Khaled Sanber, MD, PhD
Department of Thoracic-Head & Neck Med Onc, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Thoracic Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Activity co-director/ planning faculty for the Fellows Journal Club, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2014 | University College London, London, GB, Research, PhD |
| 2010 | University of Jordan, Amman, JO, Medical Doctor, MD |
Postgraduate Training
| 2020-2023 | Medical Oncology Fellow, Johns Hopkins University |
| 2015-2020 | Internal Medicine Resident/Research Track, Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2023 | DEA |
| 2023 | Texas Medical License |
| 2022 | Medical Oncology |
| 2019 | American Board of Internal Medicine |
| 2014 | ECFMG |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Associate Medical Director, HNMO Head & Neck Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2024 - 2025
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Advisory Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2026 - Present
Editorial Activities
Journal Reviewer, Annals of surgical oncology, 2025 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Jordanian American Physicians Association Journal, 2023 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Blood, 2022 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Bone Marrow Transplantation, 2021 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, 2020 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Pediatric Blood Cancer, 2020 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Scientific Reports, 2020 - Present
Journal Reviewer, Molecular Therapy, 2019 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2023 - 2024 | Young Investigator Award 2023, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) |
| 2023 | ASCTC Travel Grant, American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) |
| 2022 | Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology (MBCO) Workshop, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) |
| 2021 - 2023 | Physician Scientist Training Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) |
| 2020 | ISCT Early-Stage Professional Abstract Award, International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) |
| 2019 | Award for research presentation. Top 5 abstracts, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) |
| 2018 | Second place for quality improvement/patient safety poster category, Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians (TXACP) |
| 2018 | Distinguished Educator Certificate, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) |
| 2018 | First place for quality improvement/patient safety poster category, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) |
| 2011 - 2014 | Overseas Research scholarship (ORS), University College London (UCL) |
| 2010 | Award for academic excellence (top 5% of class), University of Jordan |
| 2004 - 2010 | The Starr Foundation Scholarship |
| 2004 | Edexcel International Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Edexcel |
| 2004 | Tenth highest mark in the world in Thinking Skills AS level examinations |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
International Presentations
- 2026. The association of intratumoral HPV16-reactive CD8+ T cells with response to induction immune checkpoint blockade. Invited. Advances in Human Papillomavirus Research, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2023 - 2024 |
| Title: | Unwrapping ancestral gifts: studying T cell responses against human endogenous retroviruses in lung adenocarcinoma treated with immune checkpoint blockade. Young Investigator Award (YIA), Sponsor: Conquer Cancer Foundation – American Society of clinical Oncology (ASCO) |
| Funding Source: | Funded |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2018 - 2019 |
| Title: | SHP2: sailing against tumor-mediated inhibition of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. Training Grant - RP160283 Sponsor: Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Funding Source: | Completed |
| Role: | Mentor |
| Title: | HPV-related Cancers Moon Shot: Co-Leader (co-Principal Investigator) |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Co-PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Xianli Jiang, Khaled Sanber, Bo Jiang, Nils-Petter Rudqvist, Li Zhang, Hui Nie, Joe Dan Dunn, Weihong Xiao, Keiko Akagi, Shan He, Yukun Tan, Margaret He, Yujia Wang, Changsheng Xing, Baohua Sun, Jessica Lan, Noah J. Tubo, Dzifa Yawa Duose, Rajyalakshmi Luthra, Edwin R. Parra, Michelle D. Williams, Neil D. Gross, Jack Phan, Michael A. Curran, Kellie N. Smith, Ken Chen, Maura L. Gillison. Phenotype not abundance of intratumoral HPV16-reactive CD8+ T cells associates with response to induction immune checkpoint blockade. Cancer Discov. e-Pub 2026.
- Viter da Rosa Barbosa M, Sanber K. Bridging the Gap: Induction Nivolumab Before Chemoradiation in Intermediate/High-Risk Human Papillomavirus-Driven Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 44(9):733-736, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41719513.
