Myeloma Round Table: Developing a Treatment Strategy - Chicago April 30,2022

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.

Pritesh Patel, MD, is the assistant director of Blood & Marrow Transplantation at UI Health. Dr. Patel's clinical practice focuses on patients with multiple myeloma and patients with blood cancers undergoing stem cell/bone marrow transplant. His clinical research focuses on improving outcomes of stem cell/bone marrow transplantation patients. Dr. Patel has had an interest in the analysis of clinical outcomes of patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. For example, Dr. Patel’s team has analyzed the outcomes of African American patients who underwent autologous stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma and were able to show at least equivalent outcomes in these patients. Subsequently, an updated analysis has shown, for the first time, that African Americans have superior survival to other groups after autologous transplant. His was the first group to show that myeloma patients with renal impairment have superior treatment free survival as compared to patients with normal renal function when undergoing autologous stem cell transplant. Dr. Patel has developed several clinical trials with the focus on reducing disease relapse after stem cell transplantation. Over the last 6 years, he has developed expertise in clinical and translational investigation in hematology. Dr. Patel received his MD from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, completed his residency and internship at John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County, and his fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Greg Brozeit has been engaged in myeloma patient advocacy since 1998. He began working with the Myeloma Crowd in 2015. Prior to that, he consulted with Dr. Bart Barlogie at the University of Arkansas after working with the International Myeloma Foundation for 15 years, where he inaugurated the public policy advocacy program, patient support group outreach and IMF Europe, organizing more than 100 physician and patient education programs. He earned his BA in political science from Loyola University in New Orleans and lives in northeast Ohio.

Morie Gertz, MD, MACP, is the Roland Seidler, Jr. Professor of the Art of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Gertz has also served as Treasurer of the International Myeloma Society and President of Mayo Staff Officers and Councilors. He was the Chair of the Mayo Personnel Committee. Currently he serves on the American Society of Hematology Training Program Committee and the American Board of Internal Medicine Hematology Board Exam Committee. Dr. Gertz has been recognized with the 2014 Jan Waldenström Medal for Medical and Scientific Achievements in Waldenström Macroglobulinemia and is a Mayo Distinguished Clinician. He has been recognized for his contributions in amyloidosis and Waldenström macroglobulinemia, has authored more than five hundred peer-reviewed publications, and is a master of the America College of Physicians. He graduated from Northwestern University with highest distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa and received his medical degree cum laude from Loyola Medical School and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. He completed a three-year medical residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago and was twice voted Resident of the Year.

Patrick Hagen, MD, is Assistant Professor in Hematology/Oncology at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University in Chicago, IL. He specializes in bone marrow transplantation and myeloma. Dr. Hagen served a fellowship at Loyola University Medical Center and a residency at the University of Minnesota. He earned his MD at St. George’s University School of Medicine.

Attaya Suvannasankha, MD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center at Indiana University in Indianapolis, IN. Her research focus is on the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance. Dr. Suvannasankha served a research fellowship at the Roswell Part Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY and earned her MD at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.