OMB No. 0925-0001 and 0925-0002 (Rev. 03/2020 Approved Through 02/28/2023)

NAME: Raid Aljumaily

eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): AljumailyR

POSITION TITLE: Associate Professor of Medicine

EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable. Add/delete rows as necessary.)

1. Personal Statement

I started to develop interest in oncology during my residency training after graduating from medical school while seeing firsthand the impact of cancer on my patients.  Driven by motivation to help my patients, I started to look for research opportunities and avenues to further my post-graduate training.  My inspiration took me to the United Kingdom where I did a senior house officer training in internal medicine and started to look for research opportunities in oncology. 

My endeavor led me to the United States where I found a research opportunity in the laboratory of Andres Klein-Szanto at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.  Together with my colleagues we studied the role of proprotein convertases, especially furin in the activation of metalloproteinases, growth factors & their receptors, adhesion molecules and angiogenic factors.  Our research was published in the journal Cellular Oncology.  After spending more than a year of research at Fox Chase Cancer Center, I did my internal medicine residency at Drexel University in Philadelphia.  To fulfill my dream of becoming an oncologist and help fight cancer, I applied for oncology fellowship and was accepted for fellowship training at Tufts University in Boston.  During my fellowship training, I worked in the laboratory of Athan Kuliopulos in the Molecular Oncology Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center.  Together with my colleagues, we embarked on a research project to study Matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14), an enzyme believed to have a central role in tumor proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis.  We showed that inhibition of MMP-14 using a monoclonal antibody causes marked tumor regression and decreased angiogenesis. This research was published in the journal Cancer Research.

Going through fellowship and working with Dr. Gary Strauss, I started to develop interest in lung cancer.  After completing my fellowship, I joined the faculty in East Carolina University as a thoracic oncologist.  In East Carolina University, I worked on a phase II study using low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiation followed by chemotherapy in patients with unresectable stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).  We also did a retrospective review of our experience treating patients with oligometastatic NSCLC with curative intent.

As part of the thoracic oncology team at Oklahoma University, I have participated actively in recruiting patients for cooperative groups clinical trials.  I also joined our active phase I program to help recruit patients to studies exploring the potential of new innovative medications.  I have also been involved actively in doing what I like to do, that is teaching medical students, residents and fellows and I became the associate director of the hematology/oncology fellowship program.  

The encouraging results of immunotherapy clinical trials over the past few years inspired me to build on the success achieved in this field.  After joining the lung committee of the SWOG, I wrote a clinical trial proposal to study the potential benefit of using hypofractionated radiotherapy followed by consolidation immunotherapy in patients with stage III NSCLC with borderline performance status and stage II who are not surgical candidates.  That research concept is currently an active study, open for enrollment in more than100 institutions around the country.

I also joined the lung committee of the NRG, another cooperative group that design and oversee oncology clinical trials and became an active member of that committee since July 2019.

1. Page RE, Klein-Szanto AJ, Litwin S, Nicolas E, Aljumaily R, Alexander P, Godwin AK, Ross EA, Schilder RJ and Bassi DE.  Increased expression of the pro-protein convertase furin predicts decreased survival in ovarian cancer.  Cellular Oncology, 2007; 29(4):289-299. 

2. Aljumaily R, Nystrom JS, Wein R. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the setting locally advanced olfactory neuroblastoma with intracranial extension. Rare Tumors 2011; volume 3:e1.

3. Rajani Kaimal, Raid Aljumaily, Sarah L. Tressel, Rutika V. Pradhan, Lidija Covic, Athan Kuliopulos, Corrine Zarwan, Young B. Kim, Sheida Sharifi, and Anika Agarwal. Selective blockade of matrix metalloprotease 14 with a monoclonal antibody abrogates invasion, angiogenesis and tumor growth in ovarian cancer.  Cancer Res 2013; 73:2457-2467.

4. Jun Zhang, MD, Hiram A Gay, MD, Suzanne Russo, MD, Teresa Parent, RN, Raid Aljumaily, MD, Paul Walker, MD.  Phase II study of low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiotherapy followed by adjuvant gemcitabine and carboplatin in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer.   Lung Cancer 2014; 83:67.

2. Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors

Positions and Employment

February 2004-April 2004:  Research volunteer, Department of Pathology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.

May 2004-April 2005: Research associate, Department of Pathology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.

June 2005-June 2006: Intern, Department of Internal Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

July 2006-June 2008: Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.

July 2008-June 2011: Fellow, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Tufts University, Boston, MA.

August 2011-November 2014: Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

November 2014-June 2018: Assistant Professor, Department of Internal medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK.

July 2019-Present: Associate Professor, Department of Internal medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK.

Other Experience and Professional Memberships

2010-present: Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology.

2010-present: Member, American Society of Hematology.

2015-2019: Associate director of hematology/oncology fellowship program at University of Oklahoma.

2015-present: Member, Lung Committee of SWOG.

2016-present: Board member of Oklahoma Society of Clinical Oncology.

2019-present: Director of hematology/oncology fellowship program at the University of Oklahoma.

