Fellowship Details & Requirements

Our GME Office has preliminary eligibility requirements that all prospective trainees must meet before applying for a training program at our institution. In addition to these criteria, the Sarcoma Medical Oncology program also has the following requirements:

Applicants should have completed a residency program in Internal Medicine in the United States, Canada or a foreign equivalent program, as well as fellowship training in Medical Oncology. In rare cases, candidates who have completed residency but have not yet completed a medical oncology fellowship may be considered if they have experience managing oncology patients, specifically sarcoma and have demonstrated a strong commitment to becoming a sarcoma medical oncologist.

Selection criteria include:
 

• Successful completion of an accredited residency or fellowship training program; completion of a medical oncology fellowship is preferred 
• Eligibility for a Texas medical license or physician-in-training permit 
• Strong interest in sarcoma clinical care, research and academic oncology 
• Applicants should have been no more than 3 years removed from active clinical practice or clinical training. Applicants with a gap of more than three years should provide an explanation for the gap and documentation of any relevant clinical exposure during this period, such as clinical observerships or other patient-care experiences.  

The Sarcoma Medical Oncology Fellowship Program accepts applications every year from Oct. 1 through Dec. 1. Interviews of select candidates are organized in January and February of each year, and official offer letters are sent in March.

To initiate the application process, candidates must submit a current curriculum vitae (CV) via email to Trisia Saucier,   tlsaucier@mdanderson.org, along with the required documents.:

• Curriculum vitae
• Letter of interest or personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation
• Certificate of completion for U.S. training program, if applicable
• ECFMG certificate

For fellows applying for a second year of fellowship, the application must include a letter outlining the rationale for an additional year and describing how the second year would be used to support the fellow’s clinical, research and/or academic development. 

Institutional Requirements

The  Graduate Medical Education Office at UT MD Anderson mandates specific documentation to process applications for the  Sarcoma Medical Oncology Clinical Fellowship Program. Applicants must ensure all requested materials are submitted in accordance with institutional guidelines to facilitate timely review and consideration.

Letters of Recommendation

• Three letters of recommendation dated no more than one year prior to the start date of the academic year.
• Letters must be on official institutional letterhead, signed, dated, and include referee contact details.
• One letter must be from the current program director (if applicable), while the remaining letters must be from individuals qualified to assess the applicant’s clinical qualifications.
• Letters must be sent directly from the referee to Trisia Saucier,  tlsaucier@mdanderson.org.  Letters submitted through intermediaries will not be accepted.

Licensure Exam Transcripts

Applicants must pass each step/part/level of an exam within three attempts.
 

• M.D.s: Submit the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Examination and Board Action History Report (EBAHR) via FSMB at www.fsmb.org.
• Minimum requirements: USMLE Step 1 and Step 2CK.
• D.O.s: Submit the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) transcript via NBOME at www.nbome.org.
• Canadian Medical Graduates: Submit the Licentiate of the Medical Council (LMCC) transcript via mcc.ca/

The goal of the Sarcoma Medical Oncology Fellowship is to develop physicians with advanced expertise in the diagnosis and management of sarcomas, an understanding of multidisciplinary sarcoma care and insight into patient-oriented and translational research.

By the end of fellowship, trainees are expected to:
 

• Understand the natural history, diagnosis and management of major sarcoma subtypes
• Develop expertise in systemic therapy selection and sequencing
• Participate effectively in multidisciplinary treatment planning
• Understand principles of clinical trial design, protocol development and regulatory processes
• Conduct an independent research project
• Present clinical and research findings in departmental and/or scientific settings
• Prepare a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal

The fellowship is one year in duration. A second year may be considered for fellows pursuing additional clinical, translational or basic science research experience.

Each fellow’s training plan is individualized based on clinical and research interests, under the guidance of the program director.

Clinical training

Clinical time is primarily based in the sarcoma outpatient clinic. Fellows are scheduled approximately three to four days per week in clinic and may also spend time on the inpatient sarcoma service.

Clinical training includes:

• Diagnosis and treatment of complex sarcoma cases
• Management of responses to therapy and treatment-related toxicities
• Symptom management and supportive care
• Clinical trial enrollment and longitudinal patient follow-up
• Integration of molecular testing and biomarker-driven care when appropriate
• Participation in multidisciplinary conferences and patient care meetings

Fellows are expected to present cases at departmental patient care meetings and multidisciplinary conferences.

Research and scholarly training

Non-clinical time is dedicated to scholarly activities that can include research, protocol development, scientific writing, grant preparation and/or educational activities based on key interests.

Fellows are expected to learn core elements of clinical research, including:

• Study design and biostatistics
• Scientific integrity and responsible conduct of research
• Protocol development
• Institutional Review Board processes
• Clinical trial operations
• Translational correlative studies

Each fellow is required to complete an investigative prospective or retrospective research project, present research findings and prepare a manuscript for peer-reviewed publication under the guidance of their chosen mentor(s).

Recent publications by trainees with mentorship from the department:

