Samik Upadhaya, PhD Director of Scientific Affairs Samik Upadhaya, PhD, is the assistant director of scientific affairs at the Cancer Research Institute. He is passionate about harnessing the full potential of scientific advances in cancer immunotherapy to help patients live better, longer lives. Together with the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator team, he leads the program’s scientific diligence efforts, including analyses of emerging trends and challenges in the global cancer immunotherapy landscape. He assists in the team’s collaborative ventures, clinical trial design, drug development plan, and maintenance of immuno-oncology landscape databases. He is also involved in all of CRI’s research programs, and closely follows the research done by CRI grantees, evaluating their potential contributions to the field as a whole. Prior to joining CRI, Samik completed his doctoral studies in Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Columbia University where he focused on investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of blood and immune cell production. Following his PhD, he pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship at New York University School of Medicine where he developed new techniques to visualize and analyze in-vivo behaviors of stem cells of the immune system. He also received his M.S. in Chemistry and a dual B.S. (summa cum laude) in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences from Central Michigan University. When not at his desk, real or virtual, Samik enjoys the great outdoors and can be found running, biking, or hiking. Select Publications Upadhaya S, Sawai CM, Papalexi E, Rashidfarrokhi A, Jang G, Chattopadhyay P, Satija R, Reizis B. Kinetics of adult hematopoietic stem cell differentiation in vivo. J Exp Med. 2018 October. (PMID: 30291161) Upadhaya S, Krichevsky O, Akhmetzyanova I, Sawai CM, Fooksman DR, Reizis B. Intravital imaging reveals motility of adult hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow niche. Cell Stem Cell. 2020; 27(2): 336-345. Upadhaya S, Yu JX, Oliva C, Hooton M, Hodge J, Hubbard-Lucey VM. Impact of COVID-19 on oncology clinical trials. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020; 19: 376-77. Upadhaya S, Hubbard-Lucey VM, Yu JX. Immuno-oncology drug development forges on despite COVID-19. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020; 19: 751-52. Upadhaya S, Neftelino ST, Hodge JP, Oliva C, Campbell JR, Yu JX. Combinations take centre stage in PD1/PDL1 inhibitor clinical trials. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021; 20: 168-69. Upadhaya S, Yu JX, Hodge J, Campbell JR. COVID-19 impact on oncology clinical trials: a 1-year analysis. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021; 20: 415. Upadhaya S, Yu JX, Shah M, Correa D, Partridge T, Campbell JR. The clinical pipeline for cancer cell therapies. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2021; 20: 503-04.
