Scientific Advisory Board

Suzanne Lentzsch, M.D., Ph.D. – Scientific Advisory Board Chair
Professor of Medicine at CUMC
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University
Director, Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service
New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Columbia University Medical Center.
New York, New York

Dr. Lentzsch is Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service at New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Columbia University Medical Center, New York. After receiving her degrees from the Humboldt University/ Charité Berlin, Germany, she completed her residency and fellowship at Humboldt University and a research fellowship, studying the mechanism of action of thalidomide and its derivatives in multiple myeloma, in the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center under the mentorship of Dr Kenneth Anderson at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. Dr. Lentzsch was recruited in August 2004 to the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and served as Clinical Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program at UPCI. Since March 2012, Dr. Lentzsch is the Director of the Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Service at Columbia University Medical Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons. Her translational research focuses on the identification of novel targets for the treatment of Multiple Myeloma, Multiple Myeloma bone disease and amyloidosis. Her innovative research in amyloidosis resulted in a series of translational clinical trials, including the establishment of new treatments for relapsed AL amyloidosis in a multicenter trial investigating bendamustine. We investigated in an FDA-funded Phase 1 clinical trial, whether the monoclonal antibody 11-1F4 (CAEL-101), directly targeting amyloid fibrils, can break down amyloid and subsequently improve organ function in amyloid patients. Phase 1a/1b data presented at the American Society of Hematology’s 59th Annual Meeting in December 2017 support CAEL-101’s potential to be a safe and well-tolerated therapy that promotes amyloid resolution.  Dr. Lentzsch was the Principal Investigator in the FDA-funded Phase 1 clinical trial until November 2017.

A frequent lecturer, Dr. Lentzsch regularly presents at annual meetings of the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, of which she is also a member. Dr. Lentzsch has published over 70 original articles, editorials, chapters, many as the lead or senior author, in, inter alia, Blood, Cancer Research, Leukemia and The Journal of Clinical Investigations.