Shri Ramniklal J. Kinarivala Cancer Research Award - 2024

Treatment of solid and liquid malignancies has constantly been challenging because resistance develops and disease reoccurs or transforms to more aggressive form.This information underscores a need for continuous translational research for patients with cancer.At MD Anderson Cancer Center, our motto is 'Research-driven patient care'; and this research is clinical or translational research.Throughout my career at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I have focused on translational research especially in hematological malignancies.The major objective of my research program is to improve the therapeutic activity of anticancer drugs by understanding their metabolism, mechanisms of action and interactions in combinations.This approach provides the basic scientific knowledge about these compounds and furnishes important information in the design of new clinical protocols.Below I provide three examples where research in my group resulted in changing clinical practice for treatment of different leukemias.