Padmanee Sharma

Padmanee (Pam) Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., is co-leader of MD Anderson’s immunotherapy platform and C. and Jeanette Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology, and currently holds Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointments as Professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Professor in the Department of Immunology, Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Sharma specializes in renal, bladder, and prostate cancer. Her prime focus is to understand the mechanisms and pathways within the immune system responsible for tumor rejection. Since 2005 she has been a principal investigator for several clinical trials launched to improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies. Notably, Dr. Sharma was the principal investigator on the BMS Checkmate 275 study that first demonstrated the association of high MDSCs to significantly lower overall survival in patients with UC and which provide the inspiration for the MARIO-275 study for which her unique insights will be invaluable.