BMT Newsletter January 2006

Bone Marrow Transplantation Program Welcomes Dr. Khaleel Ashraf

Dr. Ashraf has received several awards and much recognition during his residency and fellowship training, including the award for the “Most outstanding research fellow” from the Comprehensive Cancer Center—Division of Hematology and Oncology in June 2005. He joined the UAB Bone Marrow Transplantation Program in August 2005 with dual appointments as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Scientist in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Along with his many clinical responsibilities on the BMT in-patient and outpatient units, Dr. Ashraf continues to pursue outstanding research in the fields of stem cell transplantation and biology.

As a principle investigator in an upcoming protocol, Dr. Ashraf will be examining ways of improving transplant outcomes by standardizing graft CD3+ cell content. In addition, he is performing a data analysis to determine the clinical relevance of CD3+ cell content of stem cell graft in allogeneic stem cell transplantation with regard to donor outcomes (GvHD, relapse rate, immune reconstitution, chimerism and overall survival) and is working to formulate an optimum CD3+ cell content for stem cell transplantation. Preliminary results were presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) meetings in 2005. The CD3+ cell standardization protocol is currently awaiting FDA approval as it involves a novel method of CD3+ cell depletion. Dr Ashraf graduated from the University of Calicut Medical College, India in 1993. After graduation he completed a residency training in Radiology at Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India. He did his residency in Internal Medicine at Metropolitan Hospital/New York Medical College. Dr Ashraf then completed his Hematology and Oncology fellowships at University of Tennessee, Memphis and University of Alabama at Birmingham. He did his bone marrow transplantation fellowship at University of Alabama at Birmingham in our BMT program and is certified in bone marrow transplantation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). He is a member of American Society of Hematology, American Society of Oncology, American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation, American Medical Association and American College of Physicians. Dr Ashraf is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology.

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