Melanie Degliuomini, MD, is a third-year pediatric fellow in the combined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and NYP-Weill Cornell Medicine (WCMC) program. Dr. Degliuomini’s primary clinical and research focus has been dedicated to studying the effects of cancer treatment on platelets within the pediatric oncology population.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Gerald Soff, a distinguished clinician and researcher specializing in hematologic disorders occurring in adult cancer patients, she has been analyzing large-scale MSK pediatric institutional data regarding the prevalence and impact of chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) in both the solid tumor and hematologic malignancy patient populations.
In addition to this project, under the mentorship of both Dr. Michael Ortiz and Dr. Soff, she also serves as a lead clinical investigator on a Phase II clinical trial studying the efficacy of Romiplostim use in the prevention of CIT in pediatric solid tumor patients. She has been actively involved in the ongoing interim analyses pertaining to the trial and serving as the lead in creating the protocol addendum from such analyses.
Her current research and involvement in the open clinical trial aims to provide hematologic support in order to minimize the platelet transfusion burden and delays in care associated with such myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Her knowledge and experience in clinical research has been further enhanced by the Weill Cornell Medicine Master’s Program in Clinical and Translational Investigation, which she will be completing in June 2022. She has excelled in courses tailored to advance her knowledge in the foundations of clinical trials and protocol design.
Following fellowship, Dr. Degliuomini intends to utilize the skills acquired during her training to excel as both a clinician and researcher. From her experiences in fellowship, she has acquired invaluable career development skills arising from the breadth of clinical diagnoses seen, the protected research time provided to succeed as a clinical trialist, and the relationships formed with strong, dedicated mentors.
Read Dr. Degliuomini’s CV here.