•  Denu RA, Joseph CP, Urquiola ES, Byrd PS, Yang RK, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Nassif Haddad EF, Nakazawa MS, Patel S, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N. Utility of Clinical Next Generation Sequencing Tests in KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Apr 27; 16(9) PMID: 38730662 PMCID: PMC11083047.
• Denu RA, Yang RK, Lazar AJ, Patel SS, Lewis VO, Roszik J, Livingston JA, Wang WL, Shaw KR, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Bird J, Raza SM, Akdemir KC, Rodon Ahnert J, Subbiah V, Patel S, Conley AP. Clinico-genomic profiling of conventional and dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas reveals TP53 mutation to be associated with worse outcomes. Clin Cancer Res. E-pub ahead of print: 2023 Jan 01; 29(23):4844-4852. PMID: 37747813 PMCID: PMC10835757.
• Thirasastr P, Sutton TL, Joseph CP, Lin H, Amini B, Mayo SC, Araujo D, Benjamin RS, Conley AP, Livingston JA, Ludwig J, Patel S, Ratan R, Ravi V, Zarzour MA, Nassif Haddad EF, Nakazawa MS, Zhou X, Heinrich MC, Somaiah N. Outcomes of Late-Line Systemic Treatment in GIST: Does Sequence Matter? Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 23; 16(5) PMID: 38473266 PMCID: PMC10931337.
• Thirasastr P, Lin H, Amini B, Wang WL, Cloutier JM, Nassif EF, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Feig B, Araujo D, Benjamin RS, Conley AP, Livingston JA, Ludwig J, Patel S, Ratan R, Ravi V, Zarzour MA, Zhou X, Somaiah N. Retrospective evaluation of the role of gemcitabine-docetaxel in well-differentiated and dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Cancer Med. E-pub ahead of print: 2023 Feb 01; 12(4):4282-4293. PMID: 36151848 PMCID: PMC9972024.
• Thirasastr P, Somaiah N. Overview of systemic therapy options in liposarcoma, with a focus on the activity of selinexor, a selective inhibitor of nuclear export in dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology. 2022 Feb.
• Thirasastr P, Somaiah N. Emerging Data on the Safety and Efficacy of Ripretinib for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Clin Exp Gastroenterol. 2023; 16:11-19. PMID: 36798653 PMCID: PMC9926989.
• Patel RR, Feit J, Werling G, White NM, Bishop AJ, Lin PP, Valenzuela Perez RF, Lazar AJ, Benjamin RS, Patel SR, Ludwig J, Ravi V, Livingston JA, Zarzour MA, Conley A, Somaiah N, Araujo DM. Primary Synovial Sarcoma of the Abdomen and Pelvis. Am J Clin Oncol. 2026 Jul 01; 49(7):309-316. PMID: 41342607 https://doi.org/10.1097/COC.0000000000001267.
• Patel RR, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Lin PP, Benjamin RS, Patel SR, Ludwig J, Ravi V, Vaporciyan AA, Araujo DM. Primary Intrathoracic Synovial Sarcoma: An Analysis of Outcomes of This Rare Disease. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Feb 22; 17(5) PMID: 40075593 PMCID: PMC11898520.
• Patel RR, Delclos GL, DeSantis SM, Cannell MB, Lupo PJ, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Lin PP, Benjamin RS, Patel SR, Ludwig J, Ravi V, Livingston JA, Somaiah N, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM. Does the Primary Tumor Site Drive Biology for Patients With Synovial Sarcoma? Am J Clin Oncol. 2025 Jan 01; 48(1):21-27. PMID: 39224003 https://doi.org/10.1097/COC.0000000000001142.
• Patel RR, Gopalakrishnan V, Amini B, Lazar AJ, Lin PP, Benjamin RS, Bishop AJ, Goepfert RP, Araujo DM. Oncologic Outcomes in Patients with Localized, Primary Head and Neck Synovial Sarcoma. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Dec 09; 16(23) PMID: 39682304 https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16234119.
• Nakazawa MS, Silverman IM, Rimkunas V, Veloso A, Glodzik D, Johnson A, Ohsumi TK, Patel SR, Conley AP, Roland CL, Soliman PT, Beird HC, Wu CC, Ingram DR, Lazcano R, Song D, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Yap TA, Wang WL, Livingston JA. Loss of the DNA Repair Gene RNase H2 Identifies a Unique Subset of DDR-Deficient Leiomyosarcomas. Mol Cancer Ther. 2024 Jul 02; 23(7):1057-1065. PMID: 38561019 https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-23-0761.
• Patel RR, Delclos GL, DeSantis SM, Cannell MB, Lupo PJ, Lin PP, Araujo DM. Epidemiological trends of synovial sarcoma by primary tumor sites in the US from 2000 to 2020. Cancer Epidemiol. 2024 Oct; 92:102627. PMID: 39048411 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2024.102627.
• Khan, I*, Agarwal, P, Assaad, NE, Ratan, R, Nassif, EF*. First-Line Chemotherapy Regimens for Advanced and Metastatic Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers. 2026 Jan 01; 18(2) PMID: 41595254 PMCID: PMC12838646.
• Denu RA*, Dann AM, Keung EZ, Nakazawa MS, Nassif Haddad EF. The Future of Targeted Therapy for Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 26; 16(5) PMID: 38473300 https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16050938.
• Zoghbi M*, Patel BA*, Roulleaux Dugage M, Mezquita L, Bahleda R, Dufresne A, Brahmi M, Ray-Coquard I, Pautier P, Blay JY, Le Cesne A, Massard C, Besse B, Auclin E, Nassif Haddad EF*. Association of Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) with Disease Control Rate and Progression-Free Survival in Patients with Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Treated with Immunotherapy in Early-Phase Trials. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Dec 03; 16(23) PMID: 39682239 https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16234053.
• Martiniova L, Kamel S, Kairemo K, Benjamin R, Somaiah N, Ravizzini G, Nassif Haddad EF. Predictive Value of Quantitative Parameters of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in Patients with Liposarcoma. Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Sep 12; 14(18) PMID: 39335700 https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14182021.
• Cope BM*, Traweek RS*, Lazcano R, Keung EZ, Lazar AJ, Roland CL, Nassif EF. Targeting the Molecular and Immunologic Features of Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Mar 31; 15(7) PMID: 37046760 https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15072099.
• Nasr LF*, Zoghbi M*, Lazcano R*, Nakazawa M, Bishop AJ, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Guadagnolo BA, Benjamin R, Patel S, Ravi V, Araujo DM, Livingston A, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Lazar AJ, Roland C, Keung EZ, Nassif Haddad EF. High-Grade Pleomorphic Sarcomas Treated with Immune Checkpoint Blockade: The MD Anderson Cancer Center Experience. Cancers (Basel). 2024 May 01; 16(9) PMID: 38730715 https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16091763.
