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June 2026

Nature explores the rapidly developing field of cancer interception, the link between inflammation and cancer, and potential for a blood test paired with relatively simple anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent lung cancer from ever developing.

Watch the video, featuring Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, Thomas Marron, MD, PhD, and Mount Sinai lung cancer patients Nolan Harris and Colette Smith (Community Scientist for the Community Outreach and Engagement program at the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center).

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Hospital took place on June 1. The July issue of TCC Connections will include more information about the event. In the meantime, check out the Digital Lookbook. 

Gustavo Fernandez, MD, MBA, has joined Mount Sinai as Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology). His specialty is head and neck cancers. Dr. Fernandez has been in practice for more than 25 years, most recently at the University of Miami Health System. In addition to providing clinical care, Dr. Fernandez has held numerous leadership positions focused on performance initiatives and quality management. Dr. Fernandez earned his MD from the Universidad De la República del Uruguay School of Medicine. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Fernandez holds an Executive MBA in Health Sector Management and Policy from the University of Miami School of Business Administration. He will see patients at The Blavatnik Family Chelsea Medical Center and Mount Sinai West.

Emily Siegel, MD, has joined Mount Sinai as Assistant Professor of Breast Surgery. Dr. Siegel earned her MD from the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California (USC). She completed residency in General Surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Dr. Siegel was previously on the faculty at USC where she was Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery, Associate Program Director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship program, and Director of the Surgery Clerkship for the medical school. Her research interests include complications of breast surgery and oncologic outcomes after gender affirming care. Dr. Siegel will see patients at Mount Sinai-Union Square.

Ashutosh Tewari, MBBS, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow at a diploma ceremony on May 6. Dr. Tewari was recognized as a pioneer of robotic surgery and for his work on genomic causes of prostate cancer and innovative imaging techniques to identify biomarkers that could play a crucial role in diagnosis, treatment planning, and disease management. The College has been advancing medical standards since its founding in 1599.

Press Release

Tuesday, June 23



10:30 am, Hatch Auditorium

Presentation by Sarah Millar, PhD:

“The Tools of Tomorrow, Today: Elevating Your Research With

Sinai’s Shared Resources”

11 am – 2 pm, Guggenheim Pavilion

Poster Session

The services of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center Biostatistics Shared Resource, directed by Marcio Diniz, PhD, can significantly increase the likelihood of successful grant awards. The first step in the process is to submit a request for services (allowing a four-week lead time).

Questions? Contact Erin Moshier, MSc, Managing Director.

Two Hematology and Medical Oncology fellows and an Internal Medicine resident are the recipients of 2026 Conquer Cancer/The ASCO Foundation awards.

Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center

Seminar Series

Tuesday, June 16, Davis Auditorium

Maureen Murphy, PhD

Professor and Program Leader, Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis

Deputy Director, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center

The Wistar Institute

"An Old Dog Gets New Teeth: New Insight Into p53-Medicated Tumor Suppression From Analysis of African-Centric Genetic Variants"

Hosted by James Manfredi, PhD

Hematology and Medical Oncology Grand Rounds

Thursday, June 11, Via Zoom

Saul Priceman, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine and Immunology and Immune Therapeutics

Director of the KSOM/NCCC Center for Cancer Cellular Immunotherapy Research

Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

"Advancing Cell Therapy for Solid Tumors"

Jalal Ahmed, MD, PhD; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, and colleagues



Tumor irradiation promotes antigen dressing of dendritic cells to enhance CAR T cell persistence and efficacy in lung metastases

Nature Cancer. 2026 May 22. PMID: 42174275

This study demonstrates the robustness of using focused irradiation to overcome key barriers to CAR-T cell therapy in orthotopic mouse models of extensive metastatic lung cancer and melanoma. The data support an updated radiobiological model in which irradiation acts through interconnected mechanisms. By locally amplifying CAR-T cell effects without proportionally increasing toxicity in normal tissues, tumor irradiation may widen the therapeutic window, offering a path toward effective CAR-T cell therapy for solid malignancies.

