire captain of the San Jose Fire Department in California for more than two decades. At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, he advises national groups charged with developing safety codes and standards for stationary energy storage installations. These large battery facilities are used to store power generated from renewable energy sources such as solar (photovoltaic) and wind turbine sources. Paiss also helped develop an innovative explosion prevention system for battery energy storage installations.

鈥淲e need energy storage installed throughout our electrical grid,鈥� said Paiss. 鈥淏ut not all technologies and not all chemistries make sense everywhere. We support municipalities and public safety leaders to understand the value and impact and to ensure the safe deployment of energy storage.鈥�

In addition, Paiss has organized and served as a speaker at national and international energy storage safety and reliability workshops for electric vehicles and personal mobility devices such as scooters and e-bikes.

鈥淭here is still a lot of education that needs to happen within the emergency response community,鈥� said Paiss. 鈥淪ometimes there's not a lot firefighters can do at a battery fire. At times, a 鈥渄efensive strategy鈥� (letting it burn) is the right decision.鈥�

Paiss serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Fire Protection Association鈥檚 Fire Protection Research Foundation. He is a frequent invited speaker to energy storage conferences and fire and first-responder training programs, providing education and training on fire response and suppression and best practices on handling lithium-ion battery fires.

Tippie DEI Faculty Fellow, John L. Miclot Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, and Associate Professor
Current Positions
Associate Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship
Tippie DEI Faculty Fellow, Management and Entrepreneurship
John L. Miclot Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Management and Entrepreneurship
Education
PhD in Business Administration, University of Michigan
MA in Education, Columbia University
BA in Psychology, Johns Hopkins University
Selected Awards & Honors
Gender and Organization Science - Organization Science, 2018
Old Gold Summer Faculty Fellowship - University of Iowa, 2017
John L. Miclot Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship - John Pappajohn Entrepreneurship Center, 2017
Scholar in Family Business - Smith Family Business Initiative, Johnson College of Business, 2016
Selected Publications
Williams, M., Ghoribani, M., & Kalnins, A. (2023). Moving to the big city: Temporal, demographic, and geographic influences on the perceptions of gender-related business acumen among male and female migrant entrepreneurs in China. Academy of Management Discoveries. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2020.0191.
Li, H., Wang, X., Williams, M., Chen, Y., & Brockner, J. (2023). My Boss is Younger, Less Educated, and Shorter Tenured: When and Why Status (In)congruence Influences Promotion System Justification. Journal of Applied Psychology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001086.
Kalnins, A. & Williams, M. (2021). The Geography of Female Small Business Survivorship: Examining the roles of Proportional Representation and Stakeholders. Strategic Management Journal. pp. (Online Fi. DOI: 10.1002/smj.3266.
Williams, M., Belkin, L., & Chen, C. (2020). Cognitive Flexibility Matters: The Role of Multilevel Affect and Cognitive Flexibility in Shaping Victims鈥� (Un)Cooperative Behavioral Responses to Trust Violations. Group & Organization Management.
Ancona, D., Williams, M., & Gerlach, G. (2020). The Overlooked Key to Leadership Leading Through Chaos. Sloan Management Review.
Joseph, M. L., Blair, H., Williams, M., Huber, D. L., Moorhead, S., Hanrahan, K., Butcher, H., & Chi, N. (2019). Health Care Innovations Across Practice and Academia: A Theoretical Framework. Nursing Outlook. 57 (5) pp. 604.
Williams, M. (2018). Four Research-based Paradigms for Teaching Trust In The Routledge Companion to Trust. Searle, R. S., Nienaber, A. I., & Sitkin, S. B. (Eds.)
Williams, M. (2016). Being trusted: How team generational age diversity promotes and undermines trust in cross-boundary relationships. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 37 (3) pp. 346-373. DOI: 10.1002/job.2045.
Little, L. M., Gooty, J., & Williams, M. (2016). The role of leader emotion management in leader鈥搈ember exchange and follower outcomes. Leadership Quarterly. 27 (1) pp. 85鈥�97. DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.08.007.
Williams, M. & Polman, E. (2015). Is it me or her? How gender composition evokes interpersonally sensitive behavior on collaborative cross-boundary projects. Organization Science. 26 (2) pp. 334鈥�355. DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2014.0941.

Show all
Selected Presentations
"When No Is Better Than Yes," Accepted Speaker at Annual Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference, April 2021.
"Own Your Leadership," Keynote/Plenary Address at University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, March 2021.
Editorial & Review Activities
Editorial Board Member, Journal of Business Venturing, January 2017.
Associate Editor, Journal of Trust, January 2010.
Editorial Board Member, Organization Science, January 2009.

Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She holds a PhD in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Before transitioning to her current academic research career, Dr. Pehlivanova pursued a career as a biostatistician in a medical research non-profit organization. Her research at the University of Virginia primarily focuses on near-death experiences and children’s reports of purported past-life memories. She is interested in various aspects of these experiences, including cognitive, personality, environmental and genetic factors contributing to their occurrence, veridical perceptions reported by experiencers, their impact on individuals, cross-cultural comparisons, and the development of support resources within healthcare settings for those who have such experiences. Some of Dr. Pehlivanova’s research has been funded by the BIAL Foundation and published in scientific outlets such as Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Neuroscience, Mortality, and the American Journal of Cardiology. Dr. Pehlivanova is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), the leading international organization dedicated to raising awareness about near-death-like experiences through research, education, and support for experiencers.

EDWARD F. KELLY is a Professor in the Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia Health System. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive science from Harvard in 1971, and spent the next 15-plus years working mainly in experimental parapsychology in the Electrical Engineering Department at Duke, followed by a similar stint with a large neuroscience group at UNC-Chapel Hill where he carried out EEG and fMRI studies of human cortical adaptation to natural tactile stimuli. He returned full-time to psychical research in 2002, serving as lead author of three major works - Irreducible Mind (2007), Beyond Physicalism (2015), and Consciousness Unbound (2021) - which collectively identify the contours of an enhanced science-based worldview that can accommodate psychological and spiritual phenomena lying beyond the reach of contemporary mainstream physicalism. These 鈥渞ogue鈥� phenomena include, for example, the various forms of psi or psychic phenomena, manifestations of extreme psychophysical influence such as stigmata and hypnotic blisters, near-death experiences occurring under extreme physiological conditions such as deep general anesthesia and/or cardiac arrest, and indeed consciousness itself. He has more recently returned to his central long-term research interest 鈥� functional neuroimaging studies of psi and altered states in exceptional subjects 鈥� using a state-of-the-art laboratory facility created specifically for this purpose at DOPS.

As Assistant Professor of Research in the Division of Perceptual Studies with the esteemed Dr. Edward Kelly, Ross has been working on establishing irrefutable scientific evidence of human mental action on matter, such as metal bending and movement of small objects.

Jim B. Tucker, MD, is Bonner-Lowry Professor of Personality Studies in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. A board-certified child psychiatrist, he served as medical director of the Child and Family Psychiatry Clinic for nine years.

Dr. Tucker attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA degree in psychology in 1982, followed by a medical degree four years later. He then completed a residency in general psychiatry and a fellowship in child psychiatry at the University of Virginia. After a stint in private practice, he returned to UVA in 2000.

Dr. Tucker also works in the Division of Perceptual Studies, continuing the research of Ian Stevenson with children who report anomalous memories. He is the author of Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives (St. Martin's, 2005), and he has published numerous articles in scientific journals and given talks to both scientific and general audiences.

Dr. Bruce Greyson is the Chester Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He was previously on the medical faculty at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut, where he was Clinical Chief of Psychiatry. Dr. Greyson has consulted with the National Institutes of Health and addressed symposia on consciousness at the United Nations and at the Dalai Lama’s compound in Dharamsala, India. He has earned awards for his medical research and was elected a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the highest honor bestowed by that organization. Dr. Greyson’s interest in near-death experiences began just a few months after graduating from medical school, when he treated an unconscious patient in the emergency room who stunned him the next morning with an account of leaving her body. That event challenged his beliefs about the mind and the brain, and ultimately led him on a journey to study near-death experiences scientifically, leading to more than a hundred publications in medical journals. He co-founded the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), an organization to support and promote research into these experiences, and for 27 years edited the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal dedicated to near-death research. Through his research, he has discovered common and universal themes in near-death experiences that go beyond neurophysiological or cultural interpretations, as well as patterns of consistent aftereffects on individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, values, and personalities. Dr. Greyson is the author of After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond. The book challenges our everyday ideas about our minds and our brains and offers key insights on how we can begin to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

Emily Williams Kelly is a researcher at the University of Virginia鈥檚 Division of Perceptual Studies, with interests in near-death experiences, reincarnation and other phenomena suggestive of survival of consciousness after death. 

Jennifer “Kim” Penberthy, Ph.D., ABPP is the Chester F. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Division of Perceptual Studies, at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Kim is a board certified clinical psychologist and conducts research, teaches, and provides clinical care at UVA in Psychiatry and the Cancer Center. She obtained her undergraduate and master's degree in psychology from Wake Forest University, her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her Fellowship at the University of Virginia. Her research interests focus on the mind-body relationship and exploring human consciousness as well as extraordinary human experiences, including the impact of such on human abilities and wellness. She is a founding member of the UVA Contemplative Sciences Center and a member of the UVA Academy of Distinguished Educators, the Wisdom & Wellbeing Program, the Leadership in Academic Matters Program, and is a Fellow of Humanism in Medicine at the University of Virginia. She is involved on an international level conducting research and consulting with the Center for Consciousness Research and the Scientific & Medical Network as well as the IANDS Research Network. Dr. Penberthy is interested in the impact of extraordinary human experiences such as Near Death Experiences, Out of Body Experiences, and After Death Communications as well as intentionally pursued altered states of consciousness, such as those resulting from contemplative practices, meditation, and psychedelics. She is also dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion and exploring and honoring contemplative practices from indigenous and native cultures. She is President of the Society of Clinical Psychology, the former chair of the American Psychological Association Society of Clinical Psychology Diversity Committee and is a fellow in the APA Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology. She has published extensively on psychotherapy and mindfulness, including 4 books, and scores of manuscripts and book chapters, and lectures internationally regarding her research. Her most recent book is co-authored with her daughter, Morgan, and is called “Living Mindfully Across the Lifespan: An Intergenerational Guide,” published by Routledge Taylor & Francis in 2020. Her clinical expertise includes: Anxiety Disorders Depressive disorders (including Persistent Depression) Post traumatic stress (PTSD) Cancer-related stress Burnout Mindfulness Meditation Grief and loss Fear of death and dying Extraordinary experiences Altered States of Consciousness After Death Communications Out of Body Experiences.

