Irene Ghobrial, MD

Dr. Ghobrial is a physician scientist who specializes in the field of Multiple Myeloma (MM) and Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM), specifically in the precursor conditions of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS) and Smoldering disease. She focuses particularly on the role of the malignant bone marrow niche in disease progression from early precursor conditions like MGUS/smoldering MM to overt MM. She uses MM as a model of bone metastasis and dissemination. Dr. Ghobrial and her lab attempt to examine how MM can use a process of cell dissemination that is similar to cell trafficking of hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) and cell metastasis in solid epithelial carcinomas. These studies can guide our understanding of the biological changes that occur during progression in MM. In addition, her laboratory research data has been rapidly translated to innovative investigator-initiated clinical trials. Their studies on MM cell trafficking have been translated to the first chemosensitization trials in patients with Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Ghobrial is the co-leader of the first consortium of clinical trials for blood cancers in collaboration with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to form the Blood Cancer Research Partnership (BCRP), a consortium for innovative clinical trials of 11 community oncology sites coordinated by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Moreover, she initiated a new clinic for Prevention of Progression in Blood Cancers where patients with precursor conditions such as MGUS, early Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and early Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) will be monitored prospectively for clonal evolution during disease progression. Clinical trials and research efforts are coordinated for patients seen in this clinic to develop therapeutic agents that can prevent/delay disease progression in these early malignant conditions.