- Landi D, Navai SA, Brock RM, Fousek K, Nawas Z, Sanber K, Chauvin-Fleurence C, Bhat RR, Xu S, Krishnamurthy P, Choe M, Campbell ME, Morris JS, Gad AZ, Shree A, Echeandia Marrero AS, Saadeldin AM, Matthew PR, Mullikin D, Bielamowicz K, Kurenbekova L, Major AM, Salsman VS, Byrd TT, Hicks JM, Zhang YJ, Yustein J, Carisey AF, Joseph SK, Ahmed N, Hegde M. A Checkpoint Reversal Receptor Mediates Bipartite Activation and Enhances CAR T-cell Function. Cancer Res Commun 5(3):527-548, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39973814.
- Landi D, Navai SA, Brock RM, Fousek K, Nawas Z, Sanber K, Chauvin-Fleurence C, Bhat RR, Xu S, Krishnamurthy P, Choe M, Campbell ME, Morris JS, Gad AZ, Shree A, Echeandia Marrero AS, Saadeldin AM, Matthew PR, Mullikin D, Bielamowicz K, Kurenbekova L, Major AM, Salsman VS, Byrd TT, Hicks JM, Zhang YJ, Yustein J, Carisey AF, Joseph SK, Ahmed N, Hegde M. A Checkpoint Reversal Receptor Mediates Bipartite Activation and Enhances CAR T-cell Function 5(3):527-548, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39973814.
- Rosner S, Connor S, Sanber K, Zahurak M, Zhang T, Gurumurthy I, Zeng Z, Presson B, Singh D, Rayes R, Sivapalan L, Pereira G, Ji Z, Thummalapalli R, Reuss JE, Broderick SR, Jones DR, Deutsch JS, Cottrell TR, Chaft JE, Spicer J, Taube J, Anagnostou V, Brahmer JR, Pardoll DM, Ji H, Forde PM, Marrone KA, Smith KN. Divergent Clinical and Immunologic Outcomes Based on STK11 Co-mutation Status in Resectable KRAS-Mutant Lung Cancers Following Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Blockade. Clin Cancer Res 31(2):339-351, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39545922.
- Rosner S, Connor S, Sanber K, Zahurak M, Zhang T, Gurumurthy I, Zeng Z, Presson B, Singh D, Rayes R, Sivapalan L, Pereira G, Ji Z, Thummalapalli R, Reuss JE, Broderick SR, Jones DR, Deutsch JS, Cottrell TR, Chaft J, Spicer J, Taube J, Anagnostou V, Brahmer JR, Pardoll DM, Ji H, Forde PM, Marrone KA, Smith KN. Divergent clinical and immunologic outcomes based on STK11 co-mutation status in respectable KRAS-mutant lung cancers following neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade 31(2):339-351, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39545922.
- Kayser S, Sanber K, Marconi G, Mattei A, Luskin MR, Kelkar A, Cerrano M, Kristensen DT, Roug AS, Sartor C, Giglio F, Riva M, Rizzo L, Saraceni F, Guerzoni S, Lessi F, Borlenghi E, Levis MJ, Schlenk RF, Jain T, Papayannidis C. Outcome of adult acute myeloid leukemia patients with extramedullary disease and treatment with venetoclax/hypomethylating agents. Haematologica 110(2):378-384, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39363862.
- Hegde M, Navai S, DeRenzo C, Joseph SK, Sanber K, Wu M, Gad AZ, Janeway KA, Campbell M, Mullikin D, Nawas Z, Robertson C, Mathew PR, Zhang H, Mehta B, Bhat RR, Major A, Shree A, Gerken C, Kalra M, Chakraborty R, Thakkar SG, Dakhova O, Salsman VS, Grilley B, Lapteva N, Gee A, Dotti G, Bao R, Salem AH, Wang T, Brenner MK, Heslop HE, Wels WS, Hicks MJ, Gottschalk S, Ahmed N. Autologous HER2-specific CAR T cells after lymphodepletion for advanced sarcoma: a phase 1 trial. Nat Cancer 5(6):880-894, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38658775.
- Ly, A, Sanber, KS, Tsai, HL, Ondo, A, Mooney, K, Shedeck, A, Baker, J, Imus, PH, Wagner-Johnston, ND, Jain, T. Outpatient CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy is feasible in patients of all ages. British Journal of Haematology 203(4):688-692, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37642134.