• Truong DD, Weistuch C, Murgas KA, Admane P, King BL, Chauviere Lee J, Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Swaminathan J, Daw NC, Gordon N, Gopalakrishnan V, Gorlick RG, Somaiah N, Deasy JO, Mikos AG, Tannenbaum A, Ludwig J. Mapping the Single-cell Differentiation Landscape of Osteosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Jul; PMID: 38775859.
• Truong, D, Weistuch, C, Murgas, KA, Deasy, JO, Mikos, AG, Tannenbaum, A, Ludwig, JA. Mapping the Single-cell Differentiation Landscape of Osteosarcoma. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2023 Sep 14; PMID: 37745374 PMCID: PMC10515803.
• Truong DD, Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Porter RW, Krishnan S, Swaminathan J, Gibson A, Lazar AJ, Livingston JA, Gopalakrishnan V, Gordon N, Daw NC, Navin NE, Gorlick R, Ludwig JA. Dissociation protocols used for sarcoma tissues bias the transcriptome observed in single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing. BMC Cancer. 2023 May 31; 23(1):488. PMID: 37254069 PMCID: PMC10230784.
• Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Maitituoheti M, Menegaz BA, Krishnan S, Vetter AM, Camacho P, Wu CC, Beird HC, Porter RW, Ingram DR, Ramamoorthy V, Mohiuddin S, McCall D, Truong DD, Cuglievan B, Futreal PA, Velasco AR, Anvar NE, Utama B, Titus M, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Rodriguez-Aguayo C, Ratan R, Livingston JA, Rai K, MacLeod AR, Daw NC, Hayes-Jordan A, Ludwig JA. The androgen receptor is a therapeutic target in desmoplastic small round cell sarcoma. Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 01; 13(1):3057. PMID: 35650195 PMCID: PMC9160255.
• Truong DD, Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Ludwig JA. Targeting the IGF/PI3K/mTOR pathway and AXL/YAP1/TAZ pathways in primary bone cancer. J Bone Oncol. 2022 Apr; 33:100419. PMID: 35251924 PMCID: PMC8892134.
• Cherradi-Lamhamedi SE, Truong D, Ludwig JA. Understanding sarcoma drug resistance one cell at a time. Cancer Drug Resist. 2022; 5(1):90-92. PMID: 35582528 PMCID: PMC8992582.
• Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Mohiuddin S, Mishra DK, Krishnan S, Velasco AR, Vetter AM, Pence K, McCall D, Truong DD, Cuglievan B, Menegaz BA, Utama B, Daw NC, Molina ER, Zielinski RJ, Livingston JA, Gorlick R, Mikos AG, Kim MP, Ludwig JA. Transcriptional activators YAP/TAZ and AXL orchestrate dedifferentiation, cell fate, and metastasis in human osteosarcoma. Cancer Gene Ther. 2021 Dec; 28(12):1325-1338. PMID: 33408328 PMCID: PMC8636268.
• Truong, D, Cardenas Zuniga, R, Ludwig, JA. Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors and the Role of Androgen Receptors. Current treatment options in oncology. 2025 Jul 01; 26(7):638-647. PMID: 40536706 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-025-01334-4.
• Bello A, Alikhan MB, Subramaniam A, Yusuf ZI, Brockstein B, Ravi V. Adult-onset multifocal kaposiform hemangioendothelioma in the bone marrow, lung, liver, and brain: a case report. Front Oncol. 2024; 14:1322684. PMID: 38454925 https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2024.1322684.
• Traweek RS, Zoghbi M, Lazcano R, Cope BM, Bishop AJ, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Yoder AK, Guadagnolo BA, Ingram DR, Wani K, Shamsutdinova D, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Scally CP, Keung EZ, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Ratan R, Livingston JA, Nakazawa MS, Araujo DM, Patel S, Ravi V, Conley AP, Zarzour MA, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Nassif Haddad EF. Hyalinization-based pathologic response and immune infiltration following neoadjuvant radiotherapy with or without immune-checkpoint blockade in localized undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. ESMO Open. 2025 Jul; 10(7):105493. PMID: 40561658 PMCID: PMC12256315.
• Torres MB, Leung CH, Zoghbi M, Lazcano R, Ingram D, Wani K, Keung EZ, Zarzour MA, Scally CP, Hunt KK, Conley A, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Yoder AK, Nakazawa MS, Araujo D, Livingston A, Ratan R, Patel S, Ravi V, Lazar AJ, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Nassif Haddad EF. Dedifferentiated liposarcomas treated with immune checkpoint blockade: the MD Anderson experience. Front Immunol. 2025; 16:1567736. PMID: 40370451 PMCID: PMC12075363.
• Lazcano R*, Barreto CM, Salazar R, Carapeto F, Traweek RS, Leung CH, Gite S, Mehta J, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Vu KT, Parra ER, Lu W, Zhou J, Witt RG, Cope B, Thirasastr P, Lin HY, Scally CP, Conley AP, Ratan R, Livingston JA, Zarzour AM, Ludwig J, Araujo D, Ravi V, Patel S, Benjamin R, Wargo J, Wistuba II, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Keung EZ, Solis L, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Nassif EF*. The immune landscape of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. Front Oncol. 2022 Oct 12; 12:1008484. PMID: 36313661 PMCID: PMC9597628.
• Patel BA, Smith JT, Wangsiricharoen S, Wang WL, Lin PP, Farooqi A, Nassif Haddad EF, Ummed K, Mericli AF, Adelman DM, Livingston JA, Conley AP. Case Report: Complete response to the concurrent neoadjuvant radiation therapy and pembrolizumab in a locally recurrent, chemotherapy-refractory undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of bone. Front Oncol. 2026; 16:1645629. PMID: 41768232 https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2026.1645629.
• Subramanian A, Sasidharan D, Sowmya V, Ravi V. Efficient feature extraction using light-weight CNN attention-based deep learning architectures for ultrasound fetal plane classification. Phys Eng Sci Med. 2025 May 28; PMID: 40437331 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13246-025-01566-6.
• Subramaniam A, Ravi V. The 7 Pillars of Nonsurgical Oncology Approaches to Primary Cardiac Sarcoma. Innovations (Phila). 2024 Jan; 19(1):8-10. PMID: 38439185 https://doi.org/10.1177/15569845241228604.
• Parkes A, Wang WL, Patel S, Leung CH, Lin H, Conley AP, Somaiah N, Araujo DM, Zarzour M, Livingston JA, Ludwig J, Roland CL, Ravi V, Benjamin RS, Ratan R. Outcomes of systemic therapy in metastatic phyllodes tumor of the breast. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Apr; 186(3):871-882. PMID: 33575859.

