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Department
LocationCancer and Hematology Center
Bone Marrow Transplant / Stem Cell Transplant Program
Brain Tumor Program
Ewing Sarcoma Center
Texas Medical Center
Specialty
Cancer
Phone: 832-822-4840
Fax: 832-825-4732
Email
mghegde@texaschildrens.org
Address
1102 Bates Ave., Ste. 1570
Houston, TX 77030
Meenakshi G. Hegde, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine
Education
| School | Education | Degree | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor College of Medicine | Fellowship | Pediatric Hematology/Oncology | 2012 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago, Corner Children's Hospital | Residency | Pediatrics | 2009 |
| Bangalore Medical College, India | Internship/Residency | Pediatrics | 2005 |
| J.S.S. Medical College, Mysore, India | Medical School | Doctor of Medicine | 2003 |
About
Dr. Meenakshi Hegde is a pediatric oncologist engaged in translational research on immunotherapy to improve patient outcomes in high-risk cancer. Her research was the first to demonstrate that a highly heterogeneous landscape of antigen expression in glioblastoma and other solid tumors benefitted from simultaneous targeting of these antigens using a novel bispecific CAR T-cell (TanCAR).
Her current efforts focus on the tumor complex rather than the tumor cell to develop effective T-cell based platform resistant to the inhibitory pathways within the tumor environment and translation of newly developed cellular therapies from the laboratory to clinic through well-designed clinical trials to shape standard of care practices in the field of high-risk cancer therapy. Her clinical interests span adoptive cellular therapy and bone marrow transplant.
Dr. Hegde is a member of the Brain Tumor Research Program at Texas Children's Cancer Center, the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, and the Bone Marrow / Stem Cell Transplant Program.
She is a board certified physician-specialist in pediatric hematology/oncology and a member of the American Board of Pediatrics.
Board Certifications
American Board of Pediatrics
American Board of Pediatrics - Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Organizations
| Organization Name | Role |
|---|---|
| American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) |
Member |
| American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) |
Member |
| American Society of Bone Marrow Transplant (ASBMT) | Member |
| American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) | Member |
| Children's Oncology Group (COG) | Member |
| Karnataka Medical Council, India | Member |
| Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) | Member |
Research Statement
Solid tumors enable immune evasion by expressing high-levels of immune-inhibitory ligands that attenuate anti-tumor responses by inducing functional exhaustion and apoptotic death of the activated tumor-antigen specific T cells. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1; B7-H1)/ programmed death protein-1 (PD-1; CD279) immune-checkpoint is a key mediator of this tumor-derived immune-inhibition.
Using a glioma model, we are currently investigating how PD-L1/PD-1 axis can be best manipulated to enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of adoptively transferred chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.
Our approach will create a broad T-cell engineering platform to modulate tumor derived immune-inhibitory signals for improved cellular therapy of solid tumors.
Learn more about the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy on BCM.edu
Selected Publications
Awards & Honors
2020 Young Investigator Award, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine
Team Science Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Schwiesguth Prize, International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP)
2014 Young Investigator Award, American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology (ASPHO)
2012 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Scholar
Language
English
* Texas Children's Hospital physicians' licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician's office and were not verified by Texas Children's Hospital.