Prof. Yousef Zakharia

I am medical oncologist and hematologist by training, my clinical expertise is in genitourinary malignancy and melanoma, my clinical and translational research has been geared towards experimental therapeutics in renal and bladder cancers. I serve as the Director for our Phase 1 Program at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. Being at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center offers me the resources to be on the cutting edge of cancer science and provides a unique opportunity to treat my patients on clinical trials at different phases. My main research project has been an investigator initiated clinical trial combining high-dose selenium with axitinib in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. We presented the preliminary promising results at the American Urology Association 2020 Annual Meeting and Kidney Cancer Research Summit 2021. I also helped designing and leading a multi-center trial and protocol for a phase 1/2 clinical trial combining indoximod “an IDO inhibitor” with checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic melanoma patients. I presented the preliminary results of this trial at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting Plenary Session in Washington, D.C, April 2017 and at the ASCO Annual Meeting, 2018. Results are published in JITC 2021. I am institutional PI for multiple clinical trials sponsored by industry or cooperative groups.