Varun Jain, MD

I have worked for many years in the area of translational and clinical investigation focused on the Myelodysplastic Syndrome and leukemia. This has involved drug development for an orphan disease in a multi-institutional national Cooperative Group, The Cancer and Leukemia Group B. I served as Principal Investigator for three successive trials; two phase I/II studies which demonstrated clinical activity of azacitidine in MDS and then a randomized phase III study of azacitidine compared to supportive care demonstrating azacitidine superiority. These three trials led to the approval of azacitidine by the FDA as the first drug approved for this disease. The treatment I helped pioneer, develop and test at Mount Sinai and in the Cancer Cooperative Groups and an International Consortium has changed the face of treatment of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome. It has improved the outcomes for tens of thousands of patients and their families around the globe. Based on our studies, azacitidine has become the standard of care for patients with higher-risk MDS and represents an important treatment option for older patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. These studies have established Mount Sinai as a center of expertise for MDS, and we are currently studying new therapeutic approaches to MDS including the development of novel agents. The approach we pioneered demonstrated that epigenetic therapy, one that can reprogram cells, could be clinically effective in MDS and some forms of AML. Cell reprogramming is now being tested in other diseases to modulate gene expression and cellular behavior.

Virginia Corbett, MD is a Internal Medicine provider with Mount Sinai Health System, treating patients in the New York area. Dr. Corbett is committed to compassionate, coordinated care that supports patients throughout the diverse communities we serve.

Thomas Marron, MD, PhD, is Assistant Director of Immunotherapy and Early Phase Trials at The Tisch Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As a member of the Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dr. Marron treats thoracic malignancies, including non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, and malignant pleural mesothelioma. He leads numerous clinical trials for thoracic malignancies and hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). He also leads the Phase 1 trials program at The Mount Sinai Hospital, where he enrolls patients into dozens of trials focused on development of novel cancer immunotherapies. As a member of The Tisch Cancer Institute and the Precision Immunology Institute, Dr. Marron works closely with basic scientists across the Mount Sinai Health System, translating preclinical findings into clinical advances. He leads a large translational neoadjuvant program focused on clinical trials for multiple types of cancer. The goal of these trials is to decrease the likelihood that cancer will return after surgery; in parallel, they support deep interrogation of the effect of new and standard therapies on the tumor immune microenvironment at the single-cell level. Further, the trials enable Dr. Marron and collaborators to define combination approaches that optimize response rates and the durability of novel immune-based therapies, while minimizing toxicity.