- Sanber KS, Ly A, Ondo A, Mooney K, Baker J, Shedeck A, Wagner-Johnston ND, Jain T. Outpatient CD28-costimulated CAR T-cells for B-cell malignancies with CNS involvement. American journal of hematology 98(11):E301-E304, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37539824.
- Sanber KS, Ye K, Tsai HL, Newman M, Webster JA, Gojo I, Ghiaur G, Prince GT, Gondek LP, Smith BD, Levis M, Dezern A, Ambinder A, Dalton WB, Jain T. Venetoclax in combination with hypomethylating agent for the treatment of advanced myeloproliferative neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia with extramedullary disease. Leukemia and Lymphoma 64(4):846-855, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36744656.
- Youness, RA, Gad, AZ, Sanber, KS, Ahn, YJ, Lee, GJ, Khallaf, E, Hafez, HM, Motaal, AA, Ahmed, NM, Gad, MZ. Targeting hydrogen sulphide signaling in breast cancer. Journal of Advanced Research 27:177-190, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33318876.
- Fousek K, Watanabe J, Joseph SK, George A, An X, Byrd T, Morris JS, Luong A, Martinez Paniagua M, Sanber KS, Navai SA, Gad AZ, Salsman VS, Mathew PR, Kim HN, Wagner DL, Brunetti L, Jang A, Baker ML, Varadarajan N, Hegde M, Kim YM, Heisterkamp N, Abdel-Azim H, Ahmed NM. CAR T-cells that target acute B-lineage leukemia irrespective of CD19 expression. Leukemia 35(1):75-89, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 32205861.
- Shah C, Sanber K, Jacobson R, Kaul B, Tuthill S, Hemmige V, Guy E, Greenberg S. I-PASS Illness Severity Identifies Patients at Risk for Overnight Clinical Deterioration. J Grad Med Educ, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 7594794.
- Hegde M, Joseph SK, Pashankar F, DeRenzo C, Sanber K, Navai S, Byrd TT, Hicks J, Xu ML, Gerken C, Kalra M, Robertson C, Zhang H, Shree A, Mehta B, Dakhova O, Salsman VS, Grilley B, Gee A, Dotti G, Heslop HE, Brenner MK, Wels WS, Gottschalk S, Ahmed N. Tumor response and endogenous immune reactivity after administration of HER2 CAR T cells in a child with metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma. Nat Commun, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32669548.
- Tijani M, Munis AM, Perry C, Sanber K, Ferraresso M, Mukhopadhyay T, Themis M, Nisoli I, Mattiuzzo G, Collins MK, Takeuchi Y. Lentivector Producer Cell Lines with Stably Expressed Vesiculovirus Envelopes. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 6118154.
- Ali Al, Barden YR, Hassuneh MR, Sanber KS, Ismail SI. Effect of Interleukins on Antibody Production by Epstein-Barr Virus Transformed B Cells. Monoclon Antib Immunodiagn Immunother, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26090593.
- Sanber KS, Knight SB, Stephen SL, Bailey R, Escors D, Minshull J, Santilli G, Thrasher AJ, Collins MK, Takeuchi Y. Construction of stable packaging cell lines for clinical lentiviral vector production. Sci Rep 5:9021, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25762005.
Review Articles
- Sanber KS, Rosner S, Forde PM, Marrone KA. Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. BioDrugs 37(6):775-791, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37603233.
- Sanber KS, Savani BN, Jain T. Graft-versus-host disease risk after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. British Journal of Haematology 195(5):660-668, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34036558.
Abstracts
- Sheba M, Gad A, Morris J, Kerr S, Godret-Miertschin, Wadhwa A, Ghebrelul R, Abu Arja M, Fleischmann R, Choe M, Sanber K, Berger H, Marrero A, Salsman V, McJenna M, Arguello R, Allen C, Hedge M, Joseph S, Ahmed N. Engineering CD6 splice isoforms to improve the metabolic plasticity and functional durability of CAR T cells. e-Pub 2026.
