LeishaAnnEmensMDPhD

Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; Co-Leader, Hillman Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program; Director, Translational Immunotherapy for the Women's Cancer Research Center, Magee Women's Hospital

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Office
5117 Centre Avenue
5117 Centre Avenue, Room G.27b
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Phone+1 412-623-3239

Fax+1 412-623-1212
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Education & Training

Johns Hopkins UniversityFellowship, Hematology and Medical Oncology, 1998 - 2002
University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterResidency, Internal Medicine, 1995 - 1998
Baylor College of MedicineClass of 1995

Certifications & Licensure

PA State Medical License 2018 - 2024
MD State Medical License 1998 - 2024
TX State Medical License 1997 - 1999
American Board of Internal Medicine Medical Oncology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

America's Top Doctors Castle Connolly, 2012-2014
CMS Meaningful Use Stage 1 Certification EpicCare Ambulatory EMR, Epic Systems Corporation, 2013-2014
America's Top Doctors for Cancer Castle Connolly, 2011-2013
Top Doctors:Baltimore Area Castle Connolly, 2012
Top Doctors:Washington-Baltimore Castle Connolly, 2012
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Clinical Trials

Vaccine Therapy With or Without Cyclophosphamide and Doxorubicin in Women With Stage IV Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2004 Jan 01
Completed
Phase 1
Trastuzumab, Cyclophosphamide, and an Allogeneic GM-CSF-secreting Breast Tumor Vaccine for the Treatment of HER-2/Neu-Overexpressing Metastatic Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2006 Sep 01
Completed
Phase 2
Cytokine Expression During Radiation for Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2009 Nov 13
Completed
Not Applicable
Trastuzumab, Cyclophosphamide, and Vaccine Therapy in Treating Patients With High-Risk or Metastatic Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2008 Dec 01
Completed
Phase 2
Cyclophosphamide and Vaccine Therapy With or Without Trastuzumab in Treating Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2009 Jul 01
Completed
Phase 2
Partial Irradiation and Sequential vs. Concurrent Chemo Early Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2014 Jan 16
Active, not recruiting
Phase 1, Phase 2
NIMBUS: Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab in Metastatic Hypermutated HER2-negative Breast Cancer Start of enrollment: 2019 Mar 08
Active, not recruiting
Phase 2
A First-in-human Study Using BDC-1001 as a Single Agent and in Combination With Nivolumab in Advanced HER2-Expressing Solid Tumors Start of enrollment: 2020 Feb 24
Recruiting
Phase 1, Phase 2
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Publications & Presentations

