James B. Murphy Professor of Oncology
Director, Division of Hematologic Malignancies

Clinical/Academic Interests

Treatment of lymphoma and Kaposi's sarcoma and development of new strategies for prevention of lymphoma.  Treatment of Hodgkin's disease.

Research Interests

Dr. Ambinder is interested in exploring opportunities to prevent or treat cancer with viral infections.

Virus associated tumors are among the most common malignancies in certain populations and certain regions.  Thus Burkitt's lymphoma (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma (KSHV) are common in equatorial Africa, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (EBV) is common in southern Chinese populations or those with southern Chinese origins and immunoblastic lymphomas (EBV) are common in immunocompromised patients (organ transplant recipients, AIDS patients).  New approaches to prevention, diagnosis or treatment might thus directly impact on the world's cancer problem in an important way.

In addition, these tumors are important as model systems for the development of new approaches.  The presence of the viral genome provides a handle for new approaches to analysis or intervention. Thus many immunotherapies target unidentified antigens, making the measurement of relevant immune responses problematic at best.  However, in EBV-associated tumors the antigens are well defined and the Ambinder lab and others are defining the epitope specific cellular immune responses.  Thus interventions designed to alter immune response whether they be vaccine based interventions, adoptive immunotherapy interventions, or pharmacologic interventions may all be assessed in terms of relevant surrogate markers in the case of EBV tumors.  In the same way that the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma with radiotherapy and chemotherapy paved the way for the modern approach to malignancies in general with these modalities, the treatment of EBV-associated tumors including Hodgkin's lymphoma may pave the way to the more general use of thses modalities.

Education/Training

• B.A., Biochemistry, cum laude, Harvard College
• M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Ph.D., Pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Resident, Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Fellow, Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Fellow, Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine                      
  

Academic Positions

• Assistant Professor, Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Associate Professor, Oncology, Pharmacology, and Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Professor, Oncology, Pharmacology, and Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Division Director, Hematologic Malignancies, Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• James B. Murphy Professor of Oncology
• Leader, Johns Hopkins SPORE in Lymphoma
• Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
  

Selected Publications