SCRI Oncology Partners introduces its members

Sarah Cannon Research Centre (SCRI) Oncology Partners shared on LinkedIn:

With our new LinkedIn page, we would like to gradually introduce the members of SCRI Oncology Partners.

First, is Dr. Melissa Johnson.
Director, Lung Cancer Research Program;
Associate Director, Drug Development

Dr. Johnson is a medical oncologist whose research focus is new drug development for patients with lung cancer. In 2021, Dr. Johnson assumed the role of director of the Lung Cancer Research Program for Sarah Cannon Research Institute, where she supervises the lung cancer clinical trial portfolio across the Sarah Cannon network.

Johnson is the co-leader of the Immune Effector Cell Therapies program and has directed the development of the Solid Tumor Cellular Therapy program in the Drug Development Unit in Nashville.

Prior to joining Sarah Cannon, Johnson was an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and Feinberg School of Medicine.

She earned her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing a residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, she did her fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she served one year as chief fellow.

She is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Let’s meet another one of the physicians from SCRI Oncology Partners!

David R. Spigel
Chief Scientific Officer for Sarah Cannon
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Spigel joined Sarah Cannon in 2003 and as chief scientific officer, he oversees all scientific aspects of Sarah Cannon’s clinical trial program, working with the research physician leaders to ensure the best new agents and studies are available to our patients.

He serves as a primary contact for the Pharma and biotech partners as well as the strategic site physicians with whom Sarah Cannon conducts cancer research.

Spigel received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1992, and his medical degree from The University of Tennessee in Memphis in 1996.

After completing an internal medicine and chief residency at Indiana University Medical Center, he completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is board-certified in medical oncology.

Dr. Spigel has been taking care of patients in Nashville for over 20 years!

Next, meet another physician Erika Hamilton.

Director, Breast Cancer Research Program, Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Dr. Hamilton received her undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia and received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She then completed her medical degree and residency from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and fellowship training in oncology at Duke University.

She joined the Sarah Cannon Research Institute as an investigator in drug development for women’s cancers in 2013. Since 2015 she has served as the Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program. She sees patients facing breast cancer from standard of care to phase II/III to phase I drug development.

Dr. Hamilton was named to the Women to Watch Class of 2021 for Nashville Medical News. She was selected for ASCO’s Leadership Development Class for 2021-2022, the past Chair of ASCO’s Scientific Committee for Metastatic Breast Cancer for 2019-2020, currently serves on ASCO’s Cancer Research Committee and will be the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting Scientific Chair. 

She also is the 2023-2025 Scientific Committee Co-Chair of the ESMO Breast Cancer Meeting and was on the Scientific Committee for AACR for 2023. She serves as an Associate Editor for Clinical Breast Cancer.

Our 4th physician introduction is Meredith McKean.

Executive Chair, Melanoma Committee, SCRI Network
Executive Chair, BRIDGE Committee, SCRI Network
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Dr. McKean received her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and her medical degree and master of public health from the University of Iowa. She then completed her residency at the University of Colorado followed by a hematology-oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center where she served as a chief fellow.

During fellowship, she was awarded a Young Investigator Award by the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO to evaluate mechanisms of resistance to immune therapy in melanoma and was a co-recipient of the Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Clinical Investigation at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

She joined Sarah Cannon Research Institute in 2018 where she now serves as the Director of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Program seeing patients with all subtypes of melanoma including mucosal and uveal melanoma in addition to all skin cancers. She leads phase I-III clinical trials.

She currently serves on the Collaborative Ocular Oncology Group (COOG) steering committee and JCO Oncology Advances’ editorial board. She is a member of the Immunotherapy Centers of Research Excellence (imCORE) Young Investigator Committee (imFLAME). 

She has previously served on the ASCO Developmental Therapeutics- Molecularly Targeted Agents and Tumor Biology committee. She is excited to lead our SCRI Oncology Partners Social Committee!

Our 5th physician to introduce is Dr. Benjamin Garmezy.

Associate Director, Genitourinary Oncology Research Program, SCRI
Co-Chair, Genitourinary Oncology Research Executive Committee, SCRI
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Dr. Garmezy joined Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) in 2021 and serves as the Associate Director of Genitourinary (GU) Research.

In his role, Dr. Garmezy oversees investigational therapy trials, as well as standard-of-care treatments, for GU cancers, including prostate, kidney, bladder, and testicular cancers.

He focuses on caring for patients at SCRI Oncology Partners in Nashville, TN, and also leads the operations for GU clinical trials for SCRI’s national network.

Dr. Garmezy received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his Doctorate of Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine.

Prior to joining SCRI, he completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan and his fellowship in hematology/oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The next physician introduction is Denise Yardley.

Associate Director, Breast Cancer Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Breast Cancer Executive Committee
Pharmacy and Therapeutics Executive Committee
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Dr. Yardley joined Sarah Cannon Research Institute in 2000 as the Program Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program and currently serves as Associate Director of Breast Cancer Research and as an Executive Member of the Breast Cancer Executive Committee as well as the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Executive Committee.

In this role, she oversees and serves as principal investigator on numerous breast cancer clinical trials as well as leads investigational therapy trials evaluating the best new investigational agents and studies to further improve the outcomes and standard of care for our patients.

Before joining Sarah Cannon, Dr. Yardley served as the Medical Director at the University of Texas Southwestern’s Center for Breast Care. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbus State University and her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia.

She completed her internal medicine residency followed by a hematology and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. During fellowship, she was awarded the American Cancer Society’s Clinical Oncology Fellowship Award.

A diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, and Hematology, she is also a recipient of the American Cancer Society Clinical Oncology Career Development Award. She is board certified in medical oncology and hematology and has been caring for patients in Nashville over 20 years.

Our next physician to introduce is Meredith Sellers Pelster.

Associate Director, GI Cancer Research Program Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Partner, SCRI Oncology Partners

Dr. Pelster received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Vanderbilt University, where she was the Founder’s Medalist for the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.

She completed her internal medicine residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she also served as a chief medical resident and earned her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. Her oncology fellowship training was completed at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

She joined Sarah Cannon Research Institute in 2021 as an investigator in GI and head and neck malignancies and subsequently assumed the role of Associate Director of the GI Cancer Research Program in 2022.

Clinically, she cares for patients with a variety of GI cancers across the treatment spectrum – from patients on surveillance after prior GI cancer treatment to patients seeking novel therapies in phase 1 trials.

Another MD introduction! This guy needs no introduction – Skip Burris.
President, Sarah Cannon Research Institute.

Howard A “Skip” Burris, III, MD, serves as president of Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI), one of the world’s leading oncology research organizations conducting community-based clinical trials. Dr. Burris also serves as a treating physician at SCRI Oncology Partners where he can be found with his boots on the ground serving patients.

In addition to his clinical expertise, Dr. Burris is known for his leadership in business strategy. Most recently, Dr. Burris helped to lead the formation of SCRI’s joint venture with US Oncology Research in 2022 to expand access to clinical trials for patients seeking the latest treatment options close to home.

As a well-respected key opinion leader globally, Dr. Burris was elected by his peers to serve as the president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2019-2020 term and currently is chair of the Board for the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation community.

Dr. Burris received his undergraduate degree at West Point, and his medical degree from the University of South Alabama and performed his residency and fellowship in hematology/oncology at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. While there, he served as director of clinical research at the Institute for Drug Development of The Cancer Therapy and Research Center and was an associate professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center. He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the US Army, and among his decorations, he was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster for his service in Operation Joint Endeavor.

Another introduction and the newest member of our team is Vivek Subbiah.
Chief, Early-Phase Drug Development Unity at Sarah Cannon Research Institute.

He joined SCRI in 2023 and oversees SCRI’s nine drug development units and leads the expansion of early-phase capabilities and programs across SCRI’s growing research network. Dr. Vivek Subbiah comes to SCRI from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics.

During his near 15-year tenure there, Dr. Vivek Subbiah held several leadership roles including Executive Director, Medical Oncology Research, MD Anderson Cancer Network as well as Clinical Medical Director, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine where he oversaw both the outpatient and inpatient clinical care delivery operations for the Phase I program.

Dr. Vivek Subbiah has served as the principal investigator in over 100 phase I/II trials and co-investigator in over 200 clinical trials and is known for his leadership in several first-in-human and practice-changing studies that directly led to approvals from the US FDA, European Medicines Agency, and other agencies across the world.

He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications in several high-impact journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Cancer Discovery, Lancet Oncology, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, and Clinical Cancer Research, recipient of numerous awards like The Emil Frei III Award for Translational Research and editorial board of prestigious journals like JAMA Oncology and Annals of Oncology.

After finishing his medical education in India, Dr. Vivek Subbiah completed a combined Residency program in Internal medicine and Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth, Cleveland, Ohio. He received board-certifications in both internal medicine and pediatrics and completed fellowships in both Adult and Pediatric oncology at MD Anderson.

Dr. Subbiah also serves as a treating physician at SCRI Oncology Partners, where he attends to patients and provides them with the opportunity to participate in state-of-the-art cutting-edge clinical trials.