Press Release

Samir Parekh, MD, and colleagues

Ikaros degradation by mezigdomide reduces T-cell dysfunction and improves the efficacy of antimyeloma T-cell therapies

Blood. 2026 May 8. PMID: 42101964

T cell dysfunction contributes to multiple myeloma disease progression and failure of anti-myeloma chimeric antigen receptor CAR) T cell and bispecific T cell engager therapies. This study provides mechanistic insight into the effect of cereblon E3 ligase modulatory drugs (CELMoDs) on T cells expressing exhaustion markers. Findings show that treatment with Mezigdomide, a CELMoD, can reinvigorate exhausted T cells, thereby reducing T cell dysfunction, enhancing the activity of immunotherapies, and improving anti-myeloma T cell therapy efficacy.

Related publication from Dr. Parekh and colleagues:

Mezigdomide reverses T-cell exhaustion through degradation of IKZF1/IKZF3 and reinvigoration of cytokine production pathways

Blood. 2026 May 12: PMID: 42118707

Press Release

James Ferrara, MD; John Levine, MD, and colleagues

Systemic steroid treatment of grade I acute GVHD increases steroid-refractory GVHD and NRM

Blood Immunology & Cellular Therapy. 2026 Jun. PMID: 42137422

Findings from a large cohort analysis of more than 1000 patients show that systemic corticosteroid treatment of grade I graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)—a major complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation— was surprisingly associated with an increase in steroid refractory acute GVHD and subsequent infectious deaths. These data support current recommendations to start systemic treatment only for more significant (grades II, III, and IV) acute GVHD.

Matthew Galsky, MD; Sacha Gnjatic, PhD; and colleagues

Gemcitabine plus nivolumab with carboplatin or oxaliplatin in cisplatin-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma: A randomized phase II trial

Clinical Cancer Research. 2026 Apr 19. PMID: 42001507

This randomized trial evaluated oxaliplatin-based chemo-immunotherapy versus carboplatin-based chemo-immunotherapy in cisplatin-ineligible metastatic urothelial patients. The study showed that the carboplatin-containing regimen was associated with a higher objective response rate. Exploratory biomarker analyses revealed that carboplatin treatment was associated with transcriptional and cellular changes indicative of enhanced adaptive immune activation, whereas oxaliplatin treatment induced signatures consistent with tumor-promoting inflammation. These findings underscore that cytotoxic agents may exert distinct immunomodulatory effects when combined with immune checkpoint blockade and emphasize the need to dissect these mechanisms in human studies with the goal of optimizing combination strategies.

Michael Lazarus, PhD; Avner Schlessinger, PhD, and colleagues

Allosteric inhibition of PKMYT1 induces a unique, inactive ATP binding site conformation

Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2026 Jun 2. PMID: 42227652

Using AI-guided modeling and experiments, Drs. Lazarus and Schlessinger and colleagues identified a hidden allosteric pocket in the cancer kinase PKMYT1 where a molecule could bind—a site that current state-of-the-art AI systems missed. The findings could potentially open a new route to design of more selective cancer drugs. The findings also underscore the necessity of integrating computational modeling with experimental testing using structural and functional approaches.

Press Release

Yohei Nose, MD, PhD; Navneet Dogra, PhD; Sacha Gnjatic, PhD; Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova, PhD, and colleagues 

The proteo-transcriptome of extracellular vesicles and particles Is largely preserved after cryopreservation

Journal of Extracellular Biology. 2026 May 5. PMID: 42094828

This study, assessing the impact of long‐term freezing on analysis of tissue‐derived extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs), demonstrated that protein profiles related to inflammation, immune response, and tumor immunology remained largely unchanged between fresh and frozen EVPs derived from the same tissue samples. Findings support the feasibility of using frozen specimens for EVPs research, potentially expanding access to large biobanks that house frozen specimens while mitigating reliance on fresh tissue samples, thereby overcoming a major obstacle in human research.

