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Program Leadership

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JUDITH VARNER, PHD

Professor, Pathology and Medicine
Director, Faculty Mentoring for the Department of Pathology
Phone:   858-822-2703
Email:   jvarner@health.ucsd.edu

JUDITH VARNER, PHD

Dr. Judith Varner is Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, Director of Faculty Mentoring for the Department of Pathology and co-Leader of the Solid Tumor Therapeutics program in the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. She joined the Department of Medicine in 1997 and the Department of Pathology in 2012. Dr. Varner received her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Duke University, where she was an A.B. Duke and National Merit Scholar, and received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Basel, Switzerland, where she was a Fulbright Fellow. Prior to coming to UCSD, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied integrin signaling in cancer. As a member of Moores Cancer Center, her research has focused on mechanisms regulating the tumor microenvironment and inflammation in cancer. Her work, which appears in journals that include Cancer Cell, Nature, Nature Communications and Cancer Discovery, has identified novel mechanisms by which macrophages promote tumor growth and has developed new approaches to treat cancer patients by targeting tumor macrophage signal transduction, with a focus on inhibition of PI3Kinase gamma. The novel therapeutic eganelisib (IPI-549) was developed by Infinity Pharmaceuticals in conjunction with the Varner lab and is currently in testing in five Phase II clinical trials as an immune/oncology agent for cancer therapy. Dr. Varner is a recipient of the V Foundation Award for Translational Research, the AACR-Landon Foundation Innovator Award for International Collaboration and the Lustgarten Foundation Innovator Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research for her work on immune oncology therapeutics. Dr. Varner is active in the American Association for Cancer Research and the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer. 

ACADEMIC PROFILE

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Sandip Patel, MD

Professor, Medicine
Co-Leader, Solid Tumor Therapeutics Research Program
Email:   spatel@health.ucsd.edu

SANDIP PATEL, MD

Dr. Sandip Patel is a board-certified medical oncologist who specializes in cancer immunotherapy and early phase clinical trials involving immunotherapy across all types of cancer. He is focused on developing personalized therapies that stimulate a patient's immune system to attack their specific tumor. He is part of UC San Diego Health's Precision Immunotherapy Clinic, which offers the most promising investigational immunotherapy treatments for many types of cancer. As a professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Patel instructs medical students, residents and fellows. His research focuses on developing biomarkers for personalized immunotherapy to better determine which combination of therapies works best for each individual. Dr. Patel completed a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Medical Center, and a residency in internal medicine at UC Los Angeles School of Medicine, UCLA Medical Center. He earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine, while performing research at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology.

ACADEMIC PROFILE

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Jyoti Mayadev, MD

Professor, Assistant Vice Chair Developmental Therapeutics
Section Chief, Gynecologic Oncology
Email:   jmayadev@health.ucsd.edu

JYOTI MAYADEV, MD

Dr. Jyoti Mayadev is a Professor, Assistant Vice-Chair Developmental Therapeutics, Section Chief of Gynecologic Oncology and serves as Co-Leader of the GYN Oncology Disease Team for the Moores NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is also Director of Gynecologic Brachytherapy in the Department and oversees all clinical and translational research aspects of image-guided brachytherapy for gynecologic cancers. She is also an active member of the Breast Cancer Disease Team. Dr. Mayadev is a widely recognized national leader in the field of gynecologic radiation therapy and image guided brachytherapy for gynecologic oncology patients. She is Co-Chair of the NRG Oncology Cooperative Group Cervical Cancer committee, and a member of the NRG Oncology phase I/Developmental Therapeutics committee, NRG Early Clinical Trials Oversight committee, NRG Oncology GYN Executive committee, and RT Developmental Therapeutics committee. Through these leadership roles, she is a key participant in the national strategy and design of cervical cancer clinical trials for new treatment paradigms. She was named GYN Track Vice-Chair for the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Scientific Committee. Furthermore, she is the national principal investigator on phase I clinical trials in cervical cancer exploring the use of immunotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. She is widely published, and has received grant funding from Varian Medical Systems and Koman for the Cure. She currently has grant funding from the NCI for her clinical trials, NRG Oncology Group, Padres Pedal the Cause, and Moores Cancer Center.

ACADEMIC PROFILE