HEMATOLOGY / ONCOLOGY

Goals: Over the last year, the division has undergone very substantial growth in the clinical realm and in research–it has increased its faculty and staff, as well as the scope of its efforts. One major goal for 2023 is to consolidate and integrate these efforts for long term success. A second major goal is to recruit an outstanding new director to lead the division.

Clinical Areas of Excellence:
cancer prevention, particularly in testicular and germ cell cancers, led by Dr. Lawrence Einhorn (who pioneered the use of chemotherapy for curative intent in testicular cancer, and is widely considered the world’s expert in this cancer); thymic malignancies; breast cancer; and pancreatic cancer. Additionally, the division administers the Cancer Prevention Clinic, which provides a medical home for persons with a known increased risk for developing cancer, and the Rapid Diagnostic Clinic, which provides access to an Advanced Practice Provider who can further facilitate a patient’s work-up for a suspected malignancy or hematologic disorder.

Education Areas of Excellence:
providing outstanding fellowship training in Hematology/ Oncology, with the laboratory-based faculty additionally highly involved in graduate and postdoctoral training across a wide range of disciplines in the Graduate School.

Research Areas of Excellence:
research in the division is closely tied to the research Programs in the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center (IUSCCC), which is an NCIdesignated Comprehensive Cancer Center as well as a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Division members are very closely involved in all 4 of IUSCCC Research Programs: the Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CPC); the Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics Program (EDT); the Hematopoiesis and Hematologic Malignancies Program (HHM:; the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program (TMM); and Global Oncology.

LEADERSHIP & ADMINISTRATION

KELVIN LEE, MD
HH Gregg Professor of Oncology
Professor of Medicine Interim Director, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Director, IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Associate Dean for Cancer Research

NASSER HANNA, MD
Tom and Julie Wood Family Foundation Professor of Lung Cancer Clinical Research
Associate Division Director Service Line Leader

RAKESH MEHTA, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Associate Division Director

KATHY MILLER, MD
Ballvé Lantero Professor of Oncology
Assistant Division Director

ELSAYED ALY, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Service Line Leader

KATIE ROBINSON
Division Administrator

NAUREEN AHMED
Service Line Administrator

SABRINA HETZEL
Human Resources Business Partner

Featured Faculty

TARAH BALLINGER, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine

• Recently named Vera Bradley Foundation Scholar in Breast Cancer Research
• Recognized for establishing the Multidisciplinary Oncology Vitality and Exercise (MOVE) program, which gives breast cancer patients a personalized plan for exercise and physical therapy throughout all stages of their cancer journey

Additional Leadership Roles

Jennifer Schwartz, MD
Assistant Dean for Curriculum; Director of Phase 2

Rakesh Mehta, MD
Vice Chair for Education, Department of Medicine

Huda Salman, MD, PhD
Director, Brown Center for Immunotherapy
Co-leader Hematopoiesis and Hematological Malignancies Program

Kelvin Lee, MD
Director, IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Cancer Research Board Member, National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Patrick Loehrer, MD
Director of Global Oncology (AMPATH)

Mat Opyrchal, MD, PhD
Co-leader Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics Program (IUSCCC)

Kathy Miller, MD
Associate Director of Clinical Research (IUSCCC)
Deputy Editor Journal of Clinical Oncology

Patrick Loehrer, MD
Special Assistant to the Director, Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute

FELLOWSHIP

Hematology/Oncology Fellowship (three years)
Director: Ahmad Al-Hader, MD

NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS

A. Sudha P, Ahsan A, Ashby C, Kausar T, Khera A, Kazeroun MH, Hsu CC, Wang L, Fitzsimons E, Salminen O, Blaney P, Czader M, Williams J, Abu Zaid MI, AnsariPour N, Yong KL, van Rhee F, Pierceall WE, Morgan GJ, Flynt E, Gooding S, Abonour R, Ramasamy K, Thakurta A, Walker BA. Myeloma Genome Project Panel is a Comprehensive Targeted Genomics Panel for Molecular Profiling of Patients with Multiple Myeloma.Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Jul 1;28(13):2854-2864 PMID: 35522533 (IF 50.1)

B. Tachibana I, Kern SQ, Douglawi A, Tong Y, Mahmoud M, Masterson TA, Adra N, Foster RS, Einhorn LH, Cary C. Primary Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection for Patients With Pathologic Stage II Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumor-N1, N2, and N3 Disease: Is Adjuvant Chemotherapy Necessary? J Clin Oncol. 2022 Nov 10;40(32):3762-3769. PMID: 35675585 (IF 89). All the investigators on this publication are from IU.

C. Ballinger TJ, Jiang G, Shen F, Miller KD, Sledge GW Jr, Schneider BP. Impact of African ancestry on the relationship between body mass index and survival in an early-stage breast cancer trial (ECOG-ACRIN E5103). Cancer. 2022 Jun 1;128(11):2174-2181. PMID: 35285940 (IF 27.4)

ASSOCIATED RESEARCH CENTERS

IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
IU Cancer Institute
Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research
IU Sickle Cell Disease Center of Excellence
Supportive Oncology Center of Excellence