Nirali N. Shah

Nirali N. Shah, M.D., M.H.Sc., serves as Senior Investigator and Head of the Hematologic Malignancies Section at the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research (NIH), specializing in immunotherapy for pediatric blood cancers.

Her educational journey includes an M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine (2004), dual residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Harvard (Children's Hospital Boston/Massachusetts General Hospital), and fellowship training through the NCI/Johns Hopkins Pediatric Hematology-Oncology program. She further earned a Master of Health Science in Clinical Research from NIH-Duke University.

Dr. Shah's research centers on developing CAR T-cell therapies targeting CD19/CD22 for relapsed/refractory leukemias and lymphomas in children. She investigates resistance mechanisms, toxicity reduction strategies, and novel approaches to prevent post-transplant relapse, with emphasis on improving long-term outcomes while minimizing treatment sequelae. Her work bridges laboratory discoveries to clinical applications through rigorous trial design.

Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent innovation in optimizing CAR T-cell products through combinatorial targeting and understanding cellular kinetics, with recent focus on mitigating neurotoxicity and antigen escape while enhancing persistence.

• NIH Lasker Investigator (2019)

She mentors a 15-member multidisciplinary team including research physicians, nurses, and postbaccalaureate fellows, with over 30 alumni now practicing in pediatric hematology/oncology. Her NCI-funded program leads 5 active clinical trials exploring bicistronic CAR T-cells and advanced monitoring techniques, supported by collaborations with Children's Oncology Group and international consortia.

The Leukemia, Lymphoma, Transplant and Cell Therapy Team under her direction operates cutting-edge clinical protocols including CD19/CD22 bicistronic CAR T-cell infusions and PET-CT imaging trials for relapsed leukemias, maintaining strong partnerships with Johns Hopkins and NIAID for immunodeficiency-related transplantation research.