- Amaria R, Sanber K, Blumenschein G, Altan M, Pia Morelli M, Jazaeri A, Kopetz S, Davies M, Jose S, Turner S, Glitza I, Ikeguchi A, McQuade J, Tawbi H, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Forger M, Wong K, Tobin E, Benson M, Truppel-Hartmann A, Harris P. 569 A phase 1/2 study of KSQ-004EX: autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, engineered to inactivate genes encoding SOCS1 and regnase-1, in patients with select advanced solid tumors Volume 13, Issue Suppl 2, 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Navroze Amaria R, Kopetz S, Pia Morelli M, Blumenschein G, Altan M, Sanber K, Jazaeri A, Davies M, Glitza I, McQuade J, Ikeguchi A, Tawbi H, Bernatchez C, Forget MA, Haymaker C, Wong K, Tobin E, Benson M, Truppel-Hartmann A. A phase 1/2 study of KSQ-004EX: Autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, engineered to inactivate genes encoding SOCS1 and Regnase-1, in patients with select advanced solid tumors Volume 43, Number 16_suppl, 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Amaria RN, Davies MA, Ikeguchi AP, McQuade J, Diab A, Tawbi H, Glitza IC, Petrova Y, Oliver K, Sanber K, Blumenschein G, Altan M, Haymaker CL, Bernatchez C, Forget MA, Lai I, Shaw JL, Tobin E, Benson MJ, Wong KK. 660 A phase 1/2 study of KSQ-001EX: an autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy engineered to inactivate the SOCS1 gene in patients with select advanced solid tumors, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Jiang X, Sanber K, Rudqvist NP, Jiang B, Dan DJ, Akagi K, Xiao W, Smith KN, Chen K, Gillison ML. Predictive Molecular Signatures of Tumor Reactivity from Antigen Specific Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes ( TILs) in Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-Positive Oropharyngeal Carcinoma ( OPC) 12(10):B047-B047, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Sanber K, Connor S, Vensko S, Cherry C, Forde PM, Zeng Z, Pardoll DM, Vincent B, Smith KN. Safety of Outpatient CD28ζ CAR T Cells in Patients with CNS Disease, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Choe M, Campbell M, Sanber K, Nawas Z, Brock R, Morris J, Gad AZ, Sandoval Z, Echeandia A, Bhat R, Mathews P, Joseph S, Yustein J, Ahmed N, Hegde M. Engaging c-MET (mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor) Axis to Enhance the Safety and Antitumor Function of HER2-CAR T-Cells in Sarcoma. e-Pub 2023.
- Ly A, Sanber K, Tsai H-L, Ondo A, Shedeck A, Wagner-Johnston N, Jain T. CD19-Directed CAR T-Cell Therapy Is Feasible in Patients over 65 Years of Age in Outpatient Setting, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Sanber K, Connor S, Vensko S, Forde P, Pardoll D, Vincent B, Smith K. Studying immune responses against human endogenous retroviruses in immune checkpoint blockade-treated lung adenocarcinoma. Translational Research Cancer Center Consortium Annual Meeting 2022, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Sanber K, Ye K, Tsai HL, Newman M, Ambinder A, DeZern AE, Jain T. Venetoclax and hypomethylating agent combinations for the treatment of advanced myeloproliferative or myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia with extramedullary disease, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Connor K, Zhang J, Zeng Z, Caushi JX, Zhang B, Sanber K, Pereira G, Anagnostou V, Tam A, Ionta N, Housseau F, Forde PM, Ji H, Pardoll DM, Smith KN. Comprehensive single cell transcriptomic profiling of untreated resectable lung cancers, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Sanber K, Nawas Z, Salsman V, Gad A, Matthew P, Lee C, Joseph S, Ahmed N, Hegde M. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of inhibitory receptor signaling pathways improves CAR T cell activity against glioblastoma, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Sanber K, Nawas Z, Salsman V, Gad A, Mathew P, Landi D, Lee C, Sengal A. Modulation of inhibitory receptor signaling pathways improves CAR T cell activity against glioblastoma, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Hegde M, Navai S, Joseph SK, DeRenzo C, Sanber K, Byrd TT, Hicks J, Gerken C, Kalra M, Robertson C, Zhang H, Nawas Z, Matthew R, Shree A, Mehta B, Dakhova O, Salsman VS, Grilley B, Gee A, Dotti G, Heslop HE, Brenner MK, Wels WS, Gottschalk S, Ahmed N. HER2- CAR T cells expand safely after lymphodepletion and induce clinical responses in children with advanced sarcoma. 