Introducing Dr Karthik Nath – Deputy Director of Cellular Therapy 

Icon Writers / 22 Aug, 2024

We’re pleased to welcome Clinical Haematologist, Dr Karthik Nath as Icon Cancer Centre’s (Australia) Deputy Director of Cellular Therapy.

Dr Nath has returned to Icon after working at the renowned, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, USA. He is excited to resume clinical practice with Icon Cancer Centre with a strong focus on research and advocating for greater access to cellular therapy treatments across Australia.  

At MSK, Dr Nath completed an advanced fellowship and was appointed as a consultant haematologist in the cancer centre’s Cellular Therapy Service, where he oversaw the management of patients receiving innovative cellular therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).  

Future healthcare

Dr Nath is looking forward to this new clinical leadership role to deliver better patient outcomes. 

“I’m thrilled to take on this new role and look forward to contributing to the advancement of cellular therapy in Australia,” Dr Nath said.  

“I’m particularly interested in improving access to CAR T-cell therapy for our patients in Australia.”  

CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy where a patient’s own immune system is re-engineered to destroy cancerous cells.  

A patient’s ccells are removed from the patient, modified with new proteins to recognise the cancer, and then returned to the patient’s body in large numbers to combat the cancer.  

This innovative therapy is proven to be highly effective for patients with blood cancers such as lymphoma, myeloma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is also being explored as a treatment for other cancers including breast, gastric and kidney cancers.   

“In my new role at Icon I’m dedicated to improving the availability of this treatment option, and ultimately providing the best possible care for our patients,” said Dr Nath.  

“My research interest includes exploring ways to make CAR T-cell therapy safer, with fewer side effects and I look forward to the opportunity to grow Icon’s capabilities in this space.”  

Group Medical Director, Dr Ian Irving said this marks a step forward in Icon’s ongoing commitment to investing in research and advancing cancer care.  

“We’re very pleased to welcome back Karthik who started his career with Icon and has since made significant contributions to the cancer care profession,” said Dr Irving.  

“Karthik will help enhance our strong research offering with a focus on exploring cellular therapy clinical trials and providing direction and advocacy for increased access to cellular therapies particularly in Australia’s private healthcare sector.”  

This appointment has been made possible by the generous contribution of an anonymous donor to not-for-profit charity, Icon Cancer Foundation whose mission is to promote, initiate and fund innovative research to give cancer patients and communities a better, brighter and healthy future.  

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