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Division of Hematology & Oncology Hematology Oncology
  1. Division of Hematology-Oncology
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  4. Combined Hematology-Oncology Track
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Current Fellows

AY 2024-2025 UCSD HemOnc Fellows

Third Year Fellows - Class of 2025

Class of 2025

Tali Azenkot, M.D.

Hometown: San Jose, CA

Medical School: University of California, Davis

IM Residency: University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  The right balance between broad exposure and ability to tailor the fellowship experience, while living in San Diego!

Research and Career Interests:  Solid tumor oncology

Posters/Presentations/Publications:

  • Gaut D, Oliai C, Boiarsky J, Zhang S, Salhotra A, Azenkot T, Kennedy VE, Khanna V, Olmedo Gutierrez K, Shukla N, Moskoff B, Park G, Afkhami M, Patel A, Jeyakumar D, Mannis G, Logan AC, Jonas BA, Schiller G. Measurable residual disease conversion rate with consolidation chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia. Leuk Lymphoma. 2024 Jan;65(1):69-77. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2023.2264426. Epub 2024 Jan 10. PMID: 37801340.
  • Khanna V, Azenkot T, Liu SQ, Gilbert J, Cheung E, Lau K, Pollyea DA, Traer E, Jonas BA, Zhang TY, Mannis GN. Outcomes with molecularly targeted agents as salvage therapy following frontline venetoclax + hypomethylating agent in adults with acute myeloid leukemia: A multicenter retrospective analysis. Leuk Res. 2023 Aug;131:107331. doi: 10.1016/j.leukres.2023.107331. Epub 2023 May 29. PMID: 37263072.
  • Azenkot T, Jonas BA. Clinical Impact of Measurable Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jul 26;14(15):3634. doi: 10.3390/cancers14153634. PMID: 35892893; PMCID: PMC9330895.
  • Azenkot T, Schwarz EB. Special Considerations for Women of Reproductive Age on Anticoagulation. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Aug;37(11):2803-2810. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07528-y. Epub 2022 May 31. PMID: 35641728; PMCID: PMC9411301.

Hobbies: Yoga/ Pilates, traveling, exploring neighborhoods in San Diego

Tanim Jain, M.D.

Hometown: Queens (New York City), NY

Medical School: Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

IM Residency: Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  Having exposure to multiple different subspecialities within hematology/oncology, the opportunity to maintain our own patient panel at the VA, and my co-fellows

Research and Career Interests:  Malignant hematology and medical education

Posters/Presentations/Publications:

  • Snider, C. & Jain, T. “Cardiotoxicity in Malignant Hematology: A Focus on CAR T-cell Therapy.” ASH Hematopoiesis, 2024 Feb.<https://www.hematology.org/education/trainees/fellows/hematopoiesis/2024/cardiotoxicity-in-malignant-hematology-a-focus-on-car-t-cell-therapy>;  
  • Jain. T., et. al. “Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Relapsed DLBCL in Single Center Serving a Minority Population” Blood 140 (Supplement 1), 2022 Nov 15. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2022-170633 
  • Fedorov, K., Jain, T. et. al. “Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in an Older Adult Population.” Haematologica, 2022 Sept; Vol 107 No 9. <https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2022.281020>
  • Jain, T., Swiderski, D., & LeFrancois, D. “Implementation of a framework for serious illness conversations in the ambulatory setting for internal medicine residents.” Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2022 June 17; 37 (Suppl 2): S632. Plenary presentation at SGIM 2022 Annual Meeting.
  • Jain, T. & Shaines, M. “H. pylori gastritis-associated cobalamin deficiency presenting as severe hemolytic anemia.” Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2022 June 17; 37 (Suppl 2): S458.  Poster presentation at SGIM 2022 Annual Meeting.
  • Jain, T. et. al. “Judicious Opioid Prescribing & Overdose Management: OSCEs for Third-Year Medical Students.”  Academic Medicine. 2021 Nov 1;96(11S): S189.  Poster presentation at AAMC Learn Serve Lead 2021.

