Early detection and interception of Multiple Myeloma

Irene M. Ghobrial, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School

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Dr. Ghobrial completed her M.D. at Cairo University and a residency in Internal Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, then trained as a Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She is currently a Professor of Medicine and the Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School. She is the Director of the Clinical Investigator Research Program, Director of Translational Research in the Department of Multiple Myeloma, Director of the Center for Prevention of Progression diseases (CPOP), and co-leader of the Lymphoma and Myeloma Program at Dana-Farber. She is the co-leader of the Stand Up to Cancer Myeloma Dream Team—the first Dream Team award for blood cancer—and the recipient of the Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award.

Her research focuses on identifying and developing effective therapeutic interventions for precursor conditions of myeloma (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, MGUS and SMM). The focus of her research is to identify novel biomarkers of disease progression and develop potentially curative therapies in the pre-malignant phase that exploit the immune microenvironment in the bone marrow. She developed a large, patient-empowering observational study for these precursor conditions, the PCROWD study. She is also the PI of the first screening study for multiple myeloma in the US, the PROMISE study, which is currently screening 30,000 high-risk individuals, including those of African descent or with a family history of blood cancer. 

The Basic and Clinical Oncology Seminar Series (BCO) is a joint initiative by the IRCM and LDI institutes in Montreal. These monthly seminars will feature a clinical (MD or MD/PhD) and a basic scientist (PhD) speaker, both working on the same cancer or theme. The goal is to create a dialogue between those at the bench and their peers at the bedside. The long-term goal is to initiate and expedite collaborations like sharing samples and exchanging expertise. Each seminar is made of two talks, each for 15 minutes and 5 minutes of questions. The remaining 10 minutes is for open discussion.