Fotios (Fotis) Asimakopoulos, MB BChir, PhD, is a medical oncologist and hematologist who treats people with plasma cell dyscrasias, also known as plasma cell disorders. His patients may have blood-related diseases such as multiple myeloma, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), amyloidosis, and Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (a type of lymphoma). He offers a variety of highly advanced treatment options, including immunotherapy, cellular therapy, stem cell transplantation, and tumor cell vaccines. Dr. Asimakopoulos is part of the joint UC San Diego Health / Sharp HealthCare Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program, one of the largest and most respected BMT units in California, where patients receive care from the same physician throughout all phases of blood cancer treatment. This includes initial consultation and diagnosis, treatment to help achieve remission, care throughout stem cell transplants, and follow-up survivorship care. As an associate professor in residence of medicine, Dr. Asimakopoulos is involved in training medical students, residents and fellows in hematology and oncology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he is the Robert J. Shillman Scholar in Cancer Research. He is an active researcher and his research is funded by the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2019, Dr. Asimakopoulos was a physician at the University of Wisconsin's Carbone Cancer Center and tenured associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. He also served as scientific director of the University of Wisconsin's Myeloma Study Group. Dr. Asimakopoulos completed a fellowship in medical oncology and a research fellowship in clinical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Asimakopoulos earned his medical (MB BChir) and doctoral degrees from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also received training in hematology and cancer research as Golda Meir Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the International Myeloma Society, the American Association of Immunologists, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Society for Leukocyte Biology. Dr. Asimakopoulos speaks fluent Greek and conversational French and Italian.

Jesus G. Berdeja received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and medical degree from Harvard University. He completed his internship and residency in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco and fellowships in medical oncology and hematology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Prior to joining the staff at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Tennessee Oncology, Dr. Berdeja held appointments in the Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program and the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. Dr. Berdeja has been certified a Diplomate in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Additionally, he is an active member of several professional organizations, including the International Myeloma Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, the International Myeloma Working Group, the Clinical Trials Myeloma Intergroup Committee, and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Plasma Cell Working Group. An active researcher, Dr. Berdeja has been the principal investigator on a number of funded clinical trials in the field of multiple myeloma. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature and is a frequent invited lecturer.

Ajai Chari, M.D. is the Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Chari’s research interests include the development of novel chemotherapy regimens, including Phase 1 and 2 studies. He has served as the principal investigator (PI) of several investigator-initiated trials as well as the national and international PI of several industry-sponsored studies. With a long standing dedication to research, Dr Chari has been involved in each of the therapies approved in multiple myeloma over the last two decades. He has published numerous articles in the field and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international meetings. Dr. Chari received undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California – San Francisco.

Caitlin Costello, MD, is a board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist who specializes in treating a variety of blood cancers, including multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia. She is part of the joint UC San Diego Health / Sharp HealthCare Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program, which provides patients with the unique opportunity to receive care from the same physician throughout all phases of blood cancer treatment. This includes initial consultation and diagnosis, treatment to help achieve remission, care throughout stem cell transplants, and follow-up survivorship care. Dr. Costello offers chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CAR T-cell therapy harnesses the patient's own immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. It is just one of many types of personalized cancer therapies offered at UC San Diego Health. She also participates in a number of clinical trials that offer cutting-edge treatment strategies and therapies for a variety of blood cancers. Her primary clinical interests include treating plasma cell disorders such as multiple myeloma, Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia and systemic amyloidosis. Her research focuses on refining the management and treatment of these diseases. She is committed to conducting clinical trials for multiple myeloma with novel agents and regimens, with a goal to broaden therapeutic options and knowledge of this disease. She also has a special interest in precision medicine and developing treatment strategies that are most specific to the genetic and molecular details of an individual's disease. Dr. Costello completed a fellowship in hematology-oncology with a focus in bone marrow transplantation at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Costello earned her medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. She is board certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.