Hobbies: Baking, hiking + exploring the national parks, traveling, and reading

Brian Ji, M.D., Ph.D. (PSTP)

Hometown: Madison, WI

Medical School: Columbia University

IM Residency: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  The breadth and depth of clinical training, the outstanding research opportunities, and the people!

Research and Career Interests:  Better understand the mechanisms of tumor growth and proliferation

Posters/Presentations/Publications: 

  • Shahin M., Ji B, Dixit P. “EMBED: Essential Microbiome Dynamics, a dimensionality reduction approach for longitudinal microbiome studies”. NPJ Systems Biology and Applications. June 2023.

  • Li Z*, Ji B*, Dixit P*, Lien E, Tchourine K, Hosios A, Tchourine K, Westermark A, Gorodetsky E, Sullivan L, Vander Heiden, M, Vitkup D. “Cancer cells depend on environmental lipids for proliferation when electron acceptors are limited”. Nature Metabolism. June 2022. *First author.

  • Ji B*, Sheth R*, Dixit P, Tchourine K, Vitkup D. "Macroecological dynamics of gut microbiota". Nature Microbiology. May 2020. *First author.

  • Ji B*, Sheth R*, Dixit P*, Huang Y, Kaufman A, Wang H, Vitkup D. "Quantifying spatiotemporal variability and noise in absolute microbiota abundances using replicate sampling". Nature Methods. August 2019. *First author.

Hobbies: Playing basketball, soccer, and keeping up with my toddler!

Eric Roth, M.D., Ph.D. (PSTP)

Hometown: Carmel, IN

Medical School: Stony Brook University

IM Residency: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  The close-knit, supportive, and approachable community that UCSD has fostered in part from keeping so many of their past trainees as faculty!

Research and Career Interests:  Solid tumor oncology

Posters/Presentations/Publications:

  • Cimica V, Dalrymple NA, Roth E, Nasonov A, Mackow ER. An innate immunity-regulating virulence determinant is uniquely encoded by the Andes virus nucleocapsid protein. mBio. 2014 Feb 18;5(1). PMID: 24549848
  • Roth E, Cao J. miR-181 suppresses metastasis via MMP-14. Aging. 2015 Oct;7(10):740-1. PMID: 26527609
  • Li Y, Kuscu C, Banach A, Zhang Q, Pulkoski-Gross A, Kim D, Liu J, Roth E, Li E, Shroyer KR, Denoya PI, Zhu X, Chen L, Cao J. miR-181a-5p Inhibits Cancer Cell Migration and Angiogenesis via Downregulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-14. Cancer Res. 2015 Jul 1;75(13):2674-85. PMID: 25977338
  • Alford VM, Roth E, Zhang Q, Cao J. A Novel Collagen Dot Assay for Monitoring Cancer Cell Migration. Methods Mol Biol. 2016; 1406:181-7. PMID: 26820955
  • Roth E, Frohman MA. Proliferative and metastatic roles for Phospholipase D in mouse models of cancer. Adv Biol Regul. 2018 Jan; 67:134-140. PMID: 29154090
  • Banach A, Jiang YP, Roth E, Kuscu C, Cao J, Lin RZ. CEMIP upregulates BiP to promote breast cancer cell survival in hypoxia. Oncotarget. 2019 Jul 2;10(42):4307-4320. PMID: 31303964
  • Roth E*, Ghafary I*, Chang-Kyung K*, Lu M*, Taub E, Lee S, Cohen I, Lu Z. The association of QTc prolongation with cardiovascular events in cancer patients taking tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Cardiooncology. 2023 May 19;9(1):25. PMID: 37208762

Hobbies: Road bicycling, trail running, snorkeling, surfing

Christina Snider, M.D.

Hometown: Augusta, GA

Medical School: Case Western Reserve University

IM Residency: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  My favorite part of the structure of our fellowship. While we are an academically focused program, fellows are still exposed to a variety of career paths: from academics at UCSD, to general hematology/oncology at the San Diego VA, to more industry-oriented careers.  

