Meet Rodabe Amaria, M.D.
Rodabe N. Amaria, M.D.
Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Amaria
Rodabe Amaria, M.D., joined the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as an Assistant Professor in July 2013 in the department of Melanoma Medical Oncology. She is a clinician specialized in the care of patients with advanced stage melanoma. Dr. Amaria co-directs the biospecimen collection efforts in the melanoma clinic and has helped build an infrastructure conducive to obtaining serial blood samples and tumor biopsies in patients undergoing treatment to elucidate biomarkers of response and resistance. She is involved in the development of neoadjuvant protocols in melanoma which allows for longitudinal tumor collections to understand changes in the tumor microenvironment in response to a specific treatment. She has an interest in translational immunotherapy research with a focus on understanding mechanisms of resistance to immunomodulatory therapies. Since joining MD Anderson, Dr. Amaria has been involved with enhancing the adoptive cell therapy program using tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. The hope of the program is to better understand how T cell therapy can be applied to help more patients with melanoma and make ACT more widely accessible to patients.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2006 | University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA, MD, Doctor of Medicine |
| 2000 | University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA, BA, Molecular Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2010-2013 | Clinical Fellowship, Hematology Oncology, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO |
| 2006-2009 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, CO |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - 2023
Honors & Awards
| 2012 | Chief Fellow, Hematology/Oncology, University of Colorado at Denver |
| 2006 | Excellence in Internal Medicine Award, University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center |
| 2000 | Summa Cum Laude Degree Designation in Molecular Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Amaria RN, Postow M, Burton EM, Tetzlaff MT, Ross MI, Torres-Cabala C, Glitza IC, Duan F, Milton DR, Busam K, Simpson L, McQuade JL, Wong MK, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Goepfert RP, Keung EZ, Fisher SB, Betof-Warner A, Shoushtari AN, Callahan M, Coit D, Bartlett EK, Bello D, Momtaz P, Nicholas C, Gu A, Zhang X, Korivi BR, Patnana M, Patel SP, Diab A, Lucci A, Prieto VG, Davies MA, Allison JP, Sharma P, Wargo JA, Ariyan C, Tawbi HA. Author Correction: Neoadjuvant relatlimab and nivolumab in resectable melanoma. Nature 615(7953):E23, 2023. PMID: 36894629.
- Glitza Oliva IC, Ferguson SD, Bassett R, Foster AP, John I, Hennegan TD, Rohlfs M, Richard J, Iqbal M, Dett T, Lacey C, Jackson N, Rodgers T, Phillips S, Duncan S, Haydu L, Lin R, Amaria RN, Wong MK, Diab A, Yee C, Patel SP, McQuade JL, Fischer GM, McCutcheon IE, O'Brien BJ, Tummala S, Debnam M, Guha-Thakurta N, Wargo JA, Burton EM, Tawbi HA, Davies MA. Concurrent intrathecal and intravenous nivolumab in leptomeningeal disease: phase 1 trial interim results. Nat Med. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36997799.
- Vellano CP, White MG, Andrews MC, Chelvanambi M, Witt RG, Daniele JR, Titus M, McQuade JL, Conforti F, Burton EM, Lastrapes MJ, Ologun G, Cogdill AP, Morad G, Prieto P, Lazar AJ, Chu Y, Han G, Khan MAW, Helmink B, Davies MA, Amaria RN, Kovacs JJ, Woodman SE, Patel S, Hwu P, Peoples M, Lee JE, Cooper ZA, Zhu H, Gao G, Banerjee H, Lau M, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Keung EZ, Ross MI, Pala L, Pagan E, Segura RL, Liu Q, Borthwick MS, Lau E, Yates MS, Westin SN, Wani K, Tetzlaff MT, Haydu LE, Mahendra M, Ma X, Logothetis C, Kulstad Z, Johnson S, Hudgens CW, Feng N, Federico L, Long GV, Futreal PA, Arur S, Tawbi HA, Moran AE, Wang L, Heffernan TP, Marszalek JR, Wargo JA. Author Correction: Androgen receptor blockade promotes response to BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy. Nature 613(7945):E3, 2023. PMID: 36627494.
- Mitra D, Farr M, Nagarajan P, Ho J, Bishop AJ, Jhingran A, Farooqi AS, Frumovitz M, Amaria RN, McQuade JL, Jazaeri AA, Guadagnolo BA. Gynecologic tract melanoma in the contemporary therapeutic era: High rates of local and distant disease progression. Gynecol Oncol 167(3):483-489, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36229264.
- Amaria RN, Postow M, Burton EM, Tetzlaff MT, Ross MI, Torres-Cabala C, Glitza IC, Duan F, Milton DR, Busam K, Simpson L, McQuade JL, Wong MK, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Goepfert RP, Keung EZ, Fisher SB, Betof-Warner A, Shoushtari AN, Callahan M, Coit D, Bartlett EK, Bello D, Momtaz P, Nicholas C, Gu A, Zhang X, Korivi BR, Patnana M, Patel SP, Diab A, Lucci A, Prieto VG, Davies MA, Allison JP, Sharma P, Wargo JA, Ariyan C, Tawbi HA. Neoadjuvant Relatlimab and Nivolumab in Resectable Melanoma. Nature 611(7934):155-160, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36289334.
- Mitra D, Rao PK, Nagarajan P, Bishop AJ, Farooqi AS, Gershenwald JE, Wargo J, Keung EZ, Fisher SB, Amaria RN, Davies MA, Ross MI, Guadagnolo BA. Outcomes after sphincter-sparing local therapy for anorectal melanoma: 1989-2020. Pract Radiat Oncol 12(5):437-445, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35278716.
- Schuler M, Zimmer L, Kim KB, Sosman JA, Ascierto PA, Postow MA, De Vos FYFL, van Herpen CML, Carlino MS, Johnson DB, Berking C, Reddy MB, Harney AS, Berlin JD, Amaria RN. Phase Ib/II Trial of Ribociclib in Combination with Binimetinib in Patients with NRAS-Mutant Melanoma. Clin Cancer Res 28(14):3002-3010, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35294522.
- Burton EM, Amaria RN, Cascone T, Chalabi M, Gross ND, Mittendorf EA, Scolyer RA, Sharma P, Ascierto PA. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy across cancers: meeting report from the Immunotherapy Bridge-December 1st-2nd, 2021. J Transl Med 20(1):271, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35706041.
- Menzies AM, Pires da Silva I, Trojaniello C, Vieu E, Amaria RN, Zimmer L, Lo SN, Burton EM, Tawbi HA, Schadendorf D, Grob JJ, Ascierto PA, Long GV. CTLA-4 Blockade Resistance after Relatlimab and Nivolumab. N Engl J Med 386(17):1668-1669, 2022. PMID: 35476655.
- Patel AB, Farooq S, Welborn M, Amaria RN, Chon SY, Diab A, Glitza Oliva IC, Huen AO, Li SQ, Nelson KC, Pacha O, Patel SP, Rapini RP, Tawbi HA, Wong MK, McQuade J, Davies MA, Haydu LE. Cutaneous adverse events in 155 patients with metastatic melanoma consecutively treated with anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 combination immunotherapy: Incidence, management, and clinical benefit. Cancer 128(5):975-983, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34724197.
- Ho J, Mattei J, Tetzlaff M, Williams MD, Davies MA, Diab A, Oliva ICG, McQuade J, Patel SP, Tawbi H, Wong MK, Fisher SB, Hanna E, Keung EZ, Ross M, Weiser R, Su SY, Frumovitz M, Meyer LA, Jazaeri A, Pettaway CA, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Mitra D, Farooqi A, Bassett R, Faria S, Nagarajan P, Amaria RN. Neoadjuvant checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy for resectable mucosal melanoma. Front Oncol 12:1001150, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36324592.
- Johnson DH, Zobniw CM, Trinh VA, Ma J, Bassett RL, Abdel-Wahab N, Anderson J, Davis JE, Joseph J, Uemura M, Noman A, Abu-Sbeih H, Yee C, Amaria R, Patel S, Tawbi H, Glitza IC, Davies MA, Wong MK, Woodman S, Hwu WJ, Hwu P, Wang Y, Diab A. Correction to: Infliximab associated with faster symptom resolution compared with corticosteroids alone for the management of immune-related enterocolitis. J Immunother Cancer 7(1):107, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30995944.
- Gerami P, Cook RW, Russell MC, Wilkinson J, Amaria RN, Gonzalez R, Lyle S, Jackson GL, Greisinger AJ, Johnson CE, Oelschlager KM, Stone JF, Maetzold DJ, Ferris LK, Wayne JD, Cooper C, Obregon R, Delman KA, Lawson D. Gene expression profiling for molecular staging of cutaneous melanoma in patients undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy. J Am Acad Dermatol 72(5):780-5.e3, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25748297.
- Siroy AE, Boland GM, Milton DR, Roszik J, Frankian S, Malke J, Haydu L, Prieto VG, Tetzlaff M, Ivan D, Wang WL, Torres-Cabala C, Curry J, Roy-Chowdhuri S, Broaddus R, Rashid A, Stewart J, Gershenwald JE, Amaria RN, Patel SP, Papadopoulos NE, Bedikian A, Hwu WJ, Hwu P, Diab A, Woodman SE, Aldape KD, Luthra R, Patel KP, Shaw KR, Mills GB, Mendelsohn J, Meric-Bernstam F, Kim KB, Routbort MJ, Lazar AJ, Davies MA. Beyond BRAF(V600): Clinical Mutation Panel Testing by Next-Generation Sequencing in Advanced Melanoma. J Invest Dermatol 135(2):508-15, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25148578.
- Gerami P, Cook RW, Wilkinson J, Russell MC, Dhillon N, Amaria RN, Gonzalez R, Lyle S, Johnson CE, Oelschlager KM, Jackson GL, Greisinger AJ, Maetzold D, Delman KA, Lawson DH, Stone JF. Development of a prognostic genetic signature to predict the metastatic risk associated with cutaneous melanoma. Clin Cancer Res 21(1):175-83, 2015. PMID: 25564571.
- Jordan KR, Amaria RN, Ramirez O, Callihan EB, Gao D, Borakove M, Manthey E, Borges VF, McCarter MD. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells are associated with disease progression and decreased overall survival in advanced-stage melanoma patients. Cancer Immunol Immunother 62(11):1711-22, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24072401.
- Amaria R, Schefter TE, Durham J, Pita De Oliveira LO, Kane M. Selective internal radiotherapy in metastatic esophageal adenocarcinoma. Gastrointest Cancer Res 4(5-6):191-3, 2011. PMID: 22295134.
- Amaria RN, Corboy JR, Finlayson CA, Robinson WA, Borges VF. Immunomodulatory therapy in multiple sclerosis and breast cancer risk: a case report and literature review. Clin Breast Cancer 8(5):449-52, 2008. PMID: 18952560.
- Hutton J, Wasmeier C, Amaria R, Bright N, Creemers J. Proprotein processing and pancreatic islet function. Adv Exp Med Biol 552:39-65, 2004. PMID: 15622958.
- Abdel-Halim SM, Gross DJ, Clark A, Poitout V, Amaria R, Ostenson CG, Hutton JC. Proinsulin processing in the diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rat. J Endocrinol 175(3):637-47, 2002. PMID: 12475375.
Invited Articles
- Medina T, Amaria RN, Jimeno A. Dabrafenib in the treatment of advanced melanoma. Drugs Today (Barc) 49(6):377-85, 2013. PMID: 23807941.
- Amaria RN, Bowles DW, Lewis KD, Jimeno A. Vismodegib in basal cell carcinoma. Drugs Today (Barc) 48(7):459-67, 2012. PMID: 22844657.
- Amaria RN, Lewis KD, Jimeno A. Vemurafenib: the road to personalized medicine in melanoma. Drugs Today (Barc) 48(2):109-18, 2012. PMID: 22384451.
- Scheier B, Amaria R, Lewis K, Gonzalez R. Novel therapies in melanoma. Immunotherapy 3(12):1461-9, 2011. PMID: 22091682.
- Scott A, Amaria R, Lewis K. Adjuvant peginterferon alfa-2b therapy in stage II melanoma. Expert Review of Dematology 6(6):567-575, 2011.
- Amaria RN, Lewis KD, Gonzalez R. Therapeutic options in cutaneous melanoma: latest developments. Ther Adv Med Oncol 3(5):245-51, 2011. PMID: 21957431.
Abstracts
- Lawson D, Russell M, Wilkinson J, Amaria RN, Gonzalez R, Gerami P, Lyle S, Jackson G, Greisinger A, Robbins J, Johnson C, Oelschlager K, Maetzold D, Cook R, Delman K. Gene expression profie of primary cutaneous melanomas accurately distinguishes between low and high risk of metastasis. Journal of Clinical Oncology 31(15 suppl), 2013.
- Jordan KR, Amaria RN, Callihan E, Borges VF, McCarter MD. Immunosuppression in human melanoma, 2012.
- Diamond JR, Amaria R, O'Donnell CI, Meltesen L, Swisshelm K, Malancon D, McGavran L, Singh M, Elias A, Borges VF. The incidence of low-level HER2 gene amplification and chromosome 17 polysomy in cases of newly diagnosed breast cancer and their association with clinical prognostic markers. J Clin Oncol 27 (suppl), 2009.
Book Chapters
- Amaria RN, Gonzalez R. Updated approach to the patient with metastatic melanoma. In: Emerging cancer therapeutics. Demos Publishing: New York, 583-602, 2012.