I am a board certified hematologist and medical oncologist. I specialize in caring for patients with hematologic malignancies and specifically myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and aplastic anemia (AA).

I have a strong interest in exploring novel treatment approaches for myelodysplatic syndromes (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) after the failure of therapy with hypomethylating agents. I specifically focus on therapeutically targetting the transcription factor STAT3 in MDS and AML.

In addition, I am an advocate for addressing health disparities across the spectrum of cancer care and I enagage in health disparities research with the use of large clinical datasets such as the SEER and SEER-Medicare cancer registries

My research was previously funded through the NIH Paul Calabresi Career Development Award (K12) & currently through the Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS)-TRP Award & MDS Foundation Gilbert Bruce Smith Young Investigator Award.

My original research and reviews have been published in leading peer reviewed journals that include Blood, JCI, Nature Reviews Cancer & Lancet Hematology.  I have been an invited speaker at several conferences and forums nationally as well as internationally.

Select Peer-Reviewed Publications (N=44)

1.     Daver N, Shastri A, Kadia T, Quintas-Cardama A, Jabbour E, Konopleva M, O'Brien S, Pierce S, Zhou L, Cortes J, Kantarjian H, Verstovsek S. Modest activity of pomalidomide in patients with myelofibrosis and significant anemia. Leukemia Research. 2013 Jul 24, PMID: 2389052

2.     Daver N,* Shastri A,* Kadia T, Quintas-Cardama A, Pemmaraju N, Jabbour E, Konopleva M, O’Brien S, Pierce S, Cortes J, Kantarjan H, Verstovsek S. Phase II study of pomalidomide in combination with prednisone in patients with myelofibrosis and significant anemia.
Leukemia Research 2014 Jul, PMID: 25047979 * Equally Contributed

3.   Shastri A, Shastri SS. Cancer screening and prevention in low-resource environments.
Nature Reviews Cancer, 2014 Dec; PMID: 25355377

4.   Schinke, C, Giricz O, Li W, Shastri A, Gordon S, Barreyro L, Bhagat T, Bhattacharya S, Will B, Steidl U, Verma A. IL-8/CXCR2 pathway inhibition as a therapeutic strategy against MDS and AML stem cells, Blood, 2015 Mar, PMID: 25810490

5.   Shastri A, Msaouel P, Montagna C, White S, Delio M, Patel K, Alexis K, Strakhan M, Elrafei T, Reed LJ. Primary hepatic small cell carcinoma: two case reports, molecular characterization and a pooled analysis of known clinical data. Anticancer Res. 2016 Jan, PMID: 26722053

6.    Bachegowda L, Morrone K, Winski SL, Mantzaris I, Bartenstein M, Ramachandra N, Giricz O, Sukrithan V, Nwankwo G, Shahnaz S, Bhagat TD, Bhattacharyya S, Assal A, Shastri A, Gordon-Mitchell S, Pellagatti A, Boultwood J, Schinke C, Yu Y, Guha C, Rizzi J, Garrus J, Brown S, Wollenberg L, Hogeland G, Wright D, Munson M, Rodriguez M, Gross S, Chantry D, Zou Y, Platanias LC, Burgess LE, Pradhan K, Steidl U, Verma A. Pexmetinib : A Novel Dual Inhibitor of Tie2 and p38MAPK with Efficacy in Preclinical Models of Myelodysplastic Syndromes & Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Res. 2016 Aug 15. PMID : 27287719

7.   Goel S, Hall J, Pradhan K, Hirsch C, Przychodzen B, Shastri A, Mantzaris I, Janakiram M, Battini R, Kornblum N, Derman O, Gritsman K, Al-Hafidh J, Wang Y, Halmos B, Steidl U, Maciejewski JP, Braunschweig I, Verma A. High prevalence and allele burden-independent prognostic importance of p53 mutations in an inner-city MDS/AML cohort. Leukemia. 2016 Aug;30. PMID :27125205

8.   Shastri A; Will B; Steidl U; Verma A. Stem Cell Alterations In Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Blood, 2017 Feb, PMID: 28159737

9.   Shastri A; Budhathoki A; Barta S; Kornblum N; Derman O; Battini R; Raghupathy R; Verma A; Frenette P; Braunschweig I; Janakiram M. Stimulation of Adrenergic Activity by Desipramine Enhances Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Mobilization along with G-CSF in Multiple Myeloma. Am J Hematol. 2017 Jul 4. PMID: 28675459

10. Shastri A; Mantaris I; Yu Y; Janakiram M; Verma A; Barta SK. Sites of Extranodal Invovlement Are Prognostic I n Patients with Stage 1 Follicular Lymphoma: An Analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Database. Oncotarget. 2017 Jul 14. PMID: 29108238

11.  Darbinyan K^*; Shastri, A^*; Budhathoki, A^*; Helbig, D; Pradhan K et all. Hispanic Ethnicity is Associated with Younger Age at Presentation and Worse Survival in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Blood Advances. * Equally Contributed 2017 Oct. PMID: 29296859

