This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network features our member institution, the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, and Ulka Nitin Vaishampayan, MBBS, FAB, director of the phase I program at Rogel Cancer Center and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Vaishampayan is leading an HCRN multi-institution study that will investigate pembrolizumab and lenvatinib in advanced/metastatic neuroendocrine prostate cancer. She is a site principal investigator on HCRN bladder cancer studies GU14-182 and GU15-262, and a co-investigator on the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium kidney cancer study BTCRC-GU16-043. She is a member of the HCRN Genitourinary Clinical Trial Working Group.

Research Interests and Expertise

Dr. Vaishampayan’s research and expertise is primarily in translational drug development and early phase cancer clinical trials, with a focus on genitourinary malignancies. During her medical career, she has initiated, conducted, and published many investigator-initiated trials on embedded biomarkers through obtaining funding and establishing multidisciplinary collaboration for her research. While at Wayne State University, Dr. Vaishampayan served as site PI of the UO-1 Early Therapeutics Research Grant and as chair of the solid tumor division of oncology. She also completed formal leadership training and has served on numerous boards and committees, such as serving as a Fellow of the Advisory Board (FAB), chair of the Advanced Renal Committee of SWOG, and a member of the Renal task force of the National Cancer Institute. She also is a board member of the Michigan Society of Hematology/Oncology (MSHO) and organizes the annual board review course. Additionally, she has served as track leader for the ASCO education committee GU non-prostate (renal and bladder cancer) track.

Educational Background

• Medical School: Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College, Pune, India
• Residency: Wayne State University, Internal Medicine
• Fellowship: Wayne State University, Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Vaishampayan enjoys . . .

• Reading, dance, music, and travel.
• Watching football, both professional and college.

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has conducted more than 210 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 8,500 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.