2019 Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Navai SA, Derenzo C, Joseph S, Sanber K, Byrd T, Zhang H, Mata M, Gerken C, Shree A, Mathew PR, Dakhova O, Salsman V, Hicks J, Yi Z, Wu MF, Wang T, Grilley B, Rooney C, Brenner M, Heslop H, Gee A, Gottschalk S, Ahmed N, Hegde M. Administration of HER2-CAR T cells after lymphodepletion safely improves T cell expansion and induces clinical responses in patients with advanced sarcomas, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Sanber K, Nawas Z, Landi D, Lee C, Sengal A, Chakraborty R, Brunetti L, Sujith J, Mukherjee M, Ahmed N, Hegde M. SHP2: sailing against tumor-mediated inhibition of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. ediatric Research Symposium – Texas Children’s Hospital, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Sanber K, Jacobson R, Tuthill S, Kaul B, Hemmige V, Guy E, Shah C, Greenberg S. Predicting Risk of Clinical Deterioration: A Closer Look at Resident Handoffs and Rapid Response. Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Southern Regional Meeting, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Sanber K, Jacobson R, Tuthill S, Kaul B, Hemmige V, Guy E, Shah C, Greenberg S. Predicting Risk of Clinical Deterioration: A Closer Look at Resident Handoffs and Rapid Response, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Mullikin D, Joseph SK, Mathew P, Vita S, Byrd T, Sanber K, Krishnamurthy P, Lindsay H, Chakraborty R, Gaber MW, Ahmed N, Hegde M. Radiation priming improves the anti-tumor activity of HER2 CAR T cells in glioblastoma, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Sanber K, Assi R, Daver N. Malignancy-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: An Emerging Problem Needing Urgent Solutions. Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Southern Regional Meeting, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Emge D, Tuthill S, Sanber K, Shieh M, Wu E, Kapoor S. Improving efficiency and safety of MICU transfers, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Kampangkaew J, Millien V, Chen S, Sanber K, Sargsyan Z. A Tale of two opportunistic infections, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
- Sanber K, Knight S, Stephen S, Bailey R, Escors D, Minshull J, Santilli G, Thrasher A, Collins M, Takeuchi Y. A clinical-grade constitutive packaging cell line for the production of self-inactivating lentiviral vectors, 2014. e-Pub 2014.
- Knight S, Sanber K. A clinical-grade constitutive packaging cell line for the production of self-inactivating lentiviral vectors, 2013. e-Pub 2013.
- Sanber K, Connor S, Vensko S, Cherry C, Zeng Z, Pardoll DM, Forde P, Vincent B, Smith KN. Studying immune responses against human endogenous retroviruses in immune checkpoint blockade-treated lung adenocarcinoma.
- Connor SC, Zhang J, Sanber K, Zhang T, Rayes R, Wang R, Ji Z, Gurumurthy I, Singh D, Deutsch JS, Taube JM, Yegnasubramanian S, Spicer J, Forde P, Ji H, Pardoll DM, Smith KN. The immunomodulatory impact of chemotherapy when combined with PD-1 blockade in resectable lung cancers.
- Rosner S, Sivapalan L, Zahurak M, Thummalapalli R, Rayes R, Connor S, Sanber K, Reuss JE, Pereira G, Smith KN, Anagnostou V, Broderick SR, Jones DR, Brahmer J, Marrone K, Spicer J, Chaft J, Forde PM. Response to neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based therapy in oncogene-driven resectable non-small cell lung cancer.
- Jiang X, Sanber K, Rudqvist NP, Jiang B, Dan DJ, Akagi K, Xiao W, Smith KN, Chen K, Gillison ML. Predictive Molecular Signatures of Tumor Reactivity from Antigen Specific Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Human Papillomavirus-Positive Oropharyngeal Carcinoma.
Book Chapters
- Nawas ZY, Nguyen QG, Sanber KS, Tyring SK. In: Antiviral Drugs. In: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. McGraw-Hill, 2019.
- Sanber KS, Joseph SK, Ahmed N. In: In: Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapies for Cancer: A Practical Guide. Shah, 165-198, 2019.
Patents
- Collins M, Takeuchi Y, Knight S, Sanber K. Materials and methods relating to packaging cell lines. Patent Number: US9840720B2.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 16, 2026