Alex Herrera, M.D.
Location
Duarte Cancer Center
Duarte, CA 91010
Education & Experience
American Board of Internal Medicine, Hematology
American Board of Internal Medicine, Oncology
2009, M.D., Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
2003, A.B. History, Summa Cum Laude, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
2014-2015, Bone Marrow Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2012-2014, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
2009-2012, Internal Medicine Internship and Residency, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
2023-present, Chief, Division of Lymphoma, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2021-2023, Associate Professor, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2015-2021, Assistant Professor, Division of Lymphoma, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2014-2015, Instructor, City of Hope, Bone Marrow Transplantation Fellowship, Duarte, CA
Research
Lab Members
The clinical and research interests of Alex Herrera, M.D., center on immunotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in lymphoma patients. Dr. Herrera is currently the principal investigator of a number of clinical trials evaluating immune checkpoint inhibitors and other novel agents for the treatment of relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and as consolidation following autologous stem cell transplantation for patients with NHL or HL, including his own investigator-initiated trials, collaborative multicenter investigator-initiated trials and sponsored multicenter trials.
As part of these efforts, Dr. Herrera studies biomarkers of response and outcomes in lymphoma patients treated with immunotherapies or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. His current research evaluates the impact of immunohistochemical and cytogenetic markers of prognosis in the setting of transplantation for lymphoma, as well as the use of sequencing-based minimal residual disease detection to predict relapse after autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. The goal of these studies is to identify patients at high risk of relapse after transplantation, who may benefit from enrolling into rational prospective clinical trials using biomarker-based interventions to improve outcomes.
Awards & Memberships
Awards
2022, City of Hope Arti Hurria Clinical Mentoring Award
2022, James O. Armitage Lymphoma Clinical Investigator Award
2021, V Foundation Clinical Scholar Program Award
2019, Emmet and Toni Stephenson Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research Award
2018, STOP Cancer Wiviott Wish Family Seed Grant
2018-2020, Gilead Sciences Research Scholars Program in Hematology/Oncology
2017-2020, Lymphoma Research Foundation Larry and Denise Mason Clinical Investigator Career Development Award
2017-2018, SWOG Integrated Translational Science Center Pilot Award
2016-2017, City of Hope Hematologic Malignancies Institute Pilot Project Award
2016-present, National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program (renewed)
2016, SWOG/The Jackson Laboratory/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory NCI Integrated Translational Science Center Workshop
2016-2017, City of Hope Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center Pilot Grant
2016-2017, Lymphoma Research Foundation Clinical Research Mentoring Program
2016-2017 City of Hope Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center Pilot Grant
2016-2017 Lymphoma Research Foundation Clinical Research Mentoring Program
2015, City of Hope K12 City of Hope Clinical Oncology Career Research Development Program Recipient
2015, City of Hope SPORE in Lymphoma Cancer Project Career Enhancement Award Recipient
2015, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation/Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation George Santos Award for Best Clinical Science Article by a New Investigator
2014-2015, American Society of Hematology Clinical Research Training Institute
2014, American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting Abstract Achievement Award
2014, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation Clinical Research Training Course
2014, American Society of Clinical Oncology/Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award
