Faculty Team

Rasim Gucalp, M.D., FACP
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
Thoracic oncology, brain tumor, and lymphoma

Ellen Friedman, M.D., FACP
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Co-Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine  

Research Interests:
Anemia of unidentified cause

Division of Medical Oncology

I. David Goldman, M.D.
Director, Albert Einstein Cancer Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Antifolates, specifically, pemetrexed, a new agent approved for the treatment of several human malignancies

Roman Perez-Soler, M.D.
Chief, Division of Oncology
Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
We have extensively explored the use of liposome carriers to deliver novel, non-cross resistant platinum, anthrcyclines, and more recently, camptothecin agents. These efforts have resulted in the introduction of two new agents in clinical trials. One major interest at this point is the development of aerosolized therapies as an early intervention approach to repair tobacco-induced bronchial damage. We have demonstrated proof of principle using corrective gene therapy with the p53 gene in a liposome carrier and we plan to expand the use of demethylating agents and anti-EGFR agents via inhalation.

Leonard  Augenlicht, PhD
Associate Chairman of Laboratory Research,
Associate Director of Albert Einstein Cancer Center
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Joseph Sparano, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Associate Chairman of Clinical Research
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Improving treatment for patients with early and advanced breast cancer by integrating new agents with standard treatment, and therapeutic selection and target identification by genomic profiling

Robert Gallagher, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Acute myeloid leukemia - especially acute promyelocytic leukemia, molecular mechanisms of disease response, and resistance to retinoids and arsenicals

Cy A. Stein, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Prostate cancer and developmental and gene silencing

Sridhar Mani, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Phase 1 Program in Oncology
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Molecular oncology, translational science, basic fundamental scientific investigations into drug interactions, and tumorigenesis

Ira Braunschweig, M.D.
Assistant Professor Medicine
Director, Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation Program
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Stem cell transplantation and complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation

Sanjay Goel, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Site Director, Weiler Division
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
Developing new drugs for patients with cancer in the form of clinical trials, and development of novel biomarkers for drug effect and individualize therapy using pharmacodynamic markers and pharmacogenomics

Missak Haigentz, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Novel therapy targets in lung and head and neck cancers and development of clinical trials, as well as new strategies for the treatment and prevention of lung and head and neck cancers

Christine Pellegrino, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
New strategies for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer

Lakshmi Rajdev, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Incorporating new and novel agents into the management of gastrointestinal malignancies and developing correlative studies that help optimize patient selection and minimize toxicity

Amit Verma, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein Cancer Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Studying the role of MAP kinases in the regulation of hematopoiesis, demonstrating that the p38 MAPK signaling pathway is the dominant cytokine regulated inhibitory pathway in human hematopoiesis, and evaluating other novel small molecule inhibitors in MDS. Ongoing studies involve the search for MDS autoantigens and generation of murine models of this disease.

Samir Parekh, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Epigenetic regulation and DNA mismatch repair in hematological malignancies, especially diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and myeloma. Students and fellows are encouraged to participate in laboratory projects, which may be short-term (summer projects) or year-long (2nd/ 3rd year fellow) endeavors.

Andreas Kaubisch, M.D.
Attending Physician
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
The oncology team at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine participates in a number of national clinical trials which aim to advance the care of patients with colo- rectal, liver, and anal cancer, to name a few. In collaboration with colleagues from radiation oncology, new clinical trials for pancreas cancer, rectal cancer, and hepatocellular cancer are currently in the planning stage.

Olga Derman, M.D.
Attending Physician
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Stem cell transplantation and complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation

Smitha Mellacheruvu, M.D.
Attending Physician
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Hematopoietic stem cell transplant and Graft versus Host disease

Division of Hematology 

Michael Stemerman, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Interim Division Chief of Hematology
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
A major heart attack risk factor is elevated cholesterol, especially the cholesterol carried by low density lipoprotein (LDL). Our studies examine the hypothesis that LDL alters the function of the vascular endothelium and this alteration may be an important mechanism for the development of atherosclerosis. Of particular focus is our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in this process and the role mononuclear cells play in their interaction with the LDL treated vascular endothelium.

Henny H. Billett, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.P.
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Professor of Pathology
Associate Division Chief of Hematology
Director of Thrombosis Prevention Treatment Program
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
Thrombosis, anticoagulation, sickle cell

Edward Burns, M.D.
Executive Dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Director of Clinical and Biological Research at AECOM
Professor of Pathology
Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Laboratory hematology

Eric Bouhassira, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Ingeborg And Ira Leon Rennert, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Stem cell biology - particularly human embryonic stem cells and induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPS), gene therapy for the hemoglobinopathies based on genetic modification of patient specific iPS, the genetic and epigenetic of transcriptional regulation and the transmission of epigenetic memory, and developing techniques to assess the epigenetic status of induced pluripotent stem cells using novel technology based on massively-parallel sequencing.

Ira Sussman, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Pathology
Vice Chairman of Pathology
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Coagulation

Lennette Benjamin, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Research Interests:
Pain management

Jacob Rand, M.D.
Professor of Pathology
Professor of Medicine 
Director, Hematology, Advanced Coagulation and Protein Separation Laboratories
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
The investigation of the effects of antiphosphoilipid (aPI) antibodies on an anticoagulant protein annexin AS (previously known as annexin V)

Seetharama Acharya, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Physiology and Biophysics
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Regulated hemoglobin

Research Interests:
Erythrocyte membrane

Rhoda Hirsch, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Anatomy and Structural Biology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Understanding hemoglobin structure, function and stability via biophysical and red blood cell studies of hemoglobin mutants (HbC, HbS, and HbE), blood substitutes - hemoglobin based oxygen carriers, and primary cilia in human embryonic stem cells.

Dhananjay Kaul, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Vascular biology of hemoglobin disorders, microcirculation oxidative stress blood cell-endothelium, nitric oxide (NO), non-NO vasodilators, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha

Mary Fabry, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
The role of nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase in sickle cell disease by study of both patients and sickle transgenic mice, the effects of supplementation with arginine and tetrahydrobiopterin, the role of cation transport in hemoglobinopathies in human patients and transgenic mouse models, and perfusion and oxygenation in sickle cell patients and transgenic mouse models.

John Greally, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
Associate Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Cancer, type II diabetes mellitus, and aging and environmental influences on the epigenome

Mervyn Goldstein, M.D.
Associate Clinical Professor
Attending Physician Emeritus
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Hematologic morphology

Lawrence Cytryn, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Sickle cell disease, myeloproliferative disorders, and hematologic neoplasia

Joan Uehlinger, M.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Pathology
Director, Blood Bank
Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Immunohematology

Jane Little, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Pulmonary hypertension and sickle cell disease

Anne Rybicki, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Research Interests:
Sickle cell mice transgenic 

AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS

JACOBI MEDICAL CENTER - Attending Staff

Tarek Elrafei, D.O.
Assistant professor of Medicine
Attending Physician
Site Director at Jacobi Medical
Jacobi Medical Center

Karenza Alexis, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Attending Physician
Jacobi Medical Center

Louis J. Reed, M.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Attending Physician
Jacobi Medical Center

Marianna Strakhan, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Attending Physician
Jacobi Medical Center

LINCOLN MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH CENTER - Attending Staff

Niyati Bhagwati, M.D.
Chief of Oncology
Site Director at Lincoln Medical
Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center

Doru Paul, M.D.
Hematology Oncology Attending
Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center

Caroline Hwang, M.D.
Hematology Oncology Attending
Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center