Ajai Chari

Ajai Chari, M.D. is the Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Chari’s research interests include the development of novel chemotherapy regimens, including Phase 1 and 2 studies. He has served as the principal investigator (PI) of several investigator-initiated trials as well as the national and international PI of several industry-sponsored studies. With a long standing dedication to research, Dr Chari has been involved in each of the therapies approved in multiple myeloma over the last two decades. He has published numerous articles in the field and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international meetings.

Dr. Chari received undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California – San Francisco.

Dr. Ruben Niesvizky is Director of the Multiple Myeloma Center and Director of Oncology Operations at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Attending Physician at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Niesvizky received his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a research fellowship in cell biology/granulomonopoiesis at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City. Dr. Niesvizky served as Chief Fellow during his training as a clinical hematology fellow at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York. He trained as a hematology/oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, where he was assistant attending physician for 6 years. Dr. Niesvizky is fluent in Spanish, Hebrew and English.

Dr. Niesvizky’s work has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, JCO, Leukemia and Lymphoma, and Seminars in Oncology. He was the director of the clinical core of the Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society granted in 2000. He is the recipient of various grants and awards from the National Cancer Institute; a K23 award and 3 translational research grants for the development of new drugs. Dr Niesvizky regularly presents at annual meetings such as ASH and ASCO, of which he is also a member. He is an active participant in clinical trials of promising new drugs and medical procedures for the treatment of myeloma, lymphoma, and related hematologic disorders.

Ajai Chari, M.D. is the Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Chari’s research interests include the development of novel chemotherapy regimens, including Phase 1 and 2 studies. He has served as the principal investigator (PI) of several investigator-initiated trials as well as the national and international PI of several industry-sponsored studies. With a long standing dedication to research, Dr Chari has been involved in each of the therapies approved in multiple myeloma over the last two decades. He has published numerous articles in the field and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international meetings.

Dr. Chari received undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California – San Francisco.

Dr. María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, is Head of Myeloma and clinical trials Unit at the Haematology Department and Professor of Medicine at the University of Salamanca, Spain.
She serves as coordinator of GEM (Spanish Myeloma Group), with direct involvement in the design and development of clinical trials. She has coordinated many clinical trials especially in the setting of transplant ineligible and smoldering myeloma and these trials have profoundly influenced current options for the management of these patient populations.
She has published over 400 papers in international journals with a H index of 96.
She is also a member of the IMWG (International MM Working Group), IMS (International MM Society), EHA and ASH.
She has served on the ASH Scientific Committee on plasma cell diseases between 2015-2019 and on the EHA’s Scientific Program Committee and Advisory Board since 2013 until 2020 being chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2019.
She has been Councillor on the EHA Board since 2015 for a four-year mandate and she is now a member of the IMS executive board, member of the European School of Haematology (ESH) Scientific committee and member of the ASCO scientific program committee. She received the Briand Durie Award in 2019, the Bart Barlogie Award in 2022 recognizing excellence in myeloma research and the Kyle life time achievement award in 2023. She is the President of the National Society of Hematology since October 2022 for a four-year mandate.