2014, American Society of Hematology Research Training Award for Fellows Finalist (Withdrawn from consideration after receipt of ASCO/CCF YIA
2013, American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting Abstract Achievement Award
2007-2008, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation International Clinical Research Fellowship
2005, Harvard Medical School Paul Dudley White Traveling Fellowship
2003-2004, Princeton Project 55 Public Interest Program Fellowship
Memberships
2015-present, Member, Southwest Oncology Group
2013-present, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
2013-present, American Society of Hematology
2013-present, American Society of Clinical Oncology
2013-present, American Association for Cancer Research
Publications
- Godfrey J, Mei M, Chen L, Song JY, Bedell V, Budde E, Armenian S, Puverel S, Nikolaenko L, Chen R, Daniels S, Kennedy N, Peters L, Rosen ST, Forman SJ, Popplewell LL, Kwak LW, Herrera AF†. Results from a phase I trial of pembrolizumab plus vorinostat in relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Haematologica. 2023 Jul 20. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2023.283002. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37470137 † Corresponding author
- Mei MG, Chen L, Godfrey J, Song JY, Egelston C, Budde LE, Armenian SH, Nikolaenko L, Nwangwu M, Guo W, Gao L, Lee P, Chen RW, Daniels S, Kennedy N, Peters L, Zain J, Rosen ST, Forman SJ, Popplewell L, Kwak LW, Herrera AF†. Pembrolizumab plus vorinostat is highly active in Hodgkin lymphoma, including patients refractory to prior PD-1 blockade. Blood. 2023 Jun 20:blood.2023020485. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023020485. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37339586 † Corresponding author
- Song JY, Nwangwu M, He TF, Zhang W, Meawad H, Bedell V, Murata-Collins J, Skrabek P, Nasr MR, Scott D, Godfrey J, Lee P, Chan WC, Weisenburger DD, Perry AM, Herrera AF. Low T-cell proportion in the tumor microenvironment is associated with immune escape and poor survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Haematologica. 2023 Jan 12. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2022.282265. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36632739
- Herrera AF, Chen L, Nieto Y, Holmberg L, Johnston P, Mei M, Popplewell L, Armenian S, Cao T, Farol L, Sahebi F, Spielberger R, Chen R, Nademanee A, Puverel S, Nwangwu M, Lee P, Song J, Skarbnik A, Kennedy N, Peters L, Rosen ST, Kwak LW, Forman SJ, Feldman T. Nivolumab and Brentuximab Vedotin After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for High-Risk Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma: a Multicentre, Phase 2 Trial. Lancet Haematol. 2023 Jan;10(1):e14-e23. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(22)00318-0. Epub 2022 Nov 17. PMID: 36403579
- Merryman RW, Redd RA, Taranto E, Ahmed G, Jeter E, McHugh KM, Brown JR, Crombie JL, Davids MS, Fisher DC, Freedman AS, Jacobsen ED, Jacobson CA, Kim AI, LaCasce AS, Ng SY, Odejide OO, Parry EM, Jacene H, Park H, Dahi PB, Nieto Y, Joyce R, Chen YB, Shipp MA, Herrera AF#, Armand P. Minimal residual disease in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation. Blood Adv. 2022 Nov 18:bloodadvances.2022007706. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022007706. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36399518 #: co-senior author
- Zurko J, Ramdial J, Shadman M, Ahmed S, Szabo A, Iovino L, Tomas AA, Sauter C, Perales MA, Shah NN, Acharya UH, Jacobson C, Soiffer RJ, Wang T, Komanduri KV, Jaglowski S, Kittai AS, Denlinger N, Iqbal M, Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Ayala E, Chavez J, Jain M, Locke FL, Samara Y, Budde LE, Mei MG, Pia AD, Feldman T, Ahmed N, Jacobs R, Ghosh N, Dholaria B, Oluwole OO, Hess B, Hassan A, Kenkre VP, Reagan P, Awan F, Nieto Y, Hamadani M, Herrera AF†. Allogeneic transplant following CAR T-cell therapy for large B-cell lymphoma. Haematologica. 2022 Jul 14. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2022.281242. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35833303 †corresponding author
