Aparna Kalyan

Aparna Kalyan is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) and Surgery (Organ Transplantation) at Northwestern University. She is affiliated with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS). Her research focuses on developing novel therapeutic combinations for gastrointestinal cancers, incorporating immunotherapy, molecular testing, interventional oncology for liver cancers, and radiomics to assess therapeutic response.

Education: MBBS from Flinders University of South Australia (2005), followed by residencies in Internal Medicine at St. Vincents Hospital, Melbourne (2009) and University Hospitals Case Medical Center (2011). She completed fellowships in Developmental Therapeutics at Northwestern University (2014). Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology.

She leads multiple active clinical trials, including studies on:

• Combination therapies for hepatobiliary malignancies (e.g., M3814 and avelumab with radiation).
• HER2-targeted treatments in solid tumors (trastuzumab deruxtecan with neratinib).
• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy strategies for rectal cancer.
• First-line treatments for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma with Child-Pugh cirrhosis.
• Combination immunotherapy for gastric and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Awards: Recognized with the 2016 Medical Student Education Award from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.

Professional leadership includes roles such as Chair of the Education Committee at the Illinois Medical Oncology Society, membership in the National Cancer Institute Diversity Task-Force, and the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. She also contributes to NCCN guidelines and the American Liver Foundation.