Al-Homsi to Lead New Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at NYU Langone

Ahmad Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA

Ahmad Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA

NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center (PCC) has announced that Ahmad Samer Al-Homsi, MD, MBA, will lead a new bone marrow transplantation program at the center for treating blood-borne cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, and potentially utilize transplantation as an adjunct to immunotherapy for treating patients with solid tumors. In his new position, which will take effect June 1, Al-Homsi will also investigate ways to reduce graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

Al-Homsi will additionally facilitate NYU Langone’s collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to institute haploidentical transplantation at PCC, in which less perfectly matched individuals can serve as donors for transplants. The advent of haplo-transplantation at PCC will vastly expand the potential donor pool for patients who require a transplant, according to a release from NYU Langone.

“I am delighted to join NYU Langone and its Perlmutter Cancer Center to build a nationally recognized bone marrow transplantation program,” Al-Homsi said in a statement. “We are defeating leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma at increasing rates. At the same time, we must continue to discover ways to ameliorate problems that sometimes come with treatment. I am confident we can make important strides.”

Al-Homsi previously co-founded the blood and bone marrow transplantation program at Spectrum Health, a major multi-site health system in West Michigan. Before joining Spectrum, he was chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies & Blood and Marrow Transplantation and director of the stem cell laboratory at Roger Williams Medical Center, an academic affiliate of Boston University School of Medicine. In addition, he directed the blood and marrow transplantation program and held several clinical and academic posts at the University of Massachusetts and its affiliated medical center.

He is also a lead inspector for the Federation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and is a member of its Clinical Standard Sub-Committee and Outcomes Improvement Committee.

In his research, Al-Homsi is focused on methods to prevent GVHD and omit the need for extended and burdensome prophylactic traditional agents. He has led several clinical trials to investigate innovative combinations of medications that may help prevent GVHD, including cyclophosphamide and proteasome inhibitors. These combinations can also be applicable to patients with limited kidney function who are often denied blood and marrow transplants.

“Our understanding of hematologic malignancies has advanced greatly over the past decade, to the point that many cases are curable,” said Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, director of PCC. “Bone marrow transplantation plays a critical role in these advances—but it doesn’t come without risk. Al-Homsi’s research holds tremendous promise to curtail negative interactions between host and transplanted cells and make this form of treatment safer and more effective.”

Al-Homsi earned his medical degree in his native Syria at the University of Damascus. He was trained in hematology at the University of Tours in Paris and at the University of Paris VI for clinical oncology. He then completed his training in the United States, completing his residency in internal medicine at Christ Hospital and Medical Center, and a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.