- Kambhampati S, Mei MG, Godfrey J, Siddiqi T, Salhotra A, Chen R, Smith E, Popplewell LL, Herrera AF†. PD-1 Blockade After Avelumab in Relapsed/Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2022 Jun 6:S2152-2650(22)00185-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2022.06.004. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35778267 †corresponding author
- Mei MG, Lee HJ, Palmer J, Chen RW, Tsai NC, Chen L, McBride K, Smith DL, Melgar I, Song JY, Bonjoc KC, Armenian S, Nwangwu M, Lee P, Zain J, Nikolaenko L, Popplewell L, Nademanee A, Chaudhry AA, Rosen ST, Kwak LW, Forman SJ, Herrera AF†. Response-adapted anti-PD1 based salvage therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma with nivolumab +/- ICE (NICE). Blood. 2022 Mar 22:blood.2022015423. doi: 10.1182/blood.2022015423. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35316328 † Corresponding author
- Herrera AF, Tracy S, Croft B, Opat SS, Ray J, Lovejoy AF, Musick L, Paulson JN, Sehn LH, Jiang Y. Risk profiling of patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by measuring circulating tumor DNA. Blood Adv. 2022 Jan 27:bloodadvances.2021006415. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021006415. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35086141
- Herrera AF, Patel MR, Burke JM, Advani R, Cheson BD, Sharman JP, Penuel E, Polson AG, Liao CD, Li C, Schuth E, Vaze A, Samineni D, Elstrom R, Cooper J, Diefenbach C. Anti-CD79B Antibody-Drug Conjugate DCDS0780A in Patients with B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Study. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Jan 3:clincanres.3261.2021. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-3261. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34980599
- Herrera AF, Palmer JM, Adhikarla V, Yamauchi DM, Poku EK, Bading J, Yazaki P, Dandapani S, Mei MG, Chen RW, Cao T, Karras NA, McTague P, Nademanee A, Popplewell L, Sahebi F, Shively JE, Simpson JR, Smith DL, Song J, Spielberger R, Tsai NC, Thomas SH, Forman SJ, Colcher D, Wu AM, Wong JY, Smith EP. Anti-CD25 Radioimmunotherapy with BEAM Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Conditioning in Hodgkin Lymphoma. Blood Adv. 2021 Oct 12:bloodadvances.2021004981. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004981. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34638132
- Herrera AF, Ahn KW, Litovich CA, Chen Y, Assal A, Bashir Q, Bayer RL, Coleman M, DeFilipp Z, Farhadfar N, Greenwood M, Hahn T, Horwitz ME, Jacobson CA, Jaglowski SM, Lachance S, Langston A, Mattar B, Maziarz RT, McGuirk JP, Mian M, Nathan S, Phillips AA, Rakszawski K, Sengeloev H, Shenoy S, Stuart RK, Sauter CS, Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Hamadani M. Autologous and Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma-Type Richter Syndrome. Blood Advances. 2021 Sep 8:bloodadvances.2021004865. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004865. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34496026
- Herrera AF, Burton C, Radford J, Miall F, Townsend W, Santoro A, Zinzani PL, Lewis D, Fowst C, Brar S, Huang B, Thall A, Collins GP. Avelumab in relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma: phase 1b results from the JAVELIN Hodgkins trial. Blood Advances. 2021 Sep 14;5(17):3387-3396. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004511. PMID: 34477818
- Epperla N and Herrera AF†. How we incorporate novel agents into the treatment of classic Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood. 2021 Apr 22:blood.2020007900. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020007900. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33889927 † Corresponding author Advani R, Moskowitz AJ, Bartlett NL, Vose J, Ramchandren R, Feldman T, LaCasce AS, Christian B, Ansell SM, Moskowitz CH, Brown L, Zhang C, Taft D, Ansari S, Sacchi M, Ho L, Herrera AF. Brentuximab vedotin in combination with nivolumab in relapsed or refractory
- Advani R, Moskowitz AJ, Bartlett NL, Vose J, Ramchandren R, Feldman T, LaCasce AS, Christian B, Ansell SM, Moskowitz CH, Brown L, Zhang C, Taft D, Ansari S, Sacchi M, Ho L, Herrera AF. Brentuximab vedotin in combination with nivolumab in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma: 3-year study results. Blood. Blood. 2021 Apr 7:blood.2020009178. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020009178. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33827139