A WCM-Q alumnus is helping to lead clinical trials that could revolutionize the treatment of lymphoma and acute leukemia.
photo from archive , when Dr Beljavic started the the bloodless stemcell on a patient for the first time, 2018
A WCM-Q alumnus is helping to lead clinical trials that could revolutionize the treatment of lymphoma and acute leukemia.
Dr. Muhamed Baljević, of the Class of 2010, has founded the CAR T – Cell Therapy for patients at Nebraska Medicine's Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, home to one of the leading cancer research centers in the US.
The process involves re-engineering the patient’s own cells to target and destroy the cancer cells.
“This is a therapy which has revolutionized the way we treat lymphoma and acute leukemia. We hope to rely on the similar success in this disease as well,” said Dr. Baljević.
The therapy is still in clinical trials, but if successful it could be rolled out to more patients in as little as six months.
Dr. Baljević, who is originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was offered an Emiri scholarship in 2001 to come to Doha and finish high school at Qatar Academy, a member of Qatar Foundation. The scholarship was extended as a university academic scholarship for pre-medical and medical studies at WCM-Q, where he graduated from with honors in research. Since graduating from WCM-Q Dr. Baljević completed residency training in internal medicine at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, and fellowship training in hematology and medical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Last year at Nebraska Medicine, he performed the first stem cell transplant without the use of blood transfusions on a patient suffering from ultra-high-risk myeloma. Dr. Baljević was unable to use blood transfusion because the patient was a Jehova’s Witness, whose religion forbids the procedure.