Recent publications from the department:

• Roland CL¹, Nassif Haddad EF¹, Keung EZ, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Lin H, Chelvanambi M, Parra ER, Wani K, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Burton EM, Hunt KK, Torres KE, Feig BW, Scally CP, Lewis VO, Bird JE, Ratan R, Araujo D, Zarzour MA, Patel S, Benjamin R, Conley AP, Livingston JA, Ravi V, Tawbi HA, Lin PP, Moon BS, Satcher RL, Mujtaba B, Witt RG, Traweek RS, Cope B, Lazcano R, Wu CC, Zhou X, Mohammad MM, Chu RA, Zhang J, Damania A, Sahasrabhojane P, Tate T, Callahan K, Nguyen S, Ingram D, Morey R, Crosby S, Mathew G, Duncan S, Lima CF, Blay JY, Fridman WH, Shaw K, Wistuba I, Futreal A, Ajami N, Wargo JA, Somaiah N. A randomized, non-comparative phase 2 study of neoadjuvant immune-checkpoint blockade in retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma and extremity/truncal undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. Nat Cancer. 2024 Apr; 5(4):625-641. PMID: 38351182 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-024-00726-z.
• Ratan R, Kasper B, Alcindor T, Schoffski P, van der Graaf WTA, Federman N, Bui NQ, D'Amato G, Riedel RF, Attia S, Chawla S, Lim A, Tumminello B, Oton AB, Chu Y, Zhou S, Gounder M. Efficacy and Safety of Long-Term Continuous Nirogacestat Treatment in Adults With Desmoid Tumors: Results From the DeFi Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2025 Dec; 43(34):3646-3651. PMID: 41115259 PMCID: PMC12634144.
• Ratan, R, Kasper, B, Alcindor, T, Schöffski, P, Van Der Graaf, W, Federman, N, Bui, N, D'Amato, G, Riedel, RF, Attia, S, Chawla, SP, Lim, A, Tumminello, B, Oton, AB, Chu, Y, Zhou, S, Gounder, M. Reply to. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2026 Jul 20; 44(21):2063-2064. PMID: 42030530 https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO-26-00107.
•  Gounder M¹, Ratan R¹, Alcindor T, Schoffski P, van der Graaf WT, Wilky BA, Riedel RF, Lim A, Smith LM, Moody S, Attia S, Chawla S, D'Amato G, Federman N, Merriam P, Van Tine BA, Vincenzi B, Benson C, Bui NQ, Chugh R, Tinoco G, Charlson J, Dileo P, Hartner L, Lapeire L, Mazzeo F, Palmerini E, Reichardt P, Stacchiotti S, Bailey HH, Burgess MA, Cote GM, Davis LE, Deshpande H, Gelderblom H, Grignani G, Loggers E, Philip T, Pressey JG, Kummar S, Kasper B. Nirogacestat, a gamma-Secretase Inhibitor for Desmoid Tumors. N Engl J Med. 2023 Mar 09; 388(10):898-912. PMID: 36884323 https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2210140.
• Nassif EF, Cope B, Traweek R, Witt RG, Erstad DJ, Scally CP, Thirasastr P, Zarzour MA, Ludwig J, Benjamin R, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Ingram D, Wani K, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Keung EZ. Real-world use of palbociclib monotherapy in retroperitoneal liposarcomas at a large volume sarcoma center. Int J Cancer. 2022 Jun 15; 150(12):2012-2024. PMID: 35128664.
• Nassif Haddad E, Javle MM, Yap TA. Poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase inhibition in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2-mutant tumors: Bridging science with the clinic. Cancer. 2025 May 15; 131(10):e35890. PMID: 40323702 PMCID: PMC12288120.
• Nassif EF, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Reflections on the value of multidisciplinary oncology training by a medical oncologist. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2023 May; 49(5):1046-1047. PMID: 36631346 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2023.01.004.
• Nassif EF, Keung EZ, Thirasastr P, Somaiah N. Myxoid Liposarcomas: Systemic Treatment Options. Curr Treat Options Oncol. 2023 Apr; 24(4):274-291. PMID: 36853469 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-023-01057-4.
• Nassif EF, Joseph CP, Lazcano R, Joseph JT, Thirasastr P, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N. Case report: Responses to the combination of gemcitabine with sirolimus in two patients with TSC-mutated sarcomas. Front Oncol. 2023 Feb; 13:1046442. PMID: 36845725 https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1046442.
• Nassif EF, Maloney N, Conley AP, Keung EZ. Disseminated Coccidioidomycosis Following COVID-19 Mimicking Metastatic Thoracic Relapse of Well-Differentiated Liposarcoma: A Case Report. Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Sep 13; 8:715939. PMID: 34589500 PMCID: PMC8473730.
• Bishop AJ, Amini B, Lin H, Raza SM, Patel S, Grosshans DR, Ghia A, Farooqi A, Guadagnolo BA, Mitra D, Akdemir KC, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Alvarez-Breckenridge C, Bird J, Rhines LD, Somaiah N, Conley AP. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Have Clinical Activity in Patients With Recurrent Chordoma. J Immunother. 2022 Oct 01; 45(8):374-378. PMID: 35943386 PMCID: PMC9452485.