PubMed

First-in-Human Phase I Trial of TPST-1120, an inhibitor of PPARα, as Monotherapy or in Combination with Nivolumab, in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.
Mark Yarchoan, John D Powderly, Bruno R Bastos, Thomas B Karasic, Oxana V Crysler, Pamela N Munster, Meredith A McKean, Leisha A Emens, Yvonne M Saenger, Yasser Ged, R...> ;Cancer Research Communications. 2024 Mar 29
Advances and challenges in cancer immunoprevention and immune interception.
Philip E Castle, Olivera J Finn, Shizuko Sei, Sasha E Stanton, Leisha A Emens> ;Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer. 2024 Mar 21
Spatial and Compositional Biomarkers in Tumor Microenvironment Predicts Clinical Outcomes in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.
Mi, H., Varadhan, R., Cimino-Mathews, A., Popel, A., Emens, L., Santa-Maria, C.> ;Biorxiv. 2023 Dec 20
18 citations
Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade: A window of opportunity to advance cancer immunotherapy.
Suzanne L Topalian, Patrick M Forde, Leisha A Emens, Mark Yarchoan, Kellie N Smith, Drew M Pardoll> ;Cancer Cell. 2023 Sep 11
1 citations
Perspectives in Immunotherapy: meeting report from Immunotherapy Bridge (Naples, November 30th-December 1st, 2022).
Paolo A Ascierto, Antonio Avallone, Carlo Bifulco, Sergio Bracarda, Joshua D Brody, Leisha A Emens, Robert L Ferris, Silvia C Formenti, Omid Hamid, Douglas B Johnson, ...> ;Journal of Translational Medicine. 2023 Jul 20
3 citations
A transcriptome-informed QSP model of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer identifies predictive biomarkers for PD-1 inhibition.
Theinmozhi Arulraj, Hanwen Wang, Leisha A Emens, Cesar A Santa-Maria, Aleksander S Popel> ;Science Advances. 2023 Jun 30
5 citations
A New Landscape of Testing and Therapeutics in Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Geetha Jagannathan, Marissa J White, Rena R Xian, Leisha A Emens, Ashley Cimino-Mathews> ;Clinics in Laboratory Medicine. 2023 Jun 1
5 citations
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immunotherapy for the treatment of gynecologic cancer.
Mary L Disis, Sarah F Adams, Jyoti Bajpai, Marcus O Butler, Tyler Curiel, Shelley A Dodt, Laura Doherty, Leisha A Emens, Claire F Friedman, Margaret Gatti-Mays, Meliss...> ;Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer. 2023 Jun 1
6 citations
Immunotherapy Approaches for Breast Cancer Patients in 2023.
Leisha A Emens, Sherene Loi> ;Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2023 Apr 3
A phase 1 study of veliparib (ABT-888) plus weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel in advanced solid malignancies, with an expansion cohort in triple negative breast cancer...
Monica K Malhotra, Shalu Pahuja, Brian F Kiesel, Leonard J Appleman, Fei Ding, Yan Lin, Hussein A Tawbi, Ronald G Stoller, James J Lee, Chandra P Belani, Alice P Chen,...> ;Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2023 Apr 1
25 citations
CD8T cell-intrinsic IL-6 signaling promotes resistance to anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy.
Mahrukh A Huseni, Lifen Wang, Joanna E Klementowicz, Kobe Yuen, Beatrice Breart, Christine Orr, Li-Fen Liu, Yijin Li, Vinita Gupta, Congfen Li, Deepali Rishipathak, Ji...> ;Cell Reports. Medicine. 2023 Jan 17
2 citations
Adjuvant chemotherapy for resected triple negative breast cancer patients: A network meta-analysis.
Fausto Petrelli, Valentina Bertaglia, Maria Chiara Parati, Karen Borgonovo, Pushpamali De Silva, Andrea Luciani, Silvia Novello, Mario Scartozzi, Leisha A Emens, Cinzi...> ;Breast. 2023 Feb 1
6 citations
Maximizing the value of phase III trials in immuno-oncology: A checklist from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).
Atkins, M., Abu-Sbeih, H., Ascierto, P., Bishop, M., Chen, D., Dhodapkar, M., Emens, L., Ernstoff, M., Ferris, R., Greten, T., Gulley, J., Herbst, R., Humphrey, R., La...> ;Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer. 2022 Sep 1
16 citations
Dynamics of tumor-associated macrophages in a quantitative systems pharmacology model of immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.
Hanwen Wang, Chen Zhao, Cesar A Santa-Maria, Leisha A Emens, Aleksander S Popel> ;Iscience. 2022 Aug 19
Quiescent cancer cells: Therapeutic targets to overcome immunotherapy resistance?
Leisha A Emens, Ashley Cimino-Mathews> ;Med. 2022 Jun 10
