Atlanta Myeloma Roundtable

Ajay Kumar Nooka, MD, MPH, FACP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine and serves as medical director of the Winship Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. An Emory Healthcare network physician since 2011, Dr. Nooka is a board certified hematologist specializing in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. He is a clinical member of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at Winship Cancer Institute. He serves on the steering committee of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium. Dr. Nooka attended Medical School at the Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, India. He earned his Master's in Public Health at the University of Texas School of Public Health. He then went on to complete his residency at Canton Medical Education Foundation in Canton, Ohio. He did his fellowship at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Craig C. Hofmeister, MD, MPH, is Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Board certified in internal medicine and hematology, Dr. Hofmeister’s practice focuses on plasma cell cancers, including plasmacytomas, multiple myeloma, AL amyloidosis, smoldering myeloma, and monoclonal gammopathies of renal significance. He started practicing with Emory Healthcare in 2018.

Dr. Richa Parikh received her medical degree from Grant Government Medical College & Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals in Mumbai, India, in 2014. She completed her Internal Medicine residency training from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR in 2019. She then served as an Assistant Professor/academic hospitalist on the multiple myeloma service at UAMS/Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, Little Rock, AR, 2019-2021. She is currently a third-year Hematology/Oncology fellow at Karmanos Cancer Institute/Wayne State University, Detroit, MI with a clinical and research interest in multiple myeloma and plasma cell dyscrasias. She will be joining Emory University as Assistant Professor/myeloma faculty in Fall 2024.

Nisha Joseph, MD is Assistant Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Board certified in hematology and medical oncology, she specializes in treating patients with plasma cell disorders including multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. She is also an active clinical researcher in the fields of multiple myeloma, amyloidosis and bone marrow transplant. Dr. Joseph is a member of the Clinical and Translational Review Committee and the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute, and serves as the director of the Morbidity and Mortality conferences of the Department of Hematology and Oncology. She co-leads the Winship Summer Scholars Program, providing high school students with a unique immersion experience in a cancer research laboratory. Dr. Joseph was named the first H. Jean Khoury Fellow in Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplant prior to joining the faculty at Winship Cancer Institute. Dr. Joseph holds professional memberships with American Society of Clinical Oncology and American Society of Hematology.

Board-certified in hematology and medical oncology, Nishi Shah, MD, MPH, specializes in treating patients with hematologic malignancies, particularly multiple myeloma and plasma cell disorders. Dr. Shah has expertise in cellular therapies and bone marrow transplantation. She is an attending physician at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University's Clifton campus and Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown. Dr. Shah is an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Before joining Emory, she was on the faculty at Montefiore-Einstein in Bronx, New York. Dr. Shah earned her medical degree at Grand Medical College in Mumbai, India. She received her Master of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She then completed her hematology-oncology fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine followed by her immunotherapy fellowship at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Myeloma survivor, patient advocate, wife, mom of 6. Believer that patients can help accelerate a cure by weighing in and participating in clinical research. Founder of the HealthTree Foundation.