Azra Raza, M.D.

Dr. Raza belongs to that rare group of unique investigators who are adept at both basic and clinical research. Her basic research has been strictly therapy-driven and is marked by Dr. Raza's tireless efforts to move the advances in the laboratory to the bedside with alacrity for the improvement of treatment outcome of MDS patients. Dr. Raza is well known internationally for several landmark observations related to the biology and treatment of MDS. Her group was the first to show that the low blood counts in this disease result from an excessive premature death of hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow and that the cell death is mediated primarily by a pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-alpha. She then went on to pioneer a novel treatment strategy for this disease based on the use of anti-TNF drugs like pentoxifylline, thalidomide, Remicade and Enbrel. The success of Thalidomide in a subset of MDS patients as demonstrated by the Raza team resulted in a clinical trial and subsequent FDA approval of the Thalidomide analog Revlimid for MDS patients with chromosome 5 abnormalities. She has published the results of her laboratory research and a large number of clinical trials in prestigious, peer reviewed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Blood, Cancer, Cancer Research, British Journal of Hematology, Leukemia, Leukemia Research (230 full-length papers, 15 book chapters, 510 abstracts, and editor of a book devoted to MDS).

At SVCCC, Dr. Raza is the Director of the MDS Center which is backed by a superb basic research laboratory. There are a number of exciting, cutting edge clinical trials open for all stages of MDS patients at this Center, including those with early stage disease who are being offered treatment with natural substances. Dr. Raza serves on numerous National and International panels as a reviewer, consultant and advisor.