Transplant Oncology Infectious Diseases

Translational research

Walsh, Small, Satlin, Petraitiene, Petraitis, Kodiyanplakkal, Plate, Drelick, Soave, Helfgott

Infectious diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients with cancer, and those undergoing transplantation. The research mission of the Transplantation-Oncology Infectious Diseases Program is to develop new strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients with transplantation and neoplastic diseases through multidisciplinary translational research. The tools of this research include epidemiology, pathogenesis, host defenses, antimicrobial pharmacology, immunopharmacology, and molecular diagnostic microbiology, and clinical trials.

Following the observations at the bedside, we work systematically through in vitro systems, laboratory animal models, phase I-II clinical trials, and, where applicable, to multicenter phase III clinical trials. Our clinical trials are conducted with consortia composed of seasoned clinical investigators with expertise in immunocompromised patients. Among the patient populations studied within the Program are those with hematological malignancies, aplastic anemia, myelodysplasia, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and solid organ transplantation, including kidney, liver, and pancreas.

Our strategy for translational research is predicated on an iterative process of bedside to bench to bedside with an emphasis on the critical role of the physician-scientist in this process. These studies are conducted in collaboration with our colleagues in Oncology, Hematology, Nephrology, Hepatobiliary Transplantation Surgery, Pediatrics, Clinical Microbiology, Pharmacology, Microbiology & Immunology, Critical Care Medicine, and Ophthalmology. We have a long and successful tradition of mentoring the future leaders in the field of infections in immunocompromised patients. We also are developing a Weill Cornell-Columbia University NYPH-wide Transplantation-Oncology Infectious Diseases Fellowship.

Invasive fungal infections

Multidrug resistant bacterial infections

Viral infections

HIV

COVID-19 infections