How Myeloma Patients are Responding to the COVID-19 Vaccines image

How Myeloma Patients are Responding to the COVID-19 Vaccines

Oct 27, 2021
03:00PM - 04:30PM EDT
Online Event
Overview

Drs. Samir Parekh and Oliver Van Oekelen, myeloma specialists at COVID-19 hotspot Mount Sinai Health System in New York, share their research about how the COVID-19 vaccines have affected myeloma patients.

  • What kind of antibody responses are being seen in myeloma patients?
  • What myeloma patients are most susceptible and what puts them at risk?
  • What is the relationship between t-cells and antibodies?
  • Is the booster shot for COVID-19 valuable to immunocompromised patients? What kind of responses are being seen to the booster?
  • How many antibodies are enough to be protected?
  • What else does the research convey?

Find the answers to these questions and more in this event, and come with your own questions.
You won't want to miss this.

Agenda
03:00 PM
Introduction
Audrey Burton-Bethke
Audrey introduces the agenda of the event and featured speakers Drs. Samir Parekh and Oliver Van Oekelen.
03:05 PM
Presentation
Drs. Samir Parekh and Oliver Van Oekelen.
Drs. Samir Parekh and Oliver Van Oekelen share their research about how the COVID-19 vaccines have affected myeloma patients.
03:50 PM
Questions and Answers
Audience
Type your questions in the chat and we will answer them! 
Speakers & Moderators
Healthtree contact Audrey Burton-Bethke

Audrey Burton-Bethke

Audrey joined the HealthTree Foundation as the Myeloma Community Program Director in 2020. While not knowing much about myeloma at the start, she has since worked hard to educate herself, empathize and learn from others' experiences. She loves this job. Audrey is passionate about serving others, loves learning, and enjoys a nice mug of hot chocolate no matter the weather.
Healthtree contact Oliver Van Oekelen, MD.

Oliver Van Oekelen, MD.

Oliver Van Oekelen is a medical doctor (MD), trained in bioinformatics, with a degree from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. He has completed the first two years of (internal medicine) residency in Belgium, after which he joined the PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2018. During his PhD, Oliver will try to use bioinformatics tools to study multiple myeloma, a hematological malignancy, in the lab of Dr. Samir Parekh. He focuses on the role of non-tumor cells (e.g. the immune cell repertoire) in the development of disease, in disease progression/relapse and after treatment. Using next generation sequencing at the single-cell level and mass cytometry, Oliver hopes to clarify the intricate crosstalk between various cell types in the bone marrow microenvironment. Oliver conducts his research in close collaboration with the physicians at the Center of Excellence for Multiple Myeloma and with Dr. Alessandro Laganà, who acts as co-mentor to his PhD project. Oliver has a broad interest in transitional biomedical research in immunology and oncology with a focus on bioinformatics and medical informatics approaches.
Healthtree contact Samir Parekh, MD, MBBS

Samir Parekh, MD, MBBS

Dr. Samir Parekh, MD is Professor (with tenure) of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) and Oncological Sciences and Director of Translational Research in Myeloma at the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Parekh's research focuses on the pathogenesis of hematological malignancies and development of individualized, precision-medicine therapies for these malignancies. His lab uses an integrated systems biology approach to study genome-wide methylation, gene expression and DNA sequence variation to understand pathogenesis, develop biomarkers and guide personalized therapy in B cell malignancies, particularly Multiple Myeloma and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Dr. Parekh has served on numerous review and advisory committees. He has successfully secured several federal and foundation grants and has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications.