Leena Gandhi, MD, PhD
New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center has announced the appointment of physician-scientist Leena Gandhi, MD, PhD, as Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology at its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center. In this new role, Dr. Gandhi will be tasked with building a robust program in lung cancer that focuses on advancing clinical care; increasing translational and clinical research, particularly in immune therapy; and recruiting additional clinical faculty.
In addition, Dr. Gandhi will work closely with other highly respected experts at Perlmutter from other specialties, including thoracic surgery, radiation oncology, and the basic sciences.
Dr. Gandhi’s research focuses on novel therapies in the treatment of lung cancer and biomarkers of tumor progression. In 2014, she served as lead investigator on a seminal phase I clinical trial study that reported that programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in lung cancer patients correlated with efficacy of anti–PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors.
Prior to joining NYU Langone and the Perlmutter Cancer Center, Dr. Gandhi was a member of the staff of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s (DFCI) Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology and its Early Stage Drug Development Center. She was also affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and their academic partner, Harvard Medical School, where she held the title of Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology.
Dr. Gandhi earned her doctorate in molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley and her medical degree from NYU School of Medicine. She completed her residency in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and served additional fellowship training in medicine and hematology/oncology at Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. ■
