• Alda Tam, MD- Professor, Interventional Radiology – Clinical Category
• Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD- Professor, Stem Cell Transplantation- Research Category

About the Awardees:

Alda Tam, MD, Professor, Interventional Radiology

Dr. Alda Tam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Interventional Radiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She earned her undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Brown University, a medical degree from the University of British Columbia, and a master’s in business administration from the University of California, Irvine. She completed her radiology residency at the University of Southern California, interventional radiology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and subsequently joined the faculty in 2006. She is certified by the American Board of Radiology and holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Interventional Radiology. Dr. Tam maintains an active clinical practice with a special interest in using embolization and ablation therapy to provide loco-regional therapy to hepatic, bone, and lung tumors. She is involved in clinical trials, both as a principal investigator for evaluating minimally invasive therapeutic techniques as well as being a key collaborator for tissue acquisition for several Moon Shot initiatives. Her current research endeavors in clinical research are related to determining strategies for optimizing image-guided biopsy in the age of genomic medicine. Her translational research efforts focus on evaluating the use of novel technologies such as irreversible electroporation and nanoparticles to treat liver and skeletal metastases, as well as developing computational tools to guide and personalize ablative therapy. She has served as the Director for Clinical Research in the department and now currently serves as the Medical Director.

Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD- Professor, Stem Cell Transplantation

Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD is Sally Cooper Murray Chair in Cancer Research, Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Section for Cellular Therapy, Director of Translational Research, and Medical Director of the GMP Facility at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She has over 170 peer-reviewed publications related to immunotherapy, cellular therapy, and hematopoietic transplantation and is Specialty Chief Editor for cancer immunity and immunotherapy for Frontiers in Immunology. She is on the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant (CIBMTR) clinical trials advisory committee, a member of the BMT CTN Cell and Gene Therapy, a member of the Hematologic and Immunologic Gene & Cell Therapy Committee and serves on the ASH Task Force on Immunotherapies. Dr. Rezvani has served on the organizing committees of the Society for Natural Immunity, International Society of Cell Therapy, and Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASBMT and CIBMTR. Dr. Rezvani’s lab studies the role of natural killer (NK) cells in mediating immunity against hematologic malignancies as well as solid tumors and seeks to understand the mechanisms of tumor-induced NK cell dysfunction. The goal of this research is to develop strategies to genetically engineer NK cells to enhance theirs in vivo anti-tumor activity and persistence. Findings from her lab have led to the approval and funding of Phase I/II studies of immunotherapy in patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, as well as the first-in-human clinical trial of off-the-shelf CAR-transduced cord blood NK cells in patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoid malignancies. Dr. Rezvani’s work is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). She serves as Co-Leader of the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant.