Neha Akkad, MD
Department of Lymphoma - Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Lymphoma and Myeloma, Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | New York University, New York, New York, US, Bachelor of Arts in Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2023-2026 | Postgraduate Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2020-2023 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St Louis, Missouri |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2026 | Texas Medical License |
| 2020 | Missouri Medical License |
Honors & Awards
| 2025 - Present | ASCO Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 - Present | Lymphoma SPORE Career Enhancement Program Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 - Present | ASH Clinical Research Training Institute Scholar, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 - Present | Lymphoma Research Foundation Career Development Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2024 - Present | Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference Travel Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2024 - Present | Binaytara Young Hematology Scholar Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2023 - Present | LeJIT Teaching Award, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2022 - Present | ACP Missouri 2022 Poster Competition Winner, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2022 - Present | Clinician-Scientist Training and Research (CSTAR) Program Scholar, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2022 - Present | Mentors in Medicine Research Scholar, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2022 - Present | Society of Hematologic Oncology Young Investigator Program Grant, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2022 - Present | Cutaneous Lymphoma Catalyst Research Grant, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2021 - Present | Mentors in Medicine Research Scholar, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2020 - Present | Resident and Fellows Underserved Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis & Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri |
| 2019 - Present | Teaching Fellowship, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California in Los Angeles |
| 2015 - Present | University Honors Scholar, New York University, New York, NY |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
National Presentations
- 2026. Immune Checkpoint Sensitivity through Spatial Reprogramming of the Tumor Microenvironment in T Cell Lymphoma. Poster. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
- 2025. Evaluation of Gene Expression Assays to Classify Large B Cell Lymphoma by Molecular Subtype from Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tumor Biopsy Tissue (FFPET). Poster. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Treatment Patterns and Real-World Outcomes with Clinical Trials for Patients with Follicular Lymphoma Across Lines of Therapy. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2024. Evaluating the clinical utility of real-time comprehensive whole exome sequencing and RNA-seq for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2024. Genomic and Spatial Proteomic Characterization of the Microenvironment of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in African American Patients. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2024. Genomic and Spatial Proteomic Characterization of the Microenvironment of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in African American Patients. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2024. Case Report: A Case of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoproliferative Disorder vs. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Poster. Nashville, Tennessee, US.
- 2024. Preliminary Validation of a Novel Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Questionnaire for patients with Cutaneous T cell Lymphoma: The CTCL-PRO-18. Poster. Maui County, Hawaii, US.
- 2024. Principal Component Analysis and Creation of a Novel Patient-reported Outcomes Questionnaire for Patients with Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma. Poster. Chicago, Illinois, US.
- 2024. Principal Component Analysis and Creation of a Novel Patient Reported Outcomes Questionnaire for Patients with Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma. Conference. Pasadena, California, US.
- 2023. Quality of Life in Cutaneous T cell Lymphoma: Validation of a Novel Quality of Life Instrument. Poster. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2023. Quality of Life in Cutaneous T cell Lymphoma: Validation of a Novel Quality of Life Instrument. Poster. St. Louis, Missouri, US.
- 2023. Quality of Life in Cutaneous T cell Lymphoma: Validation of a Novel Quality of Life Instrument. Poster. Chicago, Illinois, US.
- 2023. A Real-World Study Assessing Clinical Predictors of Pneumonitis in US Veterans with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Durvalumab. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2022. A Real-World Study Assessing Clinical Predictors of Pneumonitis in US Veterans with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Durvalumab. Poster. St. Louis, Missouri, US.
- 2022. Evaluation of Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma with Whole Exome and Genome Sequencing. Poster. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2022. A Real-World Study Assessing Clinical Predictors of Pneumonitis in US Veterans with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Durvalumab. Poster. St. Louis, Missouri, US.
- 2017. Tumor microenvironment visualization via multiplex immunohistochemistry of PD-1/PD-L1 expression in recurrent/progressive glioblastoma treated with Pembrolizumab. Poster. Los Angeles, California, US.
- 2016. Dectin-1 Signaling Promotes Pancreatic Oncogenesis by Promoting Adaptive Immune Suppression. Poster. Boston, Massachusetts, US.
- 2016. Gamma delta T Cells Support Pancreatic Oncogenesis by Inducing alpha beta T Cell Exhaustion. Poster. Boston, Massachusetts, US.
- 2015. Dectin-1 Signaling Promotes Pancreatic Oncogenesis by the Induction of Peritumoral Immune Suppression. Poster. San Diego, California, US.
- 2015. Gamma Delta T Cells Support Pancreatic Oncogenesis via alpha beta T Cell Exhaustion. Poster. Cold Spring Harbor, New York, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2026 - 2029 |
| Title: | Advancing Patient-Centered Measures in T-Cell Lymphoma |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - 2026 |
| Title: | Developing Patient Reported Outcomes as Emerging Clinical Trial Endpoints for Patients with Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma |
| Funding Source: | NCI/NIH |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 1U54CA302435-01 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2026 |
| Title: | Assessing the Feasibility of Molecular Subtyping with an Integrated WES/RNASeq Assay for Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma (PTCL) and Validation of PTCL Subtypes |
| Funding Source: | ASCO |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2022 - 2023 |
| Title: | Quality of Life in Patients with Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma: Validation of a Novel Quality of Life Instrument |
| Funding Source: | Cutaneous |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Chihara D, Balakrishnan K, Masand G, Harkins RA, Akkad N, Alekseeva E, Nesmelov A, Shugaev-Mendosa E, Anosov I, Rusinov A, Postovalova E, Gracheva Y, Lauziere K, Paradiso F, Kotlov N, Bagaev A, Green MR, Fowler NH, Flowers CR, Westin JR. Clinical utility of real-time comprehensive molecular testing in large B-cell lymphoma. Blood Adv, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42498283.
- Ruan J, Chen Z, Larson MC, Bennani NN, Allen P, Mou E, Wallace D, Mehta-Shah N, Lossos IS, Malpica Castillo LE, Jaye DL, Vega F, Inghirami G, Pongas G, Akkad N, Casulo C, Martin P, Cohen JB, Habermann TM, Maurer MJ, Leonard JP, Friedberg JW, Kahl B, Cerhan JR, Flowers CR, Feldman AL. Patterns of care and clinical outcomes in systemic peripheral T-cell lymphoma: the LEO-MER prospective cohort study. Blood Adv 10(10):3480-3493, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41707114.
- Akkad N, Jeffe DB, Krause A, Al-Hammadi N, Watkins M, Musiek A, Mehta-Shah N. The development and preliminary validation of the CTCL-PRO-20: a novel quality of life survey for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Haematologica, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42095261.
- Akkad N, Chen M, Nguyen S, Romero A, Nguyen L, McNeill LH, Nastoupil LJ, Westin J, Strati P, Ahmed S, Vallejo L, Yzquierdo R, Ayers A, Flowers CR, Nze C. Assessing patient perspectives on enrollment in lymphoma clinical trials. Cancer 132(8):e70377, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41988897.
- Akkad N, Hilton L, Balakrishnan K, Duose D, Lau Y, Jiang A, Sankar S, Nwogbo O, Ghosh A, Erhumutemabor P, Ayers A, Paponova S, Nesmelov A, Zemskiy P, Shvyrkova A, Sheehan E, Lauziere K, Podsvirova S, Postovalova E, Kotlov N, Bagaev A, Luthra R, Medeiros J, Patel K, Vega F, Fowler N, Scott D, Flowers CR. Evaluation of Gene Expression Assays to Classify Large B-Cell Lymphoma by Molecular Subtype Using Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Biopsies. Blood Cancer J. e-Pub 2026.
- Akkad N, Flowers C. SOHO State of the Art Updates and Next Questions: How Should We Risk Stratify and Tailor Therapy for Patients With High Tumor Burden Follicular Lymphoma? A Systematic Review. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 26(4):191-199.e1, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41672791.
- Akkad N, Malpica L, Dai J, Nair R, Gunther JR, Wu SY, Bouthaina DS, Hosing C, Srour S, Xu J, Torres-Cabala CA, Huen AO, Iyer SP. Cutaneous Escape Clones from Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma After Exposure to Brentuximab Vedotin: A Case Series. JAAD Case Reports. e-Pub 2026.
- Akkad N, Feng L, Westin JR, Hagemeister FB, Lee HJ, Fayad L, Ahmed S, Nair R, Rodriguez MA, Strati P, Chihara D, Flowers CR, Claret L, Ibanez K, Wang M, Fowler NH, Henderson J, Davis RE, Neelapu SS, Green M, Nastoupil LJ. A phase 2 study of obinutuzumab combined with lenalidomide in previously untreated high tumor burden follicular lymphoma. Blood Adv 9(17):4396-4404, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40517417.
- Akkad N, Flowers CR. Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) in Lymphoma. Curr Oncol 32(5), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40422524.
- Akkad N, Thomas TS, Luo S, Knoche E, Sanfilippo KM, Keller JW. A real-world study of pneumonitis in non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving durvalumab following concurrent chemoradiation. J Thorac Dis 15(12):6427-6435, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 38249904.
