On February 10, 2022 TriSalus Life Sciences, an immunotherapy company on a mission to improve the lives of patients living with liver and pancreatic tumors, reported the addition of three new members to its Scientific Advisory Boards and two new members of its clinical leadership team, Drs. Alexander Kim and John Hardaway, as director of interventional oncology clinical strategies and strategic immunotherapy advisor, respectively (Press release, TriSalus Life Sciences, FEB 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234607994]).
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Alexander Y. Kim, MD, FSIR, is a nationally recognized vascular and interventional radiologist. Throughout his career, Dr. Kim has led or participated in clinical trials related to the study of liver cancers, uterine fibroids and symptoms of benign prostate hypertrophy. Recognized for his expertise, Dr. Kim has served in leadership positions on professional associations including the Society of Interventional Radiology and the American Board of Radiology. Following his clinical training, which included a research fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, he served as Chief of the vascular and interventional radiology division at Georgetown University Hospital.
John Hardaway, MD, PhD, is a board-certified general surgeon and surgical oncologist focused on surgical management of gastrointestinal malignancies, including diseases of the liver and pancreas. In addition to his surgical practice, Dr. Hardaway is a trained cellular immunologist with research efforts focused on translational development of CAR-T therapies against solid tumors and regional delivery of immunotherapies to treat solid tumors. He currently serves as a cancer liaison physician on the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.
In addition to these hires, Drs. Venu Pillarisetty, Divya Sridhar, and Jordan Tasse have joined TriSalus’ Scientific Advisory Boards. The three new appointments join 10 other preeminent experts—across medical, surgical and radiation oncology, interventional radiology and immunology—who guide and support the company as it aims to transform the way liver and pancreatic tumors are treated through its interventional immunotherapy platform.
"These additions come at a critical point in TriSalus’ growth as we advance work to enable more liver and pancreas tumor patients to benefit from checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapeutic agents," said Steven Katz, MD, FACS, chief medical officer at TriSalus and Scientific Advisory Board chairman. "Our advisors represent the integration of key leaders in the medical oncology, surgical oncology and interventional radiology fields who share our vision of overcoming current limitations in immunotherapy treatment success for liver and pancreatic cancers. This collective expertise enhances our focus on overcoming specific immunologic barriers in the liver or pancreas and physical limitations to drug delivery that result in treatment failure."
Venu G. Pillarisetty, MD, FACS, is a board-certified surgical oncologist, professor of surgery at the University of Washington Medical School and medical director for the Continuous Performance Improvement Department at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Dr. Pillarisetty specializes in treating pancreatic cancer and his expertise includes both open and minimally invasive surgical techniques. Throughout his career, Dr. Pillarisetty has authored and co-authored over 70 medical publications. His research focuses on the immune response to pancreatic cancer as well as other solid tumors. Dr. Pillarisetty received his medical degree from Columbia University and completed a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Divya Sridhar, MD, is an interventional radiologist and chief of vascular and interventional radiology at Harlem Hospital Center, a Level 1 Trauma Center affiliated with Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Sridhar’s specialties include image-guided therapies for cancer and many other conditions. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami Medical School and is a board-certified in diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology by the American Board of Radiology.
Jordan C. Tasse, MD, is a vascular and interventional radiologist, an associate professor of radiology, and the director of interventional oncology at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Tasse received his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
TriSalus’ Scientific Advisory Boards reflect a unique blend of specialties, including clinical expertise on the barriers that prevent optimal delivery and performance of immunotherapeutics when treating liver and pancreatic tumors, as well as clinical research and evaluation of new therapeutics. Additional Scientific Advisory Board members include:
Oncology
Richard D. Carvajal, MD
Christopher Crane, MD
Marlana M. Orloff, MD
Sapna Patel, BA, MD
Vincent Picozzi, MD
Interventional Radiology
Terence Gade, MD, PhD
Ripal Gandhi, MD
Sirish Kishore, MD
Rahul Sheth, MD
Particularly as the company continues its Pressure Enabled Regional Immuno-Oncology (PERIO)-01 clinical study evaluating the administration of SD-101, an investigational toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, via the Pressure Enabled Drug DeliveryTM (PEDD) method, input from leading experts is instrumental. The ongoing study is the first program to evaluate TriSalus’ platform aimed at improving outcomes in liver and pancreatic cancer by delivering SD-101 to the site of disease via an intra-vascular approach through proprietary PEDD method of administration. TriSalus’ immunotherapy platform aims to solve two primary issues that limit the effectiveness of immunotherapy in the liver and pancreas: immunosuppressive pathways dominant in the liver or pancreas and physical barriers to delivery.
PERIO-01 investigators include Sapna Patel, MD, associate professor of melanoma medical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Richard Carvajal, MD, director of the melanoma service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center; and Marlana Orloff, MD, associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
For more background, visit www.trisaluslifesci.com/scientific-boards.