12. Kanna S; Choudhary G; Ramachandran N; Steidl U; Verma AK; Shastri A. STAT3 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for leukemia. Leuk Lymphoma. 2017 Nov 22. PMID : 2916499

13. Shastri A; Verma A; Eltrombopag reduces clinically relevant thrombocytopenic events in higher risk MDS and AML. Lancet Haematology. Jan 2018, PMID : 29241763

14. Snyder R, Libby T, Raciti P, Amin B, Jacobson M, Rakheja D, Fleming K, Bartenstein M, Zhu C, Goel S, Verma AK, Shastri A. Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Sweets Syndrome Are Associated with a Mutation in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1. Anticancer Research. April 2018, PMID : 29599340

15. Shah UA, Chung EY, Giricz O, Pradhan K, Kataoka K, Gordon-Mitchell S, Bhagat TD, Mai Y, Wei Y, Ishida E, Choudhary GS, Joseph A, Rice R, Gitego N, Parrish C, Bartenstein M, Goel S, Mantzaris I, Shastri A, Derman O, Binder A, Gritsman K, Kornblum N, Braunschweig I, Bhagat C, Hall J, Graber A, Ratner L, Wang Y, Ogawa S, Verma A, Ye BH, Janakiram M. North American ATLL has a distinct mutational and transcriptional profile and responds to epigenetic therapies. Blood, Aug 2018, PMID: 30104217

16. Kao YR, Chen J, Narayanagari SR, Todorova TI, Aivalioti MM, Ferreira M, Ramos PM, Pallaud C, Mantzaris I, Shastri A, Bussel JB, Verma A, Steidl U, Will B. Thrombopoietin receptor-independent stimulation of hematopoietic stem cells by eltrombopag. Science Translational Medicine. Sept 2018. PMID : 30209246

17. Shastri A, Choudhary G, Teixeira M, Gordon-Mitchell S, Ramachandra N, Bernard L, Bhattacharyya S,  Lopez R, Pradhan K, Giricz O, Ravipati G, Wong L, Cole S, Bhagat T, Feld J, Dhar Y, Bartenstein M, Thiruthuvanathan V, Wickrema A, Ye H, Frank D, Pellagatti A, Boultwood J, Zhou T, Kim Y, MacLeod R,Epling-Burnette PK, Ye M, McCoon P, Woessner R, Steidl U, Will B and Verma A. Antisense STAT3 Inhibitor Decreases Viability of Myelodysplastic and Leukemic Stem Cells. Journal of Clinical Investigation, Dec 2018, PMID : 30252677

18. Kaner JD, Thibaud S, Jasra S, Wang Y, Janakiram M, Sharma A, Sridharan A, Elias H, Polineni R, Assal A, Weiss L, Braunschweig I, Steidl U, Pradhan K, Shastri A, Chaitowitz M, Zingman B, Will B, Mantzaris I, Verma A. HIV portends a poor prognosis in myelodysplastic syndromes. Leukemia Lymphoma. 2019 Dec. PMID : 3128224Adrianzen Herrera D, Pradhan K, Snyder R, Karanth S, Janakiram M, Mantzaris I, Braunschweig I, Budhathoki A, Shah UA, Verma AK, Murthy SB, Shastri A. Myelodysplastic syndromes and the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults: A SEER-medicare analysis. Leukemia. 2019 Dec 16. PMID : 31844145

19. Gonzalez-Lugo JD, Bachier-Rodriguez L, Goldfinger M, Shastri A, Sica RA, Gritsman K, Mehta V, Kabarriti R, Goel S, Verma A, Braunschweig I, Kornblum N, Mantzaris I. A case series of Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and COVID-19. Br J Haematol. 2020 Aug; PMID: 32479664

20.  Shah N, Rockwell B, Kazemi M, Peeke S, Bachier-Rodriguez L, Sica RA, Goldfinger M, Kornblum N, Braunschweig I, Shastri A, Verma A, Mantzaris I. Ethnic disparities in survival of adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in modern era - a SEER analysis. Leuk Lymphoma. 2020. PMID: 32960113

21. Shastri A, Lugo-Gonzalez J, Verma A. Understanding FLT3 Inhibitor Resistance to Rationalize Combinatorial AML Therapies. Blood Cancer Discovery. Dec 2020.

22. Lugo-Gonzalez J, Chakraborty S, Verma A, Shastri A. The Evolution of Epigenetic Therapy in Myelodysplastic Syndromes & Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Seminars in Hematology. Dec 2020. PMID : 33509444

23. Shapiro LC, Mustafa J, Lombardo A, Khatun F, Joseph F, Gillick K, Naik A, Elkind R, Abreu M, Fehn K, de Castro A, Pradhan K, Binakaj D, Nelson R, Paroder M, Uehlinger J, Gritsman K, Alejandro Sica R, Kornblum N, Shastri A, Mantzaris I, Bachier-Rodriguez L, Verma A, Braunschweig I, Goldfinger M. Safety of axicabtagene ciloleucel for relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma in an elderly intercity population. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2021 Jul. PMID : 33846558