Advisory Committee

Prior to joining the staff at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, Tennessee, Jesus G. Berdeja, MD, held appointments in the Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program and the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California.

Dr. Berdeja is a board-certified diplomate in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). Additionally, he is an active member of several professional organizations, including the International Myeloma Society (IMS), the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Clinical Trials Myeloma Intergroup Committee, and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) Plasma Cell Working Group.

He is an active researcher and has been the principal investigator on several funded trials relating to the management of multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and other hematologic malignancies. He has authored articles in the peer-reviewed literature and is a frequent invited lecturer.

He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and medical degree from Harvard University. Dr. Berdeja completed his internship and residency in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of California in San Francisco and fellowships in medical oncology and hematology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

Larry Buie, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP, serves as the residency program director for the PGY2 Oncology Residency Program (adult-focused) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In addition, he serves as the manager of adult clinical pharmacy services for the Bone Marrow Transplant and Lymphoma Clinical Pharmacy Programs. In 2014, Dr. Buie joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as a leukemia clinical pharmacist in New York City.    

He has over 10 years of experience in teaching and clinical service and has been a preceptor and mentor for resident and student training throughout his career. Dr. Buie began his career as an assistant professor with the South Carolina College of Pharmacy and the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. He then returned to North Carolina as a hematology and oncology clinical pharmacy specialist and assistant professor of clinical education. He is board certified in oncology pharmacy, a fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and a member of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Board of Directors.

Dr. Buie received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy in Chapel Hill in 2005. Following pharmacy school, he completed an ASHP accredited PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Specialty Residency at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition, Dr. Buie also completed an oncology fellowship at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Srinivas Devarakonda, MD, is an associate professor in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James in Columbus, Ohio and a board-certified hematologist/oncologist. His clinical expertise includes plasma cell cancers, multiple myeloma, and bone transplantation and specializes in the treatment of plasma cell dyscrasias, amyloidosis, and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Devarakonda trains students and trainees in his current role as associate professor at The Ohio State University. He served as associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and associate program director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Devarakonda completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, where he was also chief fellow. Dr. Devarakonda completed his internal medicine residency training at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Pennsylvania. He obtained his medical degree at Osmania Medical College in India.

Firas El Chaer, MD, is a hematology and medical oncology specialist, and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Virginia, Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center.

In addition to infectious diseases in immunocompromised patients with cancer, Dr. El Chaer specializes in hematologic malignancies and stem cell transplantation, and has been working on improving the outcomes for acute leukemias in adults by focusing on targeted therapies and overcoming resistance mechanisms.

Dr. El Chaer completed a dedicated fellowship in infectious diseases—in which he is board certified—at Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center joint program. He is a recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society Award for role model physician teacher and excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service.

Axel Grothey, MD, is the director of GI Cancer Research at the West Cancer Center, University of Tennessee, in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Grothey’s clinical interests focus on gastrointestinal cancers, in particular colorectal cancer, antiangiogenesis, signal transduction inhibitors, and clinical trial design and   statistics. He currently co-chairs the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee after having served as chair of the Colon Cancer Task Force for six years. Dr. Grothey is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines Committee for Colon, Rectal, and Anal Cancer and a member of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Guidelines Committee for Colorectal Cancer.

He performs journal review and editorial activities for numerous medical journals and is editor for Clinical Colorectal Cancer, Emerging Cancer Therapeutics, Practice Updates, and Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology. Dr. Grothey serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Journal of the National Cancer Institute. He has given numerous international, national, and regional presentations, as well as invited and visiting professor presentations. He has co-authored more than 500 articles, books, book chapters, editorials, abstracts, and letters.

Dr. Grothey received his medical degree at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, and completed residencies at West German Tumor Center and the Institute of Pathology at the University of Essen and a residency and fellowship at the University of Bochum.

