Welcoming SWOG’s New Myeloma Leader: Dr. Amrita Y. Krishnan
Over the summer I announced Dr. Robert Z. Orlowski, who has served with exceptional distinction as chair of SWOG's Barlogie-Salmon myeloma committee since 2011, would be stepping down from that role.
Today, I’m excited to discuss our next myeloma committee chair, Dr. Amrita Y. Krishnan, who will formally step into the role on November 1st (I briefly welcomed her at plenary in Chicago – this is my chance to make a proper introduction).
Dr. Krishnan is the Nason-Hollingsworth Endowed Chair for Multiple Myeloma at City of Hope, and is executive medical director of hematology for City of Hope Orange County. She has also served, for the past decade, as Director of City of Hope’s Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research.
Within SWOG, Dr. Krishnan has, most notably, chaired our S1803 DRAMMATIC study, a Phase 3 trial designed to answer important questions about the optimal post-transplant maintenance regimen and maintenance duration for patients with myeloma.
In its design (N.B., it broke new ground in its use of minimal residual disease-directed therapy) and its relatively rapid enrollment of more than 1,400 patients from across the U.S. and Canada (its accrual goal was actually increased at one point), S1803 demonstrates Dr. Krishnan’s commitment to innovation, efficient operations, and enrolling representative trial populations.
While she has a record of achievement in multiple areas of hematology (the Briskin Center’s website discusses her past success in helping bring transplant therapy to HIV-positive patients with lymphoma at a time when many clinicians believed such patients were too weak to tolerate the procedure), Dr. Krishnan’s current research is focused in myeloma, specifically in developing new drugs for relapsed disease and in teasing out the disease’s mechanisms of treatment resistance.
Among her other research, she led early trials of T-cell engager therapies and has more recently overseen pioneering work in understanding resistance to CD38 antibodies used to treat myeloma.
She has also held (or currently holds) scientific leadership roles with the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the International Myeloma Society, and the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT-CTN).
As Director of the Briskin Center, in addition to overseeing numerous clinical and translational research projects, Dr. Krishnan has also established a strong track record in recruiting and mentoring junior investigators, making her well qualified to continue our myeloma committee’s emphasis on the professional and academic development of its early-career researchers.
In welcoming Dr. Krishnan, I again extend profound thanks to our outgoing myeloma chair, Dr. Robert Orlowski, for his impressive record of accomplishments and contributions. Our myeloma committee has thrived under his guidance, and I know that success will continue with Dr. Krishnan at the helm, as we develop, to use her own words, “practical, forward thinking trials that will move the field of myeloma to a cure.”
Dr. Krishnan stood out among a number of exceptional applicants for this role, and I want to thank everyone we talked to about the position. Thanks as well to our search committee, which was headed by Dr. Hagen Kennecke and senior staff member Casey Dawson.
Dr. Krishnan, we’re delighted to welcome you as new chair of SWOG’s Barlogie-Salmon myeloma committee!
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