Sairah Ahmed

Sairah Ahmed is a Professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she specializes in oncology, hematology, and immunology. Her research focuses on lymphoid neoplasia and hematological malignancies, particularly advancing cellular therapy, cell transplantation, and cancer immunotherapy. Her latest work includes the global TRANSCEND FL phase 2 trial evaluating lisocabtagene maraleucel in relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma, published in The Lancet (2026), alongside analyses of CAR-T cell products such as axicabtagene ciloleucel and brexucabtagene autoleucel for mantle cell lymphoma. She has also investigated cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity following CD19 CAR-T therapy, cytokine storms in COVID-19, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and CAR-T therapy, as well as phase 2 trials combining ibrutinib with nivolumab for relapsed CNS lymphomas. Her contributions appear in Blood Advances, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Network Open, and Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, reflecting her leadership in immunotherapy-driven approaches for hematological cancers.