• Roszik J, Mustachio LM, Livingston JA, Groisberg R, Carmagnani Pestana R, Subbiah V, Conley AP. Landscape of Immune-Related Markers and Potential Therapeutic Targets in Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Oct 19; 13(20) PMID: 34680396 PMCID: PMC8534178.
• Reid, TR, Oronsky, B, Williams, J, Caroen, S, Conley, AP. TGF-β trap of AdAPT-001 turns up the heat on tumors and turns down checkpoint blocker resistance. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer. 2024 Oct 26; 12(10) PMID: 39461878 PMCID: PMC11529498.
• Banu MA, Raza SM, Amini M, Seaman S, Rubino F, Snyder R, Patel S, DeMonte F, Conley AP. The role of systemic therapy in advanced skull base chordomas: overview of the current state and the MD Anderson protocol. Neurosurg Focus. 2024 May; 56(5):E15. PMID: 38691867 https://doi.org/10.3171/2024.2.FOCUS2416.
• Roth ME, Griffith W, Choi E, Yarbrough A, Bell D, Adams L, Corredor J, DeRousse H, Harris J, Blanc J, Parker C, Guzman D, Robinson M, Chernyshov A, Cheng J, Saldana A, Mistry H, Livingston JA. Development of a Multidisciplinary Adolescent and Young Adult Program at a Large Academic Cancer Center. JCO Oncol Pract. 2026 Jan 30; :OP2500665. PMID: 41616235 https://doi.org/10.1200/OP-25-00665.
• Berkman A, Roth M, Livingston JA. Metastatic Recurrence in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer-Key Drivers of Early Mortality. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Nov 26; PMID: 41296340 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.4926.
• Ginn MP, Denu RA, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Harrison DJ, Nakazawa MS, Conley AP, Patel S, Livingston JA. TFCP2 Fusion-Positive Rhabdomyosarcomas: A Report of 10 Cases and a Review of the Literature. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Apr 25; 17(9) PMID: 40361368 PMCID: PMC12070825.
• Mohan J, Sivasubramanian A, V S, Ravi V. Enhancing skin disease classification leveraging transformer-based deep learning architectures and explainable AI. Comput Biol Med. 2025 May; 190:110007. PMID: 40117795 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110007.
• Zhang X, Balasubramaniyan D, Chidambaram N, Ravi V. Predictive analysis of vitiligo treatment drugs using degree and neighborhood degree-based topological descriptors. Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 12; 15(1):5218. PMID: 39939382 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-89603-y.
• Nair RS, Raju S, More SJ, Puthur JT, Makasana J, Ravi V. Evaluating non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) kinetics and photosynthetic efficiency in cassava (Manihot esculenta) subjected to variable high light conditions. Funct Plant Biol. 2024 Oct; 51 PMID: 39361805 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP24118.
• Gelderblom, H, Bhadri, V, Stacchiotti, S, Bauer, S, Wagner, AJ, Van De Sande, MA, Bernthal, NM, Pousa, AL, Razak, AR, Italiano, A, Ahmed, M, Le Cesne, A, Tinoco, G, Boye, K, Martin-Broto, J, Palmerini, E, Tafuto, S, Pratap, S, Powers, BC, Reichardt, P, Casado Herráez, A, Rutkowski, P, Tait, C, Zarins, F, Harrow, B, Sharma, MG, Ruiz-Soto, R, Sherman, ML, Blay, JY, Tap, WD, Loong, HH, Brunello, A, Krieg, A, Algulnik, M, Riedel, RF, Okuno, SH, Loggers, ET, Alcindor, T, Ferraresi, V, Serrano, C, Randall, R, Wilky, B, Ravi, V. Vimseltinib versus placebo for tenosynovial giant cell tumour (MOTION). The Lancet. 2024 Jun 22; 403(10445):2709-2719. PMID: 38843860 PMCID: PMC11740396.
• Janardhanan M, Rakesh S, Savithri V, Aravind T, Mathew L, Ravi V. Melanotic Neuroectodermal Tumour of Infancy. Head Neck Pathol. 2023 Jun; 17(2):509-514. PMID: 36853558 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-023-01537-x.
• Bishop AJ, Zheng J, Subramaniam A, Ghia AJ, Wang C, McGovern SL, Patel S, Guadagnolo BA, Mitra D, Farooqi A, Reardon MJ, Kim B, Guha-Thakurta N, Li J, Ravi V. Cardiac Angiosarcomas: Risk of Brain Metastasis and Hemorrhage Warrants Frequent Surveillance Imaging and Early Intervention. Am J Clin Oncol. 2022 Jun 01; 45(6):258-263. PMID: 35588225 PMCID: PMC9179017.
• Vipparthy S, Ravi V. Does conduction system pacing result in a lower atrial arrhythmia burden compared to right ventricular pacing? J Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2024 Apr; 67(3):437-438. PMID: 38087146 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10840-023-01707-5.
• Diwakar M, Singh P, Ravi V. Medical Data Analysis Meets Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 Nov 29; 10(12) PMID: 38135961 https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10121370.

Recent conference abstracts by trainees with mentorship from the department:

• El Assaad N, Shamsutdinova D, Nakazawa MS, Torrado Martin C, Denu RA, Ingram D, Wani KM, Livingston JA, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Patel S, Somaiah N, Soliman PT, Meyer LA, Yoder AK, Farooqi A, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Lyu HG, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Lazar AJ, Nassif Haddad EF. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in advanced/metastatic leiomyosarcoma (LMS): Real-world cohort from MD Anderson. CTOS 2026 Dec; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• El Assaad N, Keung EZ, Shamsutdinova D, Fong LWR, Melendez B, Ingram D, Wani KM, Wang WL, Torrado C, Denu RA, Nakazawa MS, Livingston JA, Conley AP, Ratan R, Araujo DM, Zarzour MA, Ravi V, Patel S, Roland CL, Lyu HG, Soliman PT, Meyer LA, Yoder AK, Farooqi A, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N, Nassif Haddad EF. Association of PTEN/PI3K and cell-cycle signaling with distinct tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) niches in leiomyosarcoma (LMS). CTOS 2026 Nov; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• El Assaad N, Nakazawa MS, Martin CT, Denu RA, Livingston J, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Patel S, Soliman PT, Meyer LA, Benjamin RS, Farooqi A, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N, Nassif Haddad EF. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in advanced/metastatic leiomyosarcoma (LMS): Real-world cohort from MD Anderson. AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Breaking Barriers in the Fight Against Rare Cancers 2026 Jul; 2026 Jul.
• Denu RA*, Kochat V, Zheng Z, Jiang Y, Padron W, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Keung EZ, Rai K, Nassif Haddad EF. Spatial Transcriptomic Profiling from 300 Leiomyosarcoma Samples. ASCO annual meeting 2025 Jun; ASCO Annual Meeting. 2025 Jun.
• Ravi N*, Nakazawa M, Livingston J, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo D, Ravi V, Somaiah N, Patel S, Nassif Haddad EF. Incidence of germline genetic mutations identified on standard-of-care genomic sequencing for advanced sarcomas. CTOS 2024 Nov; CTOS Annual Meeting. 2024 Nov.
• Alicia Gingrich, Hannah Beird, Rossana Lazcano Segura, Ryan Denu, Michael Nakazawa, Ravin Ratan, J. Andrew Livingston, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Anthony Paul Conley, Neeta Somaiah, Dejka M. Araujo, S. Shreyaskumar Patel, Christina Lynn Roland, Andrew Futreal, Alexander J. Lazar, Emily Zhi-Yun Keung, Nassif Haddad EF. Immune infiltrate analysis to reveal distinct immune classes for leiomyosarcomas. ASCO annual meeting 2024 Jun; ASCO Annual Meeting. 2024 Jun.
• Ryan Austin Denu*, Rossana Lazcano Segura, Ahsan Saleem Farooqi, Davis Ingram, Khalida M. Wani, Yiming Cai, Keila E. Torres, Emily Zhi-Yun Keung, Christina Lynn Roland, Neeta Somaiah, Haoqiang Ying, Jason T. Huse, Kunal Rai, Anthony Paul Conley, Shreyaskumar Patel, Wei-Lien Wang, Alexander J. Lazar, Nassif Haddad EF. Impact of ATRX loss on survival and immune microenvironment in multiple sarcoma subtypes. ASCO annual meeting 2024 Jun; ASCO Annual Meeting. 2024 Jun.
• Torres MB**, Leung CH, Keung E, Feng C, Beird H, Zarzour A, Scally C, Hunt K, Conley A, Bishop A, Guadagnolo B, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Araujo D, Livingston A, Ratan R, Patel S, Ravi V, Lazar A, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Nassif EF. Dedifferentiated Liposarcomas Treated With Immune Checkpoint Blockade: The MD Anderson Experience. CTOS 2023 Nov; CTOS Annual Meeting. 2023 Nov.
• Traweek R*, Keung EZ, Ajami NJ, Duncan S, Burton E, Tate T, Callahan K, Ingram D, Wani K, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Wargo JA, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Nassif EF. Fecal microbiome in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients treated with neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). ESMO IO 2021 Dec; ESMO Immuno-Oncology Annual Meeting. 2021 Dec.
• Nassif EF, Beird H, Mitra A, Liu B, McBride K, Wang WL, Ingram DR, Wani K, Keung EZ, Mosaic Team RTITP, Zarzour M, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Livingston A, Ratan R, Patel S, Ravi V, Benjamin R, Lazar AJ, Roland C, Futreal PA, Somaiah N. Histology Specific Intratumoral B-Cell Biology In Alveolar Soft-Part Sarcomas (ASPS) In Response To Durvalumab-Tremelimumab (D-T). CTOS 2023 Annual Meeting. 2023 Nov.
• Denu RA, Joseph C, Urquiola E, Byrd P, Ratan R, Zarzour M, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Patel S, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N. Clinico-Genomic Analysis of KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Identifies Potential Driver Mutations. CTOS 2023 Annual Meeting. 2023 Nov.
• Thirasastr P, Lin HY, Nassif EF, Wang W, Araujo DM, Benjamin RS, Conley AP, Livingston J, Ludwig JA, Patel S, Ratan R, Ravi V, Zarzour MA, Zhou X, Somaiah N. Clinical implications of recurring mutations in myxoid liposarcoma (MLS). ASCO 2023 Annual Meeting. 2023 Jun.
• Thirasastr P, Joseph C, Araujo DM, Benjamin RS, Conley AP, Livingston J, Ludwig JA, Patel S, Ratan R, Ravi V, Zarzour MA, Zhou X, Somaiah N. Outcomes in late-line systemic treatment in GISTs: Does sequence matter? ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting. 2022 Jun.
• Keung EZ, Nassif EF, Lin HY, Lazar AJ, Torres KE, Wang W, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Hunt K, Feig BW, Bird JE, Lewis VO, Ratan R, Patel S, Zelazowska M, Liu B, McBride K, Wargo JA, Roland CL, Somaiah N. Randomized phase II study of neoadjuvant checkpoint blockade for surgically resectable undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS): Survival results after 2 years of follow-up and intratumoral B-Cell Receptor (BCR) correlates. ASCO 2022 Annual Meeting. 2022 Jun.
• Denu R, Somaiah N. Prognostic and biologic significance of ATRX mutation in adult soft tissue sarcoma. 2025 CTOS Annual Meeting 2025 Nov; Unknown status.
• Wannaphut, Somaiah. Racial disparities in incidence and mortality over 20 years among AYA patients with sarcoma in the us: A seer database analysis. 2025 CTOS Annual Meeting 2025 Nov; Unknown status.
• Wannaphut C, Somaiah N. Treatment outcomes of gemcitabine and docetaxel in patients with clear cell sarcoma (ccs) or gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumor (GNET): a case series. 2025 CTOS Annual Meeting 2025 Nov; Unknown status.
• Munnangi P, Somaiah N. Systemic therapy in NF-1 associated malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST). 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting 2024 Jun; Unknown status.
• Patel R, Brown AV, Tin A, Miller P, Hoffman E, Liu M, Araujo D. THE ROLE OF CIRCULATING TUMOR DNA (CTDNA) IN SYNOVIAL SARCOMA. CTOS 2026 Annual Meeting 2026 Nov; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• Patel R, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Lin PP, Benjamin RS, Patel S, Ludwig JA, Ravi V, Vaporciyan A, Araujo DM. PRIMARY INTRATHORACIC SYNOVIAL SARCOMA: AN ANALYSIS OF OUTCOMES OF THIS RARE DISEASE. CTOS 2026 Annual Meeting 2026 Nov; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• Denu RA, Joseph CP, Urquiola ES, Byrd PS, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo D. Clinico-Genomic Analysis of KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gatrointestinal Stromal Tumors Identifies Potential Driver Mutations. CTOS 2023 Annual Meeting 2023 Nov; 2023 Nov.
• Truong DD, Beird H, Wu C, Krishnan S, Ingram D, Lazar A, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Rai K, Yao W, Benjamin R, Somaiah N, Feig BW, Lamhamedi-Cherradi S, Ludwig J. Defining Differentiation States In Well-Differentiated and De-Differentiated Liposarcoma. CTOS 2022 Annual Meeting. 2022 Nov.
• Truong DD, Lamhamedi-Cherradi S, Maitituoheti M, Beird H, Wu C, Krishnan S, Ingram D, McCall D, Cuglievan B, Futreal P, Titus M, Lazar A, Wang W, Rai K, MacLeod A, Ratan R, Livingston J, Daw N, Hayes-Jordan A, Ludwig J. The Epigenetic Impact and Therapeutic Opportunity of AR-Directed Therapy for DSRCT. CTOS 2022 Annual Meeting. 2022 Nov.

