Research Summary

I am a hematologist/oncologist and care for patients with blood cancers with a particular focus on Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. I have a particular interest in immunotherapy, targeted therapies, stem cell transplantation, and CAR T-cell therapy.

My research focuses on novel immunotherapy approaches to treat lymphoma and personalized medicine, tailoring treatment to individual patients based on their disease characteristics and tumor genetics. I am a co-investigator on clinical trials evaluating novel immunotherapies to treat lymphoma and using ultrasensitive biomarkers like circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to guide therapy.

I received my medical degree from Vanderbilt University and completed my internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at Stanford University under the mentorship of Dr. Ranjana Advani. I serve on the steering committee for the University of California Hematologic Malignancies Consortium (UCHMC) and the Hodgkin lymphoma guidelines committee for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

Education

06/2020 - Hematology/Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center
06/2016 - Internal Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center
MD, 05/2014 - Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
BA, 05/2009 - Music (Classical Guitar), Emory University

Honors & Awards

  • Hematology/Oncology Division Teaching Award, University of California, San Francisco, 2025
  • USCF Society of Hellman Fellows, University of California, San Francisco, 2024
  • Young Investigator Award, Conquer Cancer Foundation, 2020
  • Scientific Merit Award, Stanford Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, 2020
  • ASH Clinical Research Training Institute, American Society of Hematology, 2018
  • ASH Abstract Achievement Award, American Society of Hematology, 2016
  • NIAID Merit Award, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2014
  • Julian Wolfsohn Award for Outstanding Performance in Internal Medicine, Stanford Internal Medicine Residency Program, 2014
  • Stanford Society of Physician Scholars, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2014
  • Alpha Omega Alpha, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2014
  • Rudolph H. Kampmeier Prize in Clinical Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2014
  • NIH Medical Research Scholars Program, National Institutes of Health, 2012
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Emory University, 2008
  • William H. Murdy Natural Science and Mathematics Award, Emory University, 2007

