Richard Ambinder, MD

William G Nelson, MD - Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, situated in Baltimore, MD, stands as a beacon of hope in the realm of cancer treatment. Boasting a wealth of expertise and cutting-edge research, this center is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of cancer care. Through a harmonious blend of patient-centered approach and pioneering research initiatives, they strive to offer holistic care that addresses not just the disease but also the individual as a whole. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, William G Nelson, MD - Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, embodies a spirit of relentless pursuit of better treatment outcomes. The collaborative efforts of their medical professionals and researchers echo a symphony of innovation, leading to advancements in cancer therapies and patient care. Here, the fusion of compassion and scientific rigor creates a nurturing environment where breakthroughs in cancer treatment are not just envisioned but realized, offering renewed hope to those battling this formidable disease. Generated using this brand's available information

Richard F. Ambinder, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as the James B. Murphy Professor of Oncology and the Director of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. He is program co-leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program and leads the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) site at Johns Hopkins and the AMC Translational Sciences Working Group nationally. Dr. Ambinder graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, after which he received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before completing his residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Johns Hopkins University, and completed his oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Within the clinic, Dr. Ambinder is active in the treatment of lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma.Dr. Ambinder’s research is focused on exploring opportunities to prevent or treat cancer with viral infections. Virus-associated tumors are among the most common malignancies in certain populations and regions. For instance, Burkitt's lymphoma (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KSHV) are common in equatorial Africa, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (EBV) is common in southern Chinese populations or those with southern Chinese origins, and immunoblastic lymphomas (EBV) are common in immunocompromised patients (organ transplant recipients, AIDS patients, etc). Thus, Dr. Ambinder’s new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment stand to have a direct impact on the lives of cancer patients around the globe.Additionally, the study of how viruses can impact these tumors is important in creating model systems for the development of new approaches to cancer care. Currently, many immunotherapies target unidentified antigens, making the measurement of relevant immune responses problematic at best. However, in EBV-associated tumors the antigens are well defined, thus allowing the Ambinder lab to define the epitope-specific cellular immune responses. As a result of this breakthrough, interventions designed to alter immune response —whether they be vaccine based interventions, adoptive immunotherapy interventions, or pharmacologic interventions — may all be assessed in terms of relevant surrogate markers. Much in the same way the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma with radiotherapy and chemotherapy paved the way for the modern approach to cancer treatment more broadly, the treatment of EBV-associated tumors (including Hodgkin's lymphoma) may pave the way to the more generalized use of these modalities to treat a myriad of cancer types.

Dr. James Fackler is a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise include acute respiratory distress syndrome, novel respiratory therapies, and critical care informatics.Dr. Fackler received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Illinois and earned his M.D. from Rush Medical College in Chicago. He completed his residencies in pediatrics and anesthesiology and then fellowships in pediatric intensive care and pediatric anesthesia at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His first faculty position was at the Children's Hospital in Boston where he was an early leader in use of the internet for health data exchange and critical care monitoring.Dr. Fackler returned to the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1996 to run the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation program and Respiratory Therapy.He took a "sabbatical" from 2002 to 2006 and worked for the Cerner Corporation developing their critical care and device integration solutions. He has founded three health care informatics-based startups and consults for other device and information integration companies.Dr. Fackler's research interests include optimizing team performance in pediatric critical care. He has mentored pediatric residents, critical care fellows, and biomedical engineering undergrads, Masters and PhD students. His current major focus is on sepsis.He serves as an associate editor for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and as an ad hoc journal reviewer for many notable publications including New England Journal of Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. He is a member of American Association of Artificial Intelligence, American Medical Informatics Association and the Society for Critical Care Medicine. He helped found, and is on the Board of the non-profit, Machine Learning for Healthcare.Dr. Fackler is a frequent lecturer and panelist on the subject of critical care informatics. He is an expert in data integration and its use.