Recent conference abstracts from the department: 

• Farooqi A, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Lin H, Mitra D, Yoder AK, Denu RA, Lyu HG, Conley AP, Ratan R, Livingston AJ, A Zarzour MA, Nakazawa MS, Lin PP, Keung EZ, Lillemoe HA, Moon BS, Patel S, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Torrado C, Hunt KK, Scally CP, Torres KE, Patel S, Bird JE, Lewis VO, Guadagnolo B, Bishop AJ, Nassif Haddad EF. SATURN-STS: A PHASE II STUDY OF PERIOPERATIVE ATEZOLIZUMAB, DOXORUBICIN, AND RADIOTHERAPY IN HIGH-RISK EXTREMITY AND TRUNCAL SOFT TISSUE SARCOMA. CTOS 2026 Nov; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• Nassif Haddad EF, Lin H, Assaad NE, Bhosale P, Conley AP, Nakazawa MS, McDonald G, Meyer LA, Soliman PT, Torrado C, Denu RA, Zarzour MA, Livingston AJ, Ratan R, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Patel S, Somaiah N. PHASE I TRIAL OF COMBINATION GEMCITABINE AND NAB-SIROLIMUS IN ADVANCED LEIOMYOSARCOMAS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS. CTOS 2026 Nov; Accepted/In press: 2026 Nov.
• Nassif Haddad EF, Keyomarsi K, Lin H, Lazar AJ, Wang W, Manning HC, Xu G, Mawlawi O, Pelosof L, Hunt KK, Somaiah N. Phase I/II Study to Evaluate the Feasibility and Efficacy of Sequential Abemaciclib and Gemcitabine Treatment in Patients with Retinoblastoma (Rb) Positive Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) and Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma (DDLPS). ASCO annual meeting 2025 Jun; ASCO Annual Meeting. 2025 Jun.
• Nassif EF, Lu H, Stanford M, Millerchip K, Romero D, Matejka B, Malke J, Gershenwald J, Kumari S, Mak D, Lin A, Burke J, Wang W, Lazar A, Somaiah N, Haymaker C, Roland C, Keung E. Peripheral  CD38+ Effector Memory T cells are Dynamic Biomarkers of Response to Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Patients with Resectable Dedifferentiated Liposarcomas and Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcomas. AACR Annual Meeting 2024 Apr; AACR Annual Meeting. 2024 Apr.
• Nassif EF, Beird H, Mitra A, Liu B, McBride K, Wang W, Ingram D, Wani K, Keung EZ, Initiative Team RT, Team PM, Zarzour A, Conley A, Araujo D, Livingston J, Ratan R, Patel S, Ravi V, Benjamin R, Lazar AJ, Roland CL, Futreal P, Somaiah N. Histology Specific Intratumoral B-Cell Biology in Alveolar Soft-Part Sarcomas (ASPS) in Response to Durvalumab-Tremelimumab (D-T). CTOS 2023 Nov; CTOS Annual Meeting. 2023 Nov.
• Nassif Haddad EF, Lazcano R, Morey R, Ingram D, Wani K, Gingrich A, Nakazawa M, Denu R, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Livingston JA, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo D, Ludwig J, Patel S, Benjamin R, Ravi V, Ratan R, Keung EZ, Lazar A. Patterns of Expression of Immune Biomarkers in Leiomyosarcomas (LMS). NCI SASS 2023 Sep; NCI Strategic Advances in Sarcoma Science. 2023 Sep.
• Nassif EF, Liu B, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Ingram D, Wani K, Duncan S, Tate T, Mathew G, Crosby S, Shaw K, Zelazowska M, Feig BW, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Futreal A, Wargo JA, Somaiah N, McBride K, Roland CL, Keung EZ. B-Cell Receptor (BCR) Repertoire is a Dynamic Biomarker of Survival in Sarcoma Patients Treated with Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Blockade (ICB). SITC 2022 Nov; SITC Annual Meeting. 2022 Nov.
• Nassif EF, Keung EZ, Jiang P, Reuben A, Crosby S, Mathew G, Lazar AJ, Torres KE, Wang WL, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Hunt KK, Bird JE, Lewis VO, Conley AP, Wargo JA, Somaiah N, Roland CL. Peripheral Immune Biomarkers of Survival in Patients with Resectable Dedifferentiated Liposarcomas (DDLPS) and Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcomas (UPS) Treated with Neoadjuvant Nivolumab +/- Ipilimumab (neoICB). ESMO 2022 Sep; ESMO Annual Meeting. 2022 Sep.
• Nassif EF, Chelvanambi M, Chen L, Wu CC, Damania A, Keung EZ, Witt R, White MG, Ajami NJ, Wong MC, Somaiah N, Sepesi B, Basu S, Allison JP, Sharma P, McBride K, Fridman WH, Wargo JA, Cascone T, Roland CL. Identifying gut microbial signatures associated with B-cells and tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) in response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). ASCO 2022 Jun; ASCO Annual Meeting. 2022 Jun.
• Nassif EF, Wu CC, Akdemir K, Witt RG, Traweek R, Cope B, Thirasastr P, Tate T, Mathew G, Crosby S, Chu R, Mohammad M, Shaw K, Ingram D, Wani K, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Duncan S, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Lewis V, Bird JE, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Scally CP, Ratan R, Patel S, Benjamin R, Satcher R, McBride K, Fridman WH, Wistuba I, Futreal A, Wargo JA, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Antigen presentation and processing pathway is associated with early relapse after neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in dedifferentiated liposarcomas (DDLPS). AACR Sarcoma 2022 Apr; AACR special conference on sarcoma. 2022 Apr.
• Nassif EF, Le Cesne A, Massard C, Mezquita L, Roulleaux-Dugage M, Bahleda R, Dufresne A, Brahmi M, Ray-Coquard I, Pautier P, Leary A, Levy A, Le Pechoux C, Honore C, Mir O, Besse B, Blay JY, Auclin E. Association of Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI) with Progression-free survival (PFS) in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients treated with immunotherapy (IO) in early phase trials. ESMO IO 2021 Dec; ESMO Immuno-Oncology Annual Meeting. 2021 Dec.
• Nassif EF, Roland CL, Thirasastr P, Scally CP, Zarzour A, Valenzuela R, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N, Keung EZ. Surgical outcomes of patients with well-differentiated and dedifferentiated retroperitoneal liposarcomas treated with palbociclib. CTOS 2021 Nov; CTOS Annual Meeting. 2021 Nov.
• Nassif EF, Auclin E, Bahleda R, Honoré C, Mir O, Dumont S, Mery B, Hodroj K, Brahmi M, Trédan O, Ray-Coquard I, Blay JY, Massard C, Le Cesne A, Dufresne A, Le Pechoux C, Levy A, Komaki R. Impact of peri-operative radiotherapy on localized sarcomas with TP53 alterations: retrospective pooled analysis of two precision medicine trials. American Radium Society 2021 Sep; American Radium Society Annual Meeting. 2021 Sep.
• Roszik J, Denu RA, Nassif EF, Nakazawa M, Livingston JA, Ekdemir KC, Ratan R, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Pestana R, Farooqi A, Roland C, Keung E, Ravi V, Somaiah N, Patel SR, Conley AP. TP53 ALTERATIONS IN SARCOMAS: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE AACR-GENIE DATABASE. 2023 CTOS Annual Meeting. 2023 Nov.
• Wilky B, Rodon J, Ingham M, Pollack S, Conley A. A Phase 1/2 Study of Mecbotamab Vedotin (BA3011), a CAB-AXL-ADC, in Patients with Advanced Sarcoma including Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. 2023 ESMO Targeted Anti-Cancer Therapies Congress. 2023 Mar.
• Jones RL, Chawla SP, Shepard DR, Davis EJ, Wang V, Davis LE, Wasp GT, Martin-Broto J, Stacchiotti S, Blay JV, Reichardt P, Gelderblom H, Senne L, Darling M, Bayer K, Eckelman B, Conley AP. A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2 Trial of Inbrx-109 in Unresectable or  Metastatic Conventional Chondrosarcoma. 2022 CTOS Annual Meeting. 2022 Nov.
• Bishop AJ, Amini B, Lin H, Raza SM, Smith JT, Patel S, Grosshans D, Farooqi A, Guadagnolo B, Mitra D, Akdemir K, Lazar A, Wang W, Bird JE, Rhines LD, Conley AP. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Provide Favorable Responses In Patients With Recurrent Chordoma. 2021 CTOS Annual Virtual Meeting. 2021 Nov.
• Gill J, Conley AP, Somaiah N, Araujo DM, Ratan R, Posey K, Benjamin RS, Patel S, Daw NC, Harrison DJ, Gorlick R, Lin H, Wang W, Amini B, Gordon N, J Andrew Livingston J. A Phase 1/2 Trial of Gemcitabine, Docetaxel, and Hydroxychloroquine in Advanced / Metastatic Osteosarcoma: Results of Phase 1. CTOS 2022 Annual Meeting. 2022 Nov.
• Parkes A, Posey K, Robinson, Van Tine B, Livingston JA. OUTCOMES RELATED TO THE TREATMENT OF SARCOMAS WITH ANTH