Selected Publications

  1. Bowers JT, Vijayanarayanan A, Gill N, Traglia M, Thomas R, Andreadis CB, Ai WZ, Ho C, Kaplan LD, Merrill MH, Seshadri MR, Randall MP, Rubenstein JL, Ganapathi K, Prakash S, Devine WP, Spinner MA. CGE26-139: Genomic Signatures of CNS and Systemic Relapse in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) Patients Profiled With Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2026 Mar 31; 24(3.5). View on PubMed
  2. Kumar J, Jensen A, Lu R, Khanna V, Stehr H, Spinner M, Fernandez-Pol S, Greenberg PL, Tan B. Morphologic findings and mutational profiles of myelodysplastic neoplasms with normal versus abnormal karyotype. J Hematop. 2026 Feb 20; 19(1). View on PubMed
  3. Spinner MA, Advani RH. Management of Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma in Pregnancy. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2026 Feb 06. View on PubMed
  4. Advani RH, Kelsey CR, Armand P, Bello CM, Benitez CM, Bond D, Chen W, Cherian S, Czader M, Dabaja B, Daly ME, Frosch Z, Gordon LI, Hansen N, Herrera AF, Hochberg EP, Hoppe RT, Isufi I, Johnston PB, Kelly K, Kenkre VP, Kline J, Lynch RC, McConathy J, Morgan D, Niu A, Paul S, Rabinovitch R, Salavati A, Sano D, Shah H, Spinner M, Svoboda J, Winter JN, Yahalom J, Yang JC, Montgomery S, Stehman K. Hodgkin Lymphoma, Version 1.2026, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines In Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2026 Feb; 24(2):41-60. View on PubMed
  5. Ma S, Spinner MA. Optimizing the Role of Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Management of Hodgkin Lymphoma. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2026 Feb; 24(2). View on PubMed
  6. Spinner MA, Advani RH. Emerging immunotherapies in the Hodgkin lymphoma armamentarium. Expert Opin Emerg Drugs. 2024 Sep; 29(3):263-275. View on PubMed
  7. Abrams H, Abuali I, Khan AM, Riano I, Allen G, Spinner MA, Komanduri KV. Cell Therapy: Actionable Takeaways from the 2023 Precision Oncology Summit Session. Int J Cancer Care Deliv. 2024. View on PubMed
  8. Khanna V, Lu R, Kumar J, Molina A, Stehr H, Spiteri E, Spinner M, Silva O, Fernandez-Pol S, Tan B, Greenberg PL. The clinical, molecular, and prognostic features of the 2022 WHO and ICC classification systems for myelodysplastic neoplasms. Leuk Res. 2024 01; 136:107433. View on PubMed
  9. Desai SH, Spinner MA, Evens AM, Sykorova A, Bachanova V, Goyal G, Kahl B, Dorritie K, Azzi J, Kenkre VP, Chang C, Michalka J, Ansell SM, Fusco B, Sumransub N, Hatic H, Saba R, Ibrahim U, Harris EI, Shah H, Wagner-Johnston N, Arai S, Nowakowski GS, Mocikova H, Jagadeesh D, Blum KA, Diefenbach C, Iyengar S, Rappazzo KC, Baidoun F, Choi Y, Prochazka V, Advani RH, Micallef I. Overall survival of patients with cHL who progress after autologous stem cell transplant: results in the novel agent era. Blood Adv. 2023 12 12; 7(23):7295-7303. View on PubMed
  10. Spinner MA, Komanduri KV. Long-term Survivors and Failures of CAR-T Therapy for Lymphoma: Is there a Role for Allogeneic Transplantation After the CAR-T Crash? Transplant Cell Ther. 2023 12; 29(12):725-726. View on PubMed
  11. Bowers JT, Anna J, Bair SM, Annunzio K, Epperla N, Pullukkara JJ, Gaballa S, Spinner MA, Li S, Messmer MR, Nguyen J, Ayers EC, Wagner CB, Hu B, Di M, Huntington SF, Furqan F, Shah NN, Chen C, Ballard HJ, Hughes ME, Chong EA, Nasta SD, Barta SK, Landsburg DJ, Svoboda J. Brentuximab vedotin plus AVD for Hodgkin lymphoma: incidence and management of peripheral neuropathy in a multisite cohort. Blood Adv. 2023 11 14; 7(21):6630-6638. View on PubMed
  12. Randall MP, Spinner MA. Optimizing Treatment for Relapsed/Refractory Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma in the Era of Immunotherapy. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Sep 11; 15(18). View on PubMed
  13. Banerjee R, Wang V, Huang CY, Pandita D, Leonard MK, LaRue S, Ahmadi M, Kaplan L, Ai WZ, Fakhri B, Spinner M, Seshadri MR, Pampaloni MH, Andreadis CB. Hypoxia-specific imaging in patients with lymphoma undergoing CAR-T therapy. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2023 09; 50(11):3349-3353. View on PubMed
  14. Spinner MA, Sica RA, Tamaresis JS, Lu Y, Chang C, Lowsky R, Frank MJ, Johnston LJ, Miklos DB, Muffly LS, Negrin RS, Rezvani AR, Shiraz P, Shizuru JA, Weng WK, Binkley MS, Hoppe RT, Advani RH, Arai S. Improved outcomes for relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma after autologous transplantation in the era of novel agents. Blood. 2023 06 01; 141(22):2727-2737. View on PubMed
  15. Desai SH, Spinner MA, David K, Bachanova V, Goyal G, Kahl B, Dorritie K, Azzi J, Kenkre VP, Arai S, Chang C, Fusco B, Sumransub N, Hatic H, Saba R, Ibrahim U, Harris EI, Shah H, Murphy J, Ansell S, Jagadish D, Orellana-Noia V, Diefenbach C, Iyenger S, Rappazzo KC, Mishra R, Choi Y, Nowakowski GS, Advani RH, Micallef IN. Checkpoint inhibitor-based salvage regimens prior to autologous stem cell transplant improve event-free survival in relapsed/refractory classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Am J Hematol. 2023 03; 98(3):464-471. View on PubMed
  16. Spinner MA, Advani RH. Current Frontline Treatment of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Oncology (Williston Park). 2022 01 20; 36(1):51-58. View on PubMed
  17. Orellana-Noia VM, Reed DR, McCook AA, Sen JM, Barlow CM, Malecek MK, Watkins M, Kahl BS, Spinner MA, Advani R, Voorhees TJ, Snow A, Grover NS, Ayers A, Romancik J, Liu Y, Huntington SF, Chavez JC, Saeed H, Lazaryan A, Raghunathan V, Spurgeon SE, Ollila TA, Del Prete C, Olszewski A, Ayers EC, Landsburg DJ, Echalier B, Lee J, Kamdar M, Caimi PF, Fu T, Liu J, David KA, Alharthy H, Law J, Karmali R, Shah H, Stephens DM, Major A, Rojek AE, Smith SM, Yellala A, Kallam A, Nakhoda S, Khan N, Sohail MA, Hill BT, Barrett-Campbell O, Lansigan F, Switchenko J, Cohen J, Portell CA. Single-route CNS prophylaxis for aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas: real-world outcomes from 21 US academic institutions. Blood. 2022 01 20; 139(3):413-423. View on PubMed
  18. Brar N, Spinner MA, Baker MC, Advani RH, Natkunam Y, Lewis DB, Silva O. Increased double-negative αβ+ T-cells reveal adult-onset autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome in a patient with IgG4-related disease. Haematologica. 2022 01 01; 107(1):347-350. View on PubMed
  19. Hamid MS, Rutherford SC, Jang H, Kim S, Patel K, Bartlett NL, Malecek MK, Watkins MP, Maddocks KJ, Bond DA, Feldman TA, Magarelli G, Advani RH, Spinner MA, Evens AM, Shah M, Ahmed S, Stephens DM, Allen P, Tees MT, Karmali R, Cheson BD, Yazdy MS, Strouse C, Bailey NA, Pagel JM, Ramchandren R. Outcomes Among Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients After an Interim PET Scan: A Real-World Experience. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2022 07; 22(7):e435-e442. View on PubMed
  20. Dworkin ML, Jiang AL, Von Eyben R, Spinner MA, Advani RH, Lowsky R, Hiniker SM, Hoppe RT. Outcomes of adults with lymphoma treated with nonmyeloablative TLI-ATG and radiation boost to high risk or residual disease before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2022 01; 57(1):106-112. View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI