April 2021 Patient Mini Symposium

Dr. Luke is the Director of the Immunotherapy and Drug Development Center of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Luke is a widely recognized expert in the management of cutaneous malignancies, particularly melanoma. Dr. Luke’s translational research is focused on application of large-scale informatics to advance cancer immunotherapy and he has been a lead investigator for clinical trials of numerous novel immunotherapy agents. Dr. Luke has received research support and/or professional awards from the NIH, DOD, ASCO and multiple professional or private societies. Dr. Luke received his M.D. from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and then trained at Boston University Medical Center and Memorial-Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He subsequently has held faculty positions at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Chicago.

Dr. Patel is an Associate Professor, Fellowship Program Director, and Director of the Uveal Melanoma Program in the Department of Melanoma Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  She is also Chair of the SWOG Melanoma Committee.

In these roles, she serves as lead physician for the uveal melanoma trials at MD Anderson including numerous investigator-initiated and sponsored clinical trials as well as Project 3 Co-Leader for the Melanoma SPORE.  She is also national Study Chair of SWOG S1801 and S1404 trials, the largest melanoma trials investigating neoadjuvant and adjuvant checkpoint blockade for cutaneous melanoma.

She has authored over 88 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, more than 28 as first or senior author.  Her grant work focuses on translational research, for which she has received at least 8 independent intramural and extramural funding awards as PI from the NIH/NCI, DOD, Melanoma SPORE, and MD Anderson Institutional Research Grants and Multidisciplinary Research Program award.  The goals of Dr. Patel’s work are to translate the findings into effective monitoring and therapeutic strategies for patients with melanoma. 

Dr. Alexandra Gangi is Director of the Gastrointestinal Tumor Program, Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, California. Her subspecialty within surgical oncology is gastrointestinal oncology and her clinical areas include neuroendocrine tumors, liver tumors, pancreatic cancers, and liver resection. In the area of research, she and her team are collecting tissue from primary and metastatic small bowel NETs and sequencing to see differences in epigenetic signature in these tumors. Dr. Gangi serves on the NANETS Membership and Diversity Committee.

Omid Hamid, MD is Chief, Translational Research and Immunotherapy and Director, Melanoma Therapeutics at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute. As the Director of the Melanoma Center and Phase I Immuno-Oncology Program Dr Omid Hamid works to ensure that patients receive access to the most up-to-date therapeutics.  Most recently, in his role with the Phase 1 Developmental Therapeutics Program, Dr Hamid has been instrumental in bringing new therapies from the investigational lab to the clinic for patient benefit.  These therapies involve Immuno-Oncologic therapies such as PD-1 inhibitors (Keytruda, Nivolumab, Atezolizumab) and other checkpoint inhibitors, therapies against tumor angiogenesis, and targeted agents that block internal processes in tumor cell’s function (braf,mek).  Dr Hamid’s research focus involves manipulation of a patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells and maintain continuously elevated levels of immunity and discovery of novel therapies. His research began in melanoma and has now extended into paradigm shifting trials for all cancers.

Dr. Sato is the Director of Metastatic Uveal Melanoma at Thomas Jefferson University. He has devoted his career to improving the understanding of ocular melanoma and developing new treatments, particularly for patients who developed a systemic recurrence.  Dr. Sato’s studies focus on cancer immunotherapy, or the use of the immune system to fight cancer.  His group recently reported that by using liver-directed treatments, the overall survival of uveal melanoma patients with liver metastasis has significantly improved.  Dr. Sato is building on these outcomes as he continues to examine methods of treating metastatic melanoma and delaying its progression

Emily Vasile, MAT, TVI, MS, CLVT, is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies at Salus University and Program Coordinator of the National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities at Salus University. She is certified in Elementary Education and Special Education in the state of New Jersey as well as a certified Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She is also a certified Low Vision Therapist through the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals (ACVREP). She continues her education through Salus University's Vision Rehabilitation Therapy program and plans to earn her certification in vision rehabilitation therapy (CVRT) through ACVREP. Her areas of expertise include low vision rehabilitation, education of students with visual impairments, and self advocacy.