Elise Nassif Haddad, M.D., Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor, Sarcoma Medical Oncology 
Program Director, Sarcoma Medical Oncology Fellowship

Maria A. Zarzour, M.D. 
Associate Professor Associate Program Director 

Neeta Somaiah, M.D. 
Professor and Chair 

Michael Nakazawa, M.D. 
Assistant Professor 

John Andrew Livingston, M.D. 
Associate Professor 

Ravin Ratan, M.D. 
Associate Professor and Deputy Chair 

Dejka Araujo, M.D. 
Professor 

Shreyaskumar Patel, M.D. 
Professor 

Joseph Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. 
Professor 

Vinod Ravi, M.D. 
Professor 

Anthony Conley, M.D. 
Professor and Section Chief of Clinical Research 

Carlos Torrado, M.D.
Assistant Professor 

Fellows train in a high-volume sarcoma program with faculty expertise across all sarcoma subtypes, including:

• Angiosarcoma
• Chondrosarcoma
• Desmoid tumor
• Desmoplastic small round cell tumor
• Ewing sarcoma
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumor
• Leiomyosarcoma
• Liposarcoma
• Osteosarcoma
• Rhabdomyosarcoma
• Synovial sarcoma
• Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma

Additional areas of focus include drug development, immunotherapy, early-phase clinical trials, cellular therapy, translational research methods and biomarker-driven studies.

In addition to gaining unparalleled education and training experience, UT MD Anderson trainees have access to exceptional resources and benefits to help them build meaningful careers and lead fulfilling lives.

Institutional benefits and support

GME trainees’ salary stipends are updated every year based on the ACGME’s recommendations, and because our trainees are considered workforce members, they also enjoy UT MD Anderson’s employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement planning, disability insurance and six weeks of parental leave.

Our GME House Staff Senate offers trainees the opportunity to experience a leadership role in a medical field career, and the institution’s Academic Mentoring Council provides avenues to secure tailored academic mentoring from faculty. Our GME trainees benefit from the extensive support offered to our research trainees, too; they are invited to participate in grant application workshops, apply for pilot grants to support their research ideas and receive monetary awards for securing extramural grant funding.

Trainee wellness is also of utmost importance at UT MD Anderson.

Our trainees have access to  UT MD Anderson’s employee networks, fitness center and other wellness resources provided by the institution. Additionally, our Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), which provides oversight of our accredited programs, regularly assesses our trainees’ needs and implements various initiatives, such as providing free call meals and discounted parking to GME House Staff, to address those gaps. The committee even has a subcommittee entirely dedicated to supporting the wellness of our trainees.

Our efforts to ensure a welcoming and supportive education and training experience have been commended nationally. In 2023, the Office of Graduate Medical Education received the DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr. Award, a prestigious national award that recognizes our institution for its respectful and supportive environment for delivering medical education and patient care.

Beyond UT MD Anderson

UT MD Anderson’s location has many benefits, too. Our main campus is nestled inside the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center which boasts about 10 million patient encounters each year. Many of our faculty are involved in interorganizational research collaborations, both within the TMC and across the nation, exposing trainees to groundbreaking advancements in medical care in real time.

Most importantly, the city of Houston is a great place to call home and raise a family. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. More than 145 different languages are spoken across the city, placing us behind only New York and Los Angeles. In fact, about 30% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. And, paychecks here stretch farther than most U.S. metro areas, thanks to our low cost of living.

Visit our Why Houston page to learn more about our city’s affordable housing, fine dining, entertainment scene, nationally renowned museums and other great attributes.