SUMMARY
Shakila P. Khan, M.D., has taken an active role in her division in research, particularly in collaborative clinical research efforts with the Children's Oncology Group and Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC).
Dr. Khan has served as the Mayo Clinic principal investigator for a large number of Children's Oncology Group and PBMTC protocols, and she's also the Mayo Clinic principal investigator for PBMTC.
In addition, Dr. Khan has served on the Data Safety Monitoring Board for the PBMTC. She is a member of the consortium's Supportive Care Strategy Group and Cellular Therapeutics Strategy Group.
Dr. Khan is also actively involved with Mayo Clinic's three-campus transplant collaboration and has spearheaded a protocol for bone marrow transplantation in patients with severe aplastic anemia, which is actively recruiting patients.
She also has been a principal investigator for the clinical trials network for stem cell transplant and participated in the clinical trial "A Phase III Randomized, Multicenter Trial Comparing G-CSF Mobilized Peripheral Blood Stem Cell With Marrow Transplantation From HLA Compatible Unrelated Donors," which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Focus areas
- Stem cell transplant for nonmalignant disorders
- Graft versus host disease
- Optimization of cellular therapy
Significance to patient care
Dr. Khan's clinical research is focused on reducing transplant-related morbidity and mortality by using reduced-intensity conditioning in patients with nonmalignant disorders, which include bone marrow failure syndromes, metabolic diseases and immunodeficiency disorders.
Additionally, the addition of an antibody, alemtuzumab (Campath), as part of the conditioning regimen in all matched unrelated transplants has significantly reduced the incidence of severe acute and chronic graft versus host disease and graft rejection in pediatric stem cell transplant patients and led to excellent outcomes. This data has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.