Noa Rippel, MD; Daniel Nathan, MD; Paula Klein MD, and colleagues

PARP inhibitor–associated folate deficiency anemia

Blood Red Cells & Iron. 2026 Jun 1

This retrospective analysis is the first to systematically illustrate an increased prevalence of folate deficiency in both male and female patients with BRCA1/2-mutated malignancies receiving poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi). Findings suggest that baseline laboratory testing along with early evaluation is critical to treat and prevent PARPi-related folate anemia.

Megan Metzger, MD; John Mascarenhas, MD; Ronald Hoffman, MD, and colleagues



Long term outcomes of idasanutlin therapy in hydroxyurea-refractory polycythemia vera patients

Leukemia & Lymphoma. 2026 May 18. PMID: 42148701

Idasanutlin is a small molecule inhibitor that restores p53 activity, triggering apoptosis. Two trials (phase 1/2) of idasanutlin therapy in polycythemia vera patients that were intolerant or refractory to hydroxyurea resulted in substantial clinical and molecular responses. This paper reports on the long-term outcomes of these patients.

Emily Bernstein, PhD, will be a Keynote Speaker at the New York City Chromatin Club Symposium, to be held on July 21 at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The goal of the New York City Chromatin Club is to build a platform to facilitate scientific interactions and collaboration among York City’s has community of chromatin-focused research labs.

Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium

November 11-13

New York Hilton Downtown

John Mascarenhas, MD, Co-Chair

Use Code MASCARENHAS for free registration.

Ten high school students out of 200 applicants were selected to participate in the 2026 Summer Program Advancing Research Knowledge, Education and Development (SPARKED). The program provides hand-on research experience under faculty and research team mentors. Co-Directors of SPARKED are Jamilia Sly, PhD; Dan Hasson, PhD; and Layla Fattah, EdD. 

The 2026 cohort:

• Rohin Mathew, United Nations International School – Samir Parekh, MD
• Sonia Holder, Hunter College High School – Emily Bernstein, PhD
• Gabriela Perez Capcha, Harrison High School – BiNGS
• Sebastian Alvarado, Manhattan Hunter Science High School – Juan Arriaga, PhD
• Ana Goyle, Hunter College High School – Poulikos Poulikakos, PhD
• Ethan Greenblatt, Hunter College High School – Robert Sebra, PhD
• Olivia Przadka, Brooklyn Technical High School – Tirtha Kamal Das, PhD
• Ayumi Chang-Yasui, Hunter College High School – Goutam Chakraborty, PhD
• Annie Hossain, The Bronx High School of Science – Cancer Prevention and Control

The Community Outreach and Engagement program is pleased to shine a light on the dedicated individuals and organizations making a difference through education and screening programs in the communities Mount Sinai serves. The Grand Street Settlement, partnering with Mount Sinai, provides residents of Naturally Occuring Retirement Communities with support navigating healthcare needs.

Read the Q&A with Grand Street Settlement

Community Cancer Awareness Event

The Mount Sinai Cancer Health Research Center hosted a community cancer awareness event on Saturday, May 16, at the Baychester Housing Community Center in the Bronx. Year after year, Bronx County, which includes the Baychester community, is ranked the least healthy county in New York State. The education-focused event, conducted in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society, was designed to increase awareness of cancer risk and enhance access to cancer care. Highlights included discussions with cancer survivors and educational talks about environmental cancer risk factors. Participating Mount Sinai faculty included Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD, and Bian Liu, PhD.

Read about additional Community Outreach and Engagement events held in May:

• Health Fair/Cancer Screening at New York Common Pantry
• Healing Table Event

This butterfly collage—“Messages of Hope”—was begun during Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month (March 2026). Each circle contains a message or drawing from a patient or staff member. 



“Messages of Hope” was created under the guidance of artist Cibele Vieira with The Creative Center Hospital-Artist-in-Residence program. It is on view in the multiple myeloma clinic waiting room at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center.

• Read the 2026 Specialty Report

• See recent press releases at https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/tisch under Discover the Latest.

  TCC Connections  is a monthly publication of the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center

Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director

Janet Aronson , Editor

Past issues of  TCC Connections  are available on the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center website