3. Contributions to Science or Field

1. During the early part of my oncology training, I joined the team in the laboratory of Dr. Klein-Szanto at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and participated in a research project studying the role of proprotein convertases in cancer growth and metastasis.  These enzymes play a crucial role in the regulation of multiple molecules involved in cancer growth and development including metalloproteinases, growth factors and their receptors, adhesion molecules and angiogenic factors.

While working on that research project, I developed interest in matrix metalloproteinases and the potential benefit of inhibiting that pathway as an avenue for cancer treatment.  As I was applying for oncology fellowship, I noted that Tufts University has a laboratory studying metalloproteinases in their Molecular Oncology Research Institute.  During my fellowship at Tufts University, I started a research project to study the effect of inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-14 on tumor growth, invasion and angiogenesis and the outcome of our research was published in the journal Cancer Research.  During my fellowship I also wrote a review article about the optimal management of bone metastases in prostate cancer and a case report of a patient with locally advanced olfactory neuroblastoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery.

1. Page RE, Klein-Szanto AJ, Litwin S, Nicolas E, Aljumaily R, Alexander P, Godwin AK, Ross EA, Schilder RJ and Bassi DE. Increased expression of the pro-protein convertase furin predicts decreased survival in ovarian cancer.  Cellular Oncology, 2007; 29(4):289-299.

2. Rajani Kaimal, Raid Aljumaily, Sarah L. Tressel, Rutika V. Pradhan, Lidija Covic, Athan Kuliopulos, Corrine Zarwan, Young B. Kim, Sheida Sharifi, and Anika Agarwal.  Selective blockade of matrix metalloprotease 14 with a monoclonal antibody abrogates invasion, angiogenesis and tumor growth in ovarian cancer.  Cancer Res 2013; 73:2457-2467.

3. Aljumaily R, Mathew P. Optimal Management of Bone Metastases in Prostate Cancer.  Current Oncology Reports 2011; 13(3).

4. Aljumaily R, Nystrom JS, Wein R. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the setting of locally advanced olfactory neuroblastoma with intracranial extension. Rare Tumors 2011; volume 3:el.

2. During my fellowship years working with Dr. Gary Strauss, I started to develop interest in thoracic oncology.  After completing my fellowship, I joined the thoracic oncology team at East Carolina University.  In an attempt to improve outcome in patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer especially those with borderline performance status and comorbidities that preclude currently approved therapy, we started a research project to study the efficacy of low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy in this patient population.  The outcome of this research project was published in the journal Lung Cancer.

The success of immunotherapy in the treatment of solid tumors over the past few years inspired me to study these medications and explore potential markers for response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. After moving the University of Oklahoma, I was involved in a research project to study the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma. That study was published in the journal Lancet Oncology and led to the approval of this medicine in urinary bladder cancer. Together with my colleagues at the University of Oklahoma we studied the potential effects of Body Mass Index (BMI) and proton pump inhibitors on the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. We submitted our work to the ASCO-SITC and was accepted as poster presentations during that society meeting in 2017. Our work showed that patients with higher BMI (>30) have better response rate, progression free and overall survival compared to those with lower BMI. After that meeting we collaborated with Dr. William Murphy’s team at UC Davis in California who reached to the same conclusion studying that correlation in animals and our joined work was published in the Journal Nature Medicine.

As a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma, I became actively involved in cancer research, especially with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors. I became an active member of the phase 1 research program at Stephenson Cancer Center. I joined the lung committee of SWOG and NRG, two of the four groups that run oncology clinical trials in the United States.

1. Zhang J, Gay HA, Russo S, Parent T, Aljumaily R, Walker P.  Phase II study of low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiotherapy followed by adjuvant gemcitabine and carboplatin in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer.  Lung Cancer 2014; 83:67.

2. Manish R Patel, John Ellerton, Jeffrey R Infante, Manish Agrawal, Michael Gordon, Raid Aljumaily, Carolyn D Britten, Luc Dirix, Keun-Wook Lee, Mathew Taylor, Patrick Schöffski, Ding Wang, Alain Ravaud, Arnold B Gelb, Junyuan Xiong, Galit Rosen, James L Gulley, Andrea B Apolo.  Avelumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma after platinum failure (JAVELIN Solid Tumor): pooled results from two expansion cohorts of an open-label, phase 1 trial.  Lancet Oncol 2018; 19:51.

3. Ziming Wang, Ethan G. Aguilar, Jesus I. Luna, Cordelia Dunai, Lam T. Khuat, Catherine T. Le,

Annie Mirsoian, Christine M. Minnar, Kevin M. Stoffel, Ian R. Sturgill, Steven K. Grossenbacher,

Sita S. Withers, Robert B. Rebhun , Dennis J. Hartigan-O’Connor, Gema Méndez-Lagares, Alice F. Tarantal, R. Rivkah Isseroff, Thomas S. Griffith, Kurt A. Schalper, Alexander Merleev, Asim Saha, Emanual Maverakis, Karen Kelly, Raid Aljumaily, Sami Ibrahimi, Sarbajit Mukherjee, Michael Machiorlatti, Sara K. Vesely, Dan L. Longo, Bruce R. Blazar, Robert J. Canter, William J. Murphy and Arta M. Monjazeb.  Paradoxical effects of obesity on T cell function during tumor progression and PD-1 checkpoint blockade.  Nature Med 2019; 25:141