Elizabeth Griffiths, MD

• Myelodysplastic Syndromes

I joined Roswell Park’s Leukemia Service in the Department of Medicine in March 2010. I treat patients with blood disorders, specifically acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemias, as well as bone marrow failure syndromes such as aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The MDS Foundation recognizes our MDS program as an MDS Center of Excellence. I am an Associate Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and a faculty member of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center-SUNY Buffalo graduate training programs in the departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Translational Medicine and Immunology.

I joined Roswell Park following completion of a five-year medical oncology and hematology fellowship at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, where I also completed my internal medicine residency, in 2005. I completed my medical training at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, in 2002, earning my degree as a Doctor of Medicine with Distinction.

I am board certified in hematology, oncology and internal medicine and hold medical licenses in New York and Maryland. I am a member of multiple professional organizations, including the American Society of Hematology, the American Association for Cancer Research, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and the American Society of Oncology.

My research is focused on the mechanism of hypomethylating drugs (HMAs) in patients with myeloid cancer, specifically the contribution of the immune system to these responses. We have examined how HMAs can cause re-expression of proteins in cancer cells that can be targeted by the immune system. I have authored/co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.