Hematology Oncology Grand Rounds

The MUSC Hollings Cancer Center Hematology Oncology division hosts weekly Grand Rounds presentations on a variety of topics relevant to the field. Speakers include MUSC faculty as well as faculty from other institutions around the country. Select presentations are curated below.

July 2023 Grand Rounds

July 21

"Pembrolizumab Monotherapy Prior to Limited Chemotherapy as Front-Line Therapy for Patients with Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma"

Objective: Reviewing the history, pathophysiology, epidemiology, and management of classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Understanding the history and pathophysiology of pembrolizumab for the management of classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Reviewing a new Phase II clinical trial of pembrolizumab monotherapy prior to limited chemotherapy as front-line therapy in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Megan Melody, M.D.
Chief Hematology Oncology Fellow
Northwestern University

June 2023 Grand Rounds

June 30

"Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Current Treatment Approaches & the Discovery of Novel Therapies with 3D Patient-Derived Models"

Objective: Discuss current accepted treatments for metastatic CRC and how precision oncology can help patients get more targeted therapies.

Abed Aljamal, M.D.
First Year Fellow
Division of Hematology Oncology
Medical University of South Carolina

"A Novel Approach to the Role of Immunotherapy in Triple Negative Breast Cancer"

Objective: Review the standard treatment of triple negative breast cancer and discuss the case of a patient that shows a unique treatment consideration for potential benefit of immunotherapy following parp inhibitors.

Sushma Pavuluri, D.O.
First Year Fellow
Division of Hematology Oncology
Medical University of South Carolina

June 16

"Interlacing Data with Decisions to Invigorate Cancer Prevention and Population Health"

Objective: Providing an overview of how large health care databases can be leveraged to advance cancer prevention and population health.

Kelly (Kalyani) Sonawane, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
Hollings Cancer Center
Medical University of South Carolina

May 2023 Grand Rounds

May 26

"Lung Cancer in Asian Americans: Characteristics and Disparities of Care"

Objective: Evaluating the cancer disparities in Asian Americans with lung cancer from disease screening, treatment and end of life care.

Xiao Hu, M.D.
Hematology & Oncology Fellow (2nd year)
Division of Hematology Oncology
Tufts Medical Center

May 12

"Neoadjuvant Therapy in HNSCC: An Old but New Treatment Paradigm"

Siddharth H. Sheth, D.O.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Oncology
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

April 2023 Grand Rounds

April 7

"The Use of Precision Oncology in Sarcoma"

Objective: Sarcoma overview, etiology, diagnosis and standard treatment options, introduction to precision medicine and sarcoma, and future directions.

Emily Jonczak, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Sarcoma Medical Oncology
Inpatient Medical Director of Medical Oncology
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

March 2023 Grand Rounds

March 24

"The Mid-South Miracle: Program Implementation to Improve Population-Level Lung Cancer Outcomes"

Objective: Discuss the overview of the geography of lung cancer in the U.S. and the framework for intervention: the population-impact pyramid. At the base of the pyramid: the Detecting Early Lung Cancer (DELUGE) in the Mississippi Delta project.

Raymond Osarogiagbon, MBBS, FACP
Chief Scientist, Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation
Director, Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program
Baptist Cancer Center

March 10

"Non-parametric and Spatial Modeling of Single-cell Biological Datasets"

Objective: Discuss a nonparametric method for studying association between a functional protein with clinical outcomes in the context of multiplex imaging datasets, and a scalable method to analyze spatial variability of genes in the context of spatial transcriptomics datasets.

Souvik Seal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina

March 3

"Updates in Geriatric Oncology"

Objective: Discuss the updates in geriatric oncology.

Thomas Reske, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Hematologist/Oncologist, Geriatric Medicine
Department of Medicine
LSU HSC New Orleans

February 2023 Grand Rounds

February 24

"Lutetium Lu-177 Vipivotide Tetraxetan for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer"

Objective: Targeting PSMA for diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Yadav Pandey, M.D.
Second Year Fellow, Hematology & Oncology Division
Medical University of South Carolina

"Tarlatamab in Recurrent Small Cell Lung Cancer"

Objective: Discuss the phase I data of Tarlatamab for recurrent small cell lung cancer.