3 citations
Perspectives in Immunotherapy: meeting report from the Immunotherapy Bridge, December 1st-2nd, 2021.
Paolo A Ascierto, Antonio Avallone, Nina Bhardwaj, Carlo Bifulco, Sergio Bracarda, Joshua D Brody, Luigi Buonaguro, Sandra Demaria, Leisha A Emens, Robert L Ferris, Jé...> ;Journal of Translational Medicine. 2022 Jun 7
6 citations
Clinical-pathologic characteristics and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative low Ki-67 proliferation (TNLP) breast cancers.
Pooja Srivastava, Tiannan Wang, Beth Z Clark, Jing Yu, Jeffrey L Fine, Tatiana M Villatoro, Gloria J Carter, Adam M Brufsky, Vikram C Gorantla, Shannon L Huggins-Puhal...> ;NPJ Breast Cancer. 2022 Apr 20
4 citations
A New Landscape of Testing and Therapeutics in Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Geetha Jagannathan, Marissa J White, Rena R Xian, Leisha A Emens, Ashley Cimino-Mathews> ;Surgical Pathology Clinics. 2022 Mar 1
8 citations
Corrigendum to 'First-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: IMpassion130 final overall...
L A Emens, S Adams, C H Barrios, V Diéras, H Iwata, S Loi, H S Rugo, A Schneeweiss, E P Winer, S Patel, V Henschel, A Swat, M Kaul, L Molinero, S Patel, S Y Chui, P Sc...> ;Annals of Oncology. 2021 Dec 1
17 citations
Emerging combination immunotherapy strategies for breast cancer: dual immune checkpoint modulation, antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies
Evanthia T. Roussos Torres, Leisha A. Emens> ;Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2021 Oct 30
4 citations
Differential effects of CD20+ B cells and PD-L1+ immune cells on pathologic complete response and outcome: comparison between inflammatory breast cancer and locally ad...
Hugo Arias-Pulido, Ashley Cimino-Mathews, Nabila Chaher, Clifford Qualls, Nancy E. Joste, Cecile Colpaert, Jonathan D. Marotti, Mary D. Chamberlin, Maxwell Gabriel Foi...> ;Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2021 Sep 20
Corrigendum to 'First-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: IMpassion130 final overall s...
L A Emens, S Adams, C H Barrios, V Diéras, H Iwata, S Loi, H S Rugo, A Schneeweiss, E P Winer, S Patel, V Henschel, A Swat, M Kaul, L Molinero, S Patel, S Y Chui, P Sc...> ;Annals of Oncology. 2021 Oct 1
40 citations
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immunotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer.
Leisha A. Emens, Sylvia Adams, Ashley Cimino-Mathews, Mary L. Disis, Margaret E. Gatti-Mays, Alice Y. Ho, Kevin Kalinsky, Heather L. McArthur, Elizabeth A. Mittendorf,...> ;Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer. 2021 Aug 1
177 citations
First-line atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: IMpassion130 final overall survival analysis
Leisha A. Emens, Sylvia Adams, Carlos H. Barrios, Véronique Diéras, H. Iwata, Sherene Loi, Hope S. Rugo, Andreas Schneeweiss, EP Winer, Sheetal Patel, Volkmar Henschel...> ;Annals of Oncology. 2021 Aug 1
Patterns and Predictors of First-Line Taxane Use in Patients with Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in US Clinical Practice.
Joyce O'Shaughnessy, Leisha A. Emens, Stephen Y. Chui, Wei Wang, Kenneth Russell, Shih-Wen Lin, Carlos Flores Avile, Patricia Luhn, Andreas Schneeweiss> ;Current Oncology. 2021 Jul 17
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Journal Articles

Association of Cancer Immunotherapy with Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy and Diffuse Retinal Venulitis
Sharon Solomon, Christopher H Lieu, Ashvini Reddy, Leisha A Emens, S Lindsey Davis, Lingmin He, JAMA

Lectures

Atezolizumab and Nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc)/ Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, - 10/24/2012
Breast and Gynecologic Cancers. Integrating Immunotherapy Into Clinical Practice: Changes Over the Past Year (Part 1)
2018 ASCO Annual Meeting - Chicago, Illinois - 05/31/2018

Press Mentions

Ankyra Therapeutics Appoints Leisha a. Emens, M.D., Ph.D., as Senior Vice President, Translational ResearchDecember 7th, 2022
Crisis in Oncology Research Demands Urgent Action, Stakeholders SayNovember 4th, 2022
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Publishes Clinical Practice Guideline on Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Breast CancerAugust 18th, 2021
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