New York, New York, United States
I am an immunologist specializing in translational and clinical trial-based immune monitoring. I founded and have led the Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai since its inception in 2010, growing it into a comprehensive operation with 24 staff, including five computational bioinformatics scientists, and generating $7.5 million in revenue in 2024. HIMC serves as a one-stop shop for immune monitoring, supporting clinical trial design, biospecimen collection and processing, LIMS-based tracking, and a broad suite of cutting-edge technologies including single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, spatial multiplex immunofluorescence, proteomics, microbiome profiling, and immune receptor repertoire sequencing. The center also develops and maintains custom bioinformatic pipelines to support multi-modal data integration and interpretation. A central focus of my leadership has been the development of novel, specialized assays to address the evolving demands of precision clinical trials. In 2024, I also co-founded OCCAM Immune, an Academic Research Organization (ARO) dedicated to immunology-driven clinical research, where I serve as Chief Scientific Officer, shaping scientific strategy and spearheading assay innovation to advance precision immunotherapy. Alongside my leadership roles, I am actively engaged in scientific publication in high-impact journals and serve as a principal investigator and co-investigator on major grants, contributing to the development and funding of innovative immune monitoring strategies for human clinical studies.
Research and Development in Human Immune Monitoring Center as a Facility Director
As a facility director of human immune monitoring facility, I am responsible for overall operation of HIMC from the immune assay to financial management in a GLP like environment. • Management of Clinical trials from the inception to the close-out • Work closely with clinical investigators and clinical trials office to ensure proper clinical trials and immune monitoring studies. • R&D and implementation of state of the art immune monitoring assays including flow, CyTOF, multiplex assay (luminex, MSD, Olink, SOMAlogics etc), ELISPOT, cell enrichment and microbiome processing and library synthesis. • Management of all regulatory and compliance documentation required for the center • Clinical trials Data analysis, data interpretation and management of all assays data in secure server • QA/QC of all instruments, assays and staff training and development of SOPs • Management of the financial operation of the center, including pricing assessment, charging, billing and proper book keeping. • Hiring, supervising and providing oversight of technical staffs • Preparation of manuscripts and grants
Conducted cancer vaccine development in murine models and human immune monitoring in melanoma and renal cell cancer patients. Biomarker discovery effort in order to identify the most likely responding cancer patients for the immune modulatory treatments. Managed a group of junior research staffs including post-doctoral fellows and clinical research residents and fellows.
Biomarker discovery in colorectal cancer patients using qRT-PCR
Investigated cross talk of intracellular signaling between estrogen receptor and VEGF/EGF in endothelial primary cell culture to identify the angiogenesis blocker in cardiovascular disease.