Lymphoma

Dr. Francine Foss, Professor of Medicine in the Section of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, is an internationally recognized clinician and clinical researcher with expertise in adult lymphomas and in stem cell transplantation. She has developed and tested therapies that have been used to treat thousands of cancer patients, and her research has substantially impacted the field of stem cell research, benefiting patients at Yale and around the world. Dr. Foss has brought a nationally established clinical trials program to Yale Cancer Center. In her previous position at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, she designed, initiated, and directed multi-center national clinical trials which led to FDA approval of several novel therapies for lymphomas. One of these, Interleukin-2- Diphtheria toxin fusion protein, was the first FDA-approved fusion protein biologic drug and the first drug to be FDA approved for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma. In her laboratory work, she investigated and elucidated the mechanism by which extracorporeal photopheresis modulated antigen presenting cells, leading to a reduction in graft-vs-host disease in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant. These findings led to the initiation of two National Cancer Institute-sponsored trials to confirm these results in patients with lymphoma and myelodysplastic syndrome. Dr. Foss is a member of the Stem Cell Therapy clinical program at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Learn more about Dr. Foss>> Dr. Foss is a world expert in T cell Lymphomas. She has pioneered several novel therapies for T cell lymphomas and has been a leader in many national studies. She developed and initiated the first national registry for T cell lymphomas in the United States and is a founder and co-chairman of the T CELL Forum, the preeminent international T cell lymphoma research meeting. She is a co-founder of the United States Cutaneous Lymphoma Consortium and currently serves as its President. She has been a Director of the international T-cell Project to research treatment and biology of T-cell lymphomas and serves on the NCCN panel of experts for T-cell lymphomas. As a translational researcher in T cell Lymphomas, she currently is collaborating with a number of laboratories and scientists at Yale to identify molecular targets in T Cell Lymphoma and recently was awarded a grant through the PITCH program for the state of Connecticut to develop a promising small molecule therapeutic for a rare form of lymphoma. Dr. Foss currently leads the multi-disciplinary T-cell Lymphoma clinical team at the Smilow Cancer Center and co-directs the Cutaneous Lymphoma Program at Yale with Dr. Michael Girardi. Her clinical practice at Smilow Cancer Hospital attracts patients from around the world.

Dr. Francine Foss, Professor of Medicine in the Section of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center, is an internationally recognized clinician and clinical researcher with expertise in adult lymphomas and in stem cell transplantation. She has developed and tested therapies that have been used to treat thousands of cancer patients, and her research has substantially impacted the field of stem cell research, benefiting patients at Yale and around the world. Dr. Foss has brought a nationally established clinical trials program to Yale Cancer Center. In her previous position at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, she designed, initiated, and directed multi-center national clinical trials which led to FDA approval of several novel therapies for lymphomas. One of these, Interleukin-2- Diphtheria toxin fusion protein, was the first FDA-approved fusion protein biologic drug and the first drug to be FDA approved for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma. In her laboratory work, she investigated and elucidated the mechanism by which extracorporeal photopheresis modulated antigen presenting cells, leading to a reduction in graft-vs-host disease in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant. These findings led to the initiation of two National Cancer Institute-sponsored trials to confirm these results in patients with lymphoma and myelodysplastic syndrome. Dr. Foss is a member of the Stem Cell Therapy clinical program at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Learn more about Dr. Foss>> Dr. Foss is a world expert in T cell Lymphomas. She has pioneered several novel therapies for T cell lymphomas and has been a leader in many national studies. She developed and initiated the first national registry for T cell lymphomas in the United States and is a founder and co-chairman of the T CELL Forum, the preeminent international T cell lymphoma research meeting. She is a co-founder of the United States Cutaneous Lymphoma Consortium and currently serves as its President. She has been a Director of the international T-cell Project to research treatment and biology of T-cell lymphomas and serves on the NCCN panel of experts for T-cell lymphomas. As a translational researcher in T cell Lymphomas, she currently is collaborating with a number of laboratories and scientists at Yale to identify molecular targets in T Cell Lymphoma and recently was awarded a grant through the PITCH program for the state of Connecticut to develop a promising small molecule therapeutic for a rare form of lymphoma. Dr. Foss currently leads the multi-disciplinary T-cell Lymphoma clinical team at the Smilow Cancer Center and co-directs the Cutaneous Lymphoma Program at Yale with Dr. Michael Girardi. Her clinical practice at Smilow Cancer Hospital attracts patients from around the world.

Shalin Kothari, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology) at Yale University. Dr. Kothari completed his residency in Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University and his Hematology and Medical Oncology fellowship through the University at Buffalo/Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center where he was the Chief Fellow. He received his Medical Degree from Gujarat University in India. Dr. Kothari specializes in the treatment of lymphomas. His research is focused on using his clinical skills and basic science knowledge to answer scientific questions focused on mechanistic understanding of lymphoma therapeutics and its translation in the form of early-phase clinical trials for various aggressive forms of B-cell lymphomas including mantle cell lymphoma. He also conducts research in the Müschen Laboratory here at Yale University with a specific focus on developing new therapies for mantle cell lymphoma. He is a Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) Scholar, and an inductee of the ASH Advocacy Leadership Institute and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He has presented his research in multiple national and international meetings and has won abstract achievement and travel awards.

Dr. Seropian is a Professor of Medicine in the department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hematology, Yale University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at Yale-New Haven Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine in 1996.  Dr. Seropian serves as Interim Director of the Stem Cell Transplant Program, Co-Director, Immune Effector Cell Therapy, and Chairman, Car-T Cell Joint Steering Committee, Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Seropian’s research interests include methods to improve the outcomes of transplantation through use of novel anti-cancer agents and new methods of treating graft versus host disease

Tarsheen Sethi, MD, MSCI, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology) and cares primarily for patients with Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Under the mentorship of Dr. Francine Foss, Dr. Sethi sees patients of all lymphoma subtypes, including T-cell lymphomas and Chronic Leukocytic Leukemia. Dr. Sethi joined Smilow from Vanderbilt University Medical School where she was an Instructor of Medicine in their Division of Hematology-Oncology.Dr. Sethi received her Medical Degree from the Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India, and her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at Vanderbilt University, where she also completed her fellowship in Hematology-Oncology. As a post-doctoral research fellow at the Stanford Molecular Imaging Program, Dr. Sethi received the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Foundation Award in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. With this research training background, she is involved in clinical and translational research projects aimed at improving care and outcomes of Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. Dr. Sethi’s research includes clinical trials targeting lymphomas involving novel drugs and combinations. She is also interested in studying the applications of tumor immunology and immunotherapy to hematologic malignancies, focusing on lymphoma.