Additionally, I have to mention that I am so grateful for the people at UCSD, from my co-fellows, to attendings, to nursing staff, to our program admin. I know l can always reach out for help and support when needed.

Research and Career Interests:  Open-minded! I'm grateful to have the opportunity second and third year to explore different disease types and career paths.

Posters/Presentations/Publications:

  • Snider CA, Budhwani H, Logue M, Goyal P, Pugh K, Harvey M, Kassim A, Jayani R. (November, 2022). Healthcare utilization in older adults (≥70 years) undergoing cellular therapy for hematologic malignancies. Poster accepted at: Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting; Indianapolis, IN.
  • Snider CA, Fung K, Gould F, Adema V, Kerr CM, Kongkiatkamon S, Awada H, Co M, Kuzmanovic T, Patel BJ, Gerds AT, Mukherjee S, Nazha A, Carraway HE, Radivoyevitch T, Maciejewski JP, Visconte V, Sekeres MA, Advani AS. (December, 2019). RORA is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Poster presented at: American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting; Orlando, FL.
  • Snider CA, Yang K, Mack SC, Suh JH, Chao ST, Merchant TE, & Murphy ES. Impact of radiation therapy and extent of resection for ependymoma in young children: A population-based study. Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2017, Nov; 65(3): 1-8. PMID: 29115718.
  • Snider CA, Voss BJ, McDonald WH, & Cover TL. Growth phase-dependent composition of the Helicobacter pylori exoproteome. Journal of Proteomics. 2016, Jan; 1(130): 94-107. PMID: 26363098.
  • Snider CA, Voss BJ, McDonald WH, & Cover TL. Supporting data for analysis of the Helicobacter pylori exoproteome. Data in Brief. 2015, Dec; 5(5): 560-563. PMID: 26958609.

Hobbies: Running, cycling, yoga, exploring California, practicing Spanish and learning a little Swedish, spending time with family and friends

Alexander Tong, M.D., Ph.D.

Hometown: Dallas, TX

Medical School: Case Western Reserve University

IM Residency: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

What is your favorite part of UCSD fellowship?  Definitely the people! Attendings are thought leaders in their field yet are readily approachable, and there so many amazing mentors who graciously and freely share their time and experience with fellows. My co-fellows are wonderful humans and inspire me daily, and I love how down-to-earth and helpful everyone is to each other. Our program coordinator Eric is super organized and makes everything behind the scenes run smoothly. I really believe the people make the program and that we have the right mix at UCSD! As a parent in medicine, I also feel well supported by the fellowship and am grateful for the childcare resources and early childhood education resources available in sunny San Diego.

Research and Career Interests:  I’m interested in bone marrow transplant and am doing research on multiple myeloma immune regulation by matrix proteoglycans in the Asimakopoulos Lab: https://www.asimakopouloslab.org/research

Posters/Presentations/Publications:

 