- Akkad N, Kodgule R, Duncavage EJ, Mehta-Shah N, Spencer DH, Watkins M, Shirai C, Myckatyn TM. Evaluation of Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma With Whole Exome and Genome Sequencing. Aesthet Surg J 43(3):318-328, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36351182.
- Akkad N, Jiang Y, Shin D. Leucocytosis and Stroke in a Lung Cancer Patient. Eur J Case Rep Intern Med 7(11):001872, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33194867.
- Pushalkar S, Hundeyin M, Daley D, Zambirinis CP, Kurz E, Mishra A, Mohan N, Aykut B, Usyk M, Torres LE, Werba G, Zhang K, Guo Y, Li Q, Akkad N, Lall S, Wadowski B, Gutierrez J, Kochen Rossi JA, Herzog JW, Diskin B, Torres-Hernandez A, Leinwand J, Wang W, Taunk PS, Savadkar S, Janal M, Saxena A, Li X, Cohen D, Sartor RB, Saxena D, Miller G. The Pancreatic Cancer Microbiome Promotes Oncogenesis by Induction of Innate and Adaptive Immune Suppression. Cancer Discov 8(4):403-416, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29567829.
- Daley D, Mani VR, Mohan N, Akkad N, Pandian GSDB, Savadkar S, Lee KB, Torres-Hernandez A, Aykut B, Diskin B, Wang W, Farooq MS, Mahmud AI, Werba G, Morales EJ, Lall S, Wadowski BJ, Rubin AG, Berman ME, Narayanan R, Hundeyin M, Miller G. NLRP3 signaling drives macrophage-induced adaptive immune suppression in pancreatic carcinoma. J Exp Med 214(6):1711-1724, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28442553.
- Daley D, Mani VR, Mohan N, Akkad N, Ochi A, Heindel DW, Lee KB, Zambirinis CP, Pandian GSB, Savadkar S, Torres-Hernandez A, Nayak S, Wang D, Hundeyin M, Diskin B, Aykut B, Werba G, Barilla RM, Rodriguez R, Chang S, Gardner L, Mahal LK, Ueberheide B, Miller G. Dectin 1 activation on macrophages by galectin 9 promotes pancreatic carcinoma and peritumoral immune tolerance. Nat Med 23(5):556-567, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28394331.
- Daley D, Zambirinis CP, Seifert L, Akkad N, Mohan N, Werba G, Barilla R, Torres-Hernandez A, Hundeyin M, Mani VRK, Avanzi A, Tippens D, Narayanan R, Jang JE, Newman E, Pillarisetty VG, Dustin ML, Bar-Sagi D, Hajdu C, Miller G. gammadelta T Cells Support Pancreatic Oncogenesis by Restraining alphabeta T Cell Activation. Cell 166(6):1485-1499.e15, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27569912.
Review Articles
- Akkad, N, Mehta-Shah, N. SOHO State of the Art Updates and Next Questions | Optimizing Frontline Treatment for Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma. Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia 26(5):265-272, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41826194.
- Kawai K, Akkad N, Flowers C. Hodgkin Lymphoma: Management of Patients Who Fail Primary Therapy. Cancer J 32(3), 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42166514.
- Akkad N, Huen A, Iyer SP. Targeting cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: what's new for investigational agents?. Expert Opin Investig Drugs:1-14, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41988788.
- Akkad N, Chihara D. License for a CAR T: Examining patient eligibility. Semin Hematol 61(5):284-289, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39117489.
Abstracts
- Akkad N. Dectin-1 Signaling Promotes Pancreatic Oncogenesis by Inducing Peritumoral Immune Suppression. ASC Conference.
- Akkad N. Neoadjuvant PD-1 antibody blockade is associated with focal upregulation of PD-L1 and CD8 T cell infiltrate in recurrent glioblastoma 20.
- Akkad N. Pola-R-CHP: A Dramatic Shift in the Frontline Treatment Paradigm for Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma, or a Small Step Forward?.
- Akkad N. Preliminary validation of a novel patient-reported outcomes (PRO) questionnaire for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma: The CTCL-PRO-18. ASCO Annual Meeting.
- Akkad N. Tumor Genomics and Microenvironment Characterization of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in Asian and Pacific Islander Patients. ASH Annual Conference.
- Akkad N. Follicular Lymphoma: Does the choice of frontline treatment matter?. SOHO Annual.
- Akkad N. How Should We Risk Stratify and Tailor Therapy for Relapsed/Refractory Indolent Lymphoma?. SOHO Annual Conference.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 08, 2026