Sariya (Sally) Wongsaengsak, M.D.
Second Year Fellow, Hematology & Oncology Division
Medical University of South Carolina

February 17

"De-escalation Strategies in Head and Neck Cancer"

Objective: Discuss de-escalation strategies in head and neck cancer.

Bhisham Chera, M.D.
Professor of Radiation Oncology & Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Wendy & Keith Wellin Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology
Vice Chairman for Safety and Quality Assurance
Department of Radiation Oncology
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center

December 2022 Grand Rounds

December 2

"Structural Racism: A Mediator of Disparities in Acute Myeloid Leukemia with Focus on AYAs"

Objective: Review current outcomes in AYA leukemia and define structural racism and analyze the role structural racism plays in survival disparities among patients with AML with a focus on the AYA population.

Madelyn Burkart, M.D.
Hematology/Oncology Fellow
McGaw Northwestern Memorial Hospital

July 2022 Grand Rounds

July 29

"Integrating EBM with Decision Theory to Improve Health Outcomes"

Objective: To link the major developments in the last 25 years related to efforts to improve delivery of health care practice of evidence-based medicine, decision theory and health outcome research. To demonstrate how conversion of clinical practice guidelines into clinical pathways and fast-and-frugal (FFT) decision trees can help optimize anticoagulation management in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 resulting in decrease of death, VTE or major bleed.

Benjamin Djulbegovic, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Research, Department of Supportive Care Medicine
Professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Population Sciences
City of Hope

April 2022 Grand Rounds

April 22

"Enabling the Delivery of Precision Medicine"

Objective: To discuss the application of precision medicine and it’s impact on patient outcomes.

Martin Dietrich, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Oncologist
Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute

April 8

"Advancement in PNH Management"

Objective: Proximal complement inhibitors may drastically improve hematological response to complement inhibition in PNH.

Arash Velayati, M.D.
First Year Fellow, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship Training Program
Medical University of South Carolina

"The Role of Adjuvant Abemaciclib with Endocrine Therapy in High-Risk Hormone Receptor-Positive Early Breast Cancer"

Objective: Learning a new indication of Abemaciclib in patients with hormone positive early breast cancer.

Sariya (Sally) Wongsaengsak, M.D.
First Year Fellow, Hematology & Oncology Fellowship Training Program
Medical University of South Carolina

March 2022 Grand Rounds

March 18

"Targeting the PI3K/AKT Pathway in Triple Negative Breast Cancer"

Objective: To review the current and ongoing trial data on PI3K/AKT pathway inhibition for triple negative breast cancer, including mechanisms of translating preclinical PDX model studies into clinical trials of novel therapeutics.

Nusayba A. Bagegni, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology
Washington University School of Medicine

March 4

"A Patient-Centered Approach to Advance Health Equity and Breast Cancer Care Delivery"

Objective: Outlining the use of technology to collect patient reported outcomes (PROs) and social determinants of health (SDOH) for breast cancer patients undergoing therapy.

Maysa M. Abu-Khalaf, M.D., MBA
Professor of Medical Oncology, Section of Solid Tumors
Director, Breast Medical Oncology Program
Co-Director, Breast Care Center
Thomas Jefferson University

February 2022 Grand Rounds

February 18

"Targeting Tumor Innate Inflammation in Pancreatic Cancer"

Objective: To present pre-clinical data on two novel therapeutic strategies in pancreatic cancer and early phase clinical trials that are being planned.

Kian H. Lim, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Oncology
Washington University School of Medicine

February 4

"Novel Immunomodulatory Approaches in AML: A New Frontier?"

Objective: Novel immune modulatory approaches that augment immune activation has clinical activity in AML and may lead to improved overall outcomes.

Joshua F. Zeidner, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology
Associate Chief of Research, Hematology
Section Chief, Leukemia Research
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center