  • Pondugula SR, Tong AA, Wu J, Cui J, Chen T. Protein phosphatase 2Cbetal regulates human pregnane X receptor-mediated CYP3A4 gene expression in HepG2 liver carcinoma cells. Drug Metab Dispos. 2010 Sep;38(9):1411-6. doi: 10.1124/dmd.110.032128. PMID: 20538721.
  • Allen F*, Tong AA*, Huang AY. Unique transcompartmental bridge: antigen-presenting cells sampling across endothelial and mucosal barriers. Front Immunol. 2016 Jun 10;7:231. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2016.00231. Review. PMID: 27375624. (*First author)
  • Metheny L, Eid S, Lingas K, Reese J, Meyerson H, Tong A, de Lima M, Huang AY. Intra-osseous co-transplantation of CD34-selected umbilical cord blood and mesenchymal stromal cells. Hematol Med Oncol. 2016;1(1):25-29. Epub 2016 Oct 20. PMID: 27882356.
  • Chung J, Ebens CL, Radojcic V, Perkey E, Koch U, Scarpellino L, Tong A, Allen F, Wood S, Feng J, Friedman A, Granadier D, Tran IT, Chai Q, Onder L, Yan M, Reddy P, Blazar BR, Huang AY, Brennan TV, Bishop DK, Ludewig B, Siebel CW, Radtke F, Luther SA, Maillard I. Fibroblastic niches prime T cell alloimmunity through Delta-like Notch ligands. J Clin Invest. 2017 Apr 3;127(4):1574-1588. doi: 10.1172/JCI89535. PMID: 28319044.
  • Tong AA*, Hashem H*, Eid S, Allen F, Kingsley D, Huang AY. Adoptive natural killer cell therapy is effective in reducing pulmonary metastasis of Ewing Sarcoma. Oncoimmunology 2017 Mar 16;6(4):e1303586. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2017.1303586. PMID: 28507811. (*First author)
  • Allen F, Rauhe P, Askew D, Tong AA, Nthale J, Eid S, Myers JT, Tong C, Huang AY. CCL3 enhances antitumor priming in the lymph node via IFNγ with dependency on natural killer cells. Front Immunol 2017 Oct 23. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01390. PMID: 29109732.
  • Tong AA*, Forestell B*, Murphy DV, Nair A, Allen F, Myers J, Klauschen F, Shen C, Gopal AA, Huang AY*, Mandl JN*. Regulatory T cells differ from conventional CD4+ T cells in their recirculatory behavior and lymph node transit times. Immunol Cell Biol 2019 Oct;97(9):787-798. doi: 10.1111/imcb.12276. PMID: 31127976 . (*First author).
  • Papadas A, Cicala A, Kraus SG, Arauz G, Deb G, Tong A, Deming D, Asimakopoulos F. Versican in Tumor Progression, Tumor–Host Interactions, and Cancer Immunotherapy. In: Kovalszky, I., Franchi, M., Alaniz, L.D. (eds) The Extracellular Matrix and the Tumor Microenvironment. Biology of Extracellular Matrix, vol 11, p93-118. 2022 Jul 07. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99708-3_5

Hobbies: Chasing after my two toddler kids, classical violin, sci-fi novels, anime

Second Year Fellows - Class of 2026

HemOnc Class of 2027 

Ahmed Ali, M.D.

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL

Medical School: Northwestern University

IM Residency: University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, Houston, TX

Hershey Dudipala, M.D.

Hometown: Akron, OH

Medical School: Northeast Ohio Medical University

IM Residency: Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA

Nicole Farha, M.D.

Hometown: Wichita, KS

Medical School: University of Kansas

IM Residency: Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH

Chris Grant, M.D.

Hometown: Pleasanton, CA

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin

IM Residency: University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA

Erin McGillivray, M.D.

Hometown: Pleasanton, CA

Medical School: Temple University

IM Residency: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Karen Resnick, M.D.

Hometown: Cerritos, CA

Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine

IM Residency: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Parth Sheth, M.D. (Hematology Track)

Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA

Medical School: University of Southern California

IM Residency: Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA

First Year Fellows - Class of 2027

 

John Bliamptis, M.D.

Hometown: 

Medical School: Johns Hopkins Univeristy School of Medicine

IM Residency: University of California, San Diego

Ashwin Ganti, M.D.

Hometown: Freemont, CA

Medical School: Rush University

IM Residency: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Hannah King, D.O. (Hematology Track)

Hometown: Goodyear, AZ

Medical School: Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine

IM Residency: Oregon Health and Sciences University

Adam Kolawa, M.D.

Hometown: Monrovia, CA

Medical School: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

IM Residency: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Jacob Leary, M.D.

Hometown: Greencastle, PA

Medical School: University of Colorado

IM Residency: University of Washington

Alex Lee, M.D.

Hometown: 

Medical School: University of California, Davis

IM Residency: Stanford University

Zoya Qureshy, M.D.

Hometown: San Jose, CA

Medical School: University of California, San Francisco

IM Residency: University of California, San Diego