Murali Janakiram, MD, MS, is a hematologist-oncologist and associate professor of medicine at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California. His clinical expertise is in multiple myeloma and aggressive lymphomas and his research interests include cellular and immune-based therapies (including chimeric antigen receptor [CAR] T-cell therapy and natural killer [NK] cell therapy) and developing risk-based approaches for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Dr. Janakiram is a clinical trialist and investigator with over 50 peer-reviewed publications, reviews, and book chapters. Before joining City of Hope, he was an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, where he made significant contributions to T-cell lymphoma and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Dr. Janakiram earned his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Chennai, India. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University and a fellowship in oncology/hematology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he also received a master's degree in clinical research.

Ronan Kelly, MD, MBA, is the director of the Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and the chief of oncology for the Baylor Scott & White Health System (north Texas). Dr. Kelly is also a clinical professor at Texas A&M University and remains an adjunct associate professor at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University.

He previously served as the director of the Gastroesophageal Cancer Therapeutics Program at Johns Hopkins University and as the director of Global Oncology for Johns Hopkins International. In the latter role, Dr. Kelly was responsible for improving the quality of cancer care in all Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospitals across four continents. He performs translational and clinical research encompassing the discovery and development of newly targeted and immunotherapeutic approaches for the prevention and treatment of gastroesophageal cancer and lung cancer.

Dr. Kelly is the national and international principal investigator on numerous ongoing phase II and phase III studies that investigate single agent and combination checkpoint inhibitors in locally advanced and metastatic gastroesophageal cancer. He is also the author or co-author of more than 150 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters.

As a pathologist, Madhurima Koka, MD, PhD, offers a unique perspective and new ideas on ongoing clinical trials based on her experience with morphology, immunophenotype, and molecular genetics. Furthermore, through her experience as a basic scientist, Dr. Koka learned the nuances of study design and data interpretation that allow for the application of scientific techniques to diagnosis and treat malignancies. She has particular interest in understanding the utility of molecular techniques in diagnosis and prognostication in lymphomas and leukemias. 

Dr. Koka works closely with hematologists and oncologists on various clinical-translational studies, which include the application of novel compounds in the treatment of acute leukemia and lymphomas. She is particularly interested in the use of immune-modulating agents and targeted immunotherapies in the treatment of these malignancies. Additionally, Dr. Koka is a co-investigator on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded grant looking at the causes of childhood mortality in Mali, Africa. Dr. Koka has also provided pathologist support to numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded investigations through the University of Maryland cancer tissue repository.  

Amy Morris, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacist in hematology/oncology at the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Morris practices as the outpatient clinical pharmacist for malignant hematology, specializing in leukemia and bone marrow failure disorders.

She has published multiple articles on FDA-approved and investigational agents in leukemia, as well as on quality improvement initiatives in oncology practice. Dr. Morris is an active member of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA). She currently serves as a quality improvement coach with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Training Program and helps multidisciplinary teams around the country design and implement quality improvement changes for their cancer care centers.

Barbara Rogers, CRNP, MN, AOCN, ANP-BC, is a nurse practitioner at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. She has 40 years of oncology experience with the majority of that time focused on the care of patients with hematologic malignancies.

She has authored many peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as given multiple presentations related to the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and symptom management of various treatments for malignancy.

Ms. Rogers has held leadership positions in multiple organizations including serving on the ONS Board of Directors, chair of the ONS Nominating Committee, and chair of the Advanced Practice Test Development Committee of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. She is currently a member of the Education Committee of the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO).

Kelly Terrell is a registered nurse at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital & Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science degree at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, Saint Louis, in 2011, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University, Saint Louis, in March of 2017. Her previous experience as a BMT Staff Nurse, Nursing Supervisor, Transplant Coordinator, and Clinical Nurse Manager led to her current role as Clinical Program Manager with the Division of Leukemia, Lymphoma, Cell Therapy & Stem Cell Transplantation. She currently resides in Saint Louis with her husband Charlie and their three children.