Nina Bhardwaj, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Accelerator Investigator Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Nina Bhardwaj is a professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, and a professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is currently one of the two study chairs of the clinical trial “A Phase 1/2 Study of In Situ Vaccination With Tremelimumab and IV Durvalumab Plus PolyICLC in Subjects With Advanced, Measurable, Biopsy-accessible Cancers” (NCT02643303).

This study examines combinations of two checkpoint immunotherapies, plus an immune-stimulating adjuvant, in a wide variety of patients diagnosed with breast cancer, sarcoma, head and neck cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, among other types of cancer. One checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab (Imfinzi™), blocks the PD-L1 pathway, whereas the other, tremelimumab, blocks the CTLA-4 pathway. The adjuvant, poly ICLC, promotes an immune system response similar to that of vaccines.

Additional investigators working on  this trial include:

• Craig Slingluff Jr., M.D., University of Virginia Health (Other study chair)
• Danae Hamouda, M.D., Toledo University
• Elizabeth Gaughan, M.D., University of Virginia Health
• Igor Puzanov, M.D., Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Keisuke Shirai M.D., Dartmouth University
• Megan Kruse, M.D., Cleveland Clinic
• Michael Lowe, M.D., Emory University

Projects and Grants