Researcher Spotlight: Harsh Shah, DO
THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Stedman Family Scholar
The future of lymphoma treatment is rapidly evolving, and investigator-initiated clinical trials are helping to pave the way toward improved treatment approaches. Dr. Shah’s LRF research is focused on the development of a clinical trial investigating the effects of adding a novel agent, axatilimab, to current immunotherapies in patients with relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma who initially have a poor response to treatment. “When I worked with one of my mentors, Dr. Ramchandren, in clinic during fellowship, I saw many young patients with relapsed classical Hodgkin
who were refractory to traditional treatments including immunotherapy without any FDA-approved treatment options left,” he explains. “This motivated me to think about potential novel agents that could circumvent immunotherapy resistance and help patients.”
Dr. Shah earned his DO from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine at the AT Still University in Missouri. He completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Wayne State University and is now an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology at the University of Utah. Dr. Shah is particularly motivated by the lack of treatment options available for patients with relapsed/refractory lymphomas and hopes that his LRF research will help uncover new therapies for these patients.
He plans to build on the foundations he gains through the Lymphoma Scientific Research Mentoring Program to continue this work throughout his career and hopes to one day be a research leader in the field of lymphoma, with a focus on running investigator-initiated clinical trials. “Leading a multi-disciplinary clinical research team can be a challenge,” he says. “The LSRMP will help me in understanding the concept of forming and sustaining such teams.”
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