Dr. Frederick P. Smith

Richard F. Ambinder, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as the James B. Murphy Professor of Oncology and the Director of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. He is program co-leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program and leads the AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) site at Johns Hopkins and the AMC Translational Sciences Working Group nationally. Dr. Ambinder graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, after which he received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before completing his residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Johns Hopkins University, and completed his oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Within the clinic, Dr. Ambinder is active in the treatment of lymphoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma. Dr. Ambinder’s research is focused on exploring opportunities to prevent or treat cancer with viral infections. Virus-associated tumors are among the most common malignancies in certain populations and regions. For instance, Burkitt's lymphoma (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KSHV) are common in equatorial Africa, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (EBV) is common in southern Chinese populations or those with southern Chinese origins, and immunoblastic lymphomas (EBV) are common in immunocompromised patients (organ transplant recipients, AIDS patients, etc). Thus, Dr. Ambinder’s new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment stand to have a direct impact on the lives of cancer patients around the globe. Additionally, the study of how viruses can impact these tumors is important in creating model systems for the development of new approaches to cancer care. Currently, many immunotherapies target unidentified antigens, making the measurement of relevant immune responses problematic at best. However, in EBV-associated tumors the antigens are well defined, thus allowing the Ambinder lab to define the epitope-specific cellular immune responses. As a result of this breakthrough, interventions designed to alter immune response —whether they be vaccine based interventions, adoptive immunotherapy interventions, or pharmacologic interventions — may all be assessed in terms of relevant surrogate markers. Much in the same way the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma with radiotherapy and chemotherapy paved the way for the modern approach to cancer treatment more broadly, the treatment of EBV-associated tumors (including Hodgkin's lymphoma) may pave the way to the more generalized use of these modalities to treat a myriad of cancer types. Dr. Ambinder is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma. His top areas of expertise are Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, B-Cell Lymphoma, Tissue Biopsy, and Bone Marrow Aspiration.

Bruce Cheson is a Hematologist and a Hematologist Oncology provider in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Cheson is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma. His top areas of expertise are Follicular Lymphoma, Chronic B-Cell Leukemia (CBCL), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and Bone Marrow Transplant. Dr. Cheson is currently accepting new patients.

Dr. Nina Wagner-Johnston is Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and HIV-related lymphomas. Dr. Wagner-Johnston serves as the Director for the Lymphoma Drug Development Program at the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Wagner-Johnston received her baccalaureate degree in nursing from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She earned her MD and completed her residency training at the University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois. She performed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Wagner-Johnston joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2015. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wagner-Johnston was an Assistant Professor at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Her research interests include clinical trial and biomarker development for patients with lymphoma. She is additionally involved in palliative/supportive care research and has a particular interest in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Wagner-Johnston serves as a member on the NCCN Cancer Related Fatigue Guidelines Panel and the ASCO Neuropathy Guidelines Panel. She has served as a journal reviewer for Annals of Oncology, Leukemia and Lymphoma, Blood, and the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. She is a previous recipient of a Young Investigator Award at the Supportive Oncology Conference as well as a Mentoring Program Award through the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She has served on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Lymphoma Steering Committee Clinical Trials Design Committee and the NCI Symptom Management and Health Related Quality of Life Steering Committee. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the AIDS Malignancies Consortium (AMC), and the Eastern Cancer Oncology Group (ECOG) Lymphoma Committee. Dr. Wagner is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma. Her top areas of expertise are Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), B-Cell Lymphoma, Bone Marrow Transplant, and Bone Marrow Aspiration.