Christine Becker received her B.A. in Humanities from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993 and Ph.D. in Communication Arts: Film Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001. She has been in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame since 2000, specializing in film and television history, critical analysis of film and television, and media industry studies. She also teaches courses for the Sports, Media, and Culture Minor.

Specialties:
Film and television history
Critical analysis of film and television
Media industry studies
TV narrative and Aesthetics
British television
Sports and television
Stardom and celebrity
History, Theory, and Criticism

Research Interests:
media industries, television history, TV narrative and aesthetics, British television, sports and television, stardom and celebrity

Representative Publications, Performances, and Creative Works
It鈥檚 the Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on Fifties Television. (Wesleyan University Press, 2008).

鈥淏BC America: Cloning Drama for a Transnational Network,鈥� in Michele Hilmes, Roberta Pearson, and Matt Hills, eds., Contemporary Transatlantic Television Drama: Industries, Programs and Fans. (Oxford University Press, 2019), 69-86.

"Accent on Talent: The Valorization of British Actors on American Quality Television,鈥� in Christopher Hogg and Tom Cantrell, eds., Exploring Television Acting. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018), 140-153.

鈥淥ff Goes the Telly: Writer Discourse on the Life on Mars Franchise Finales,鈥� Journal of Screenwriting (Vol 6 Num 2: 2015): 173-188.

"Paul Newman: Superstardom and Anti-Stardom,鈥� in Pamela Robertson Wojcik, ed., New Constellations: Movie Stars of the 1960s, Star Decades: American Culture/American Cinema series, Adrienne L. McLean and Murray Pomerance, eds. (Rutgers University Press, 2011), 14-33.

New systems for text and image generation can support many types of behavior and goals that are only now being considered, said John Behrens, director of technology initiatives for Notre Dame鈥檚 College of Arts and Letters. 

鈥淲hile many of us may look at ChatGPT and think, 鈥榃ow, it can write a 500-word essay or help me be more efficient,鈥� others may look at it and say, 鈥業鈥檓 really shy and this can help me learn how to write or discuss topics with my friends in new ways,鈥欌�� he said.

Although there are many clear benefits to society, we unfortunately do not yet know when they work well enough to use appropriately and how people should interact with them, Behrens noted.

鈥淔or example, is it appropriate for a young person to interact with a chatbot if the software is so human-sounding that the young person becomes emotionally attached and vulnerable?鈥� he asked. 鈥淭he fundamental issue is that the technology and its applications are evolving faster than those in the social sciences, the humanities and the arts can keep up.鈥�

The first step in addressing the many emerging concerns is educational, said Behrens, a former vice president of AI development for Pearson

鈥淎rtificial intelligence is a type of software, and the more people treat it that way 鈥� rather than as some robotic being 鈥� the better off we will be,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we need to support education at all levels to get there. The questions society is facing because of AI are not only ethical but involve all the liberal arts: What are the economic impacts? What are the psychological impacts? What questions does this human-like fluency in language raise for issues of philosophy and theology? 

鈥淣otre Dame has a unique opportunity to bring to bear the full range of the liberal arts to help society tackle these issues.鈥�

Nick Berente studies how digital innovations like artificial intelligence technologies drive change in organizations and institutions. He teaches courses on Strategic Business Technology and is Co-Director of the GAMA Lab and affiliated faculty in Notre Dame's Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society and also Notre Dame's Technology Ethics Center. Prof. Berente received his PhD from Case Western Reserve University and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan. He was an entrepreneur prior to his academic career, founding two technology companies. He is the principal investigator for a number of U.S. National Science Foundation projects and has won multiple awards for his teaching and his research. Prof. Berente is a senior editor for MIS Quarterly.

Education:
Postdoc, University of Michigan
Ph D, Case Western Reserve University
MBA, Case Western Reserve University
BSBA, John Carroll University

Areas of Expertise:
Artificial Intelligence
Cyberinfrastructure
Digital Innovation and Transformation
Organizational and institutional change