Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D.

(877) 460-4673
Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D.
Hematologist-Oncologist
Clinical Expertise
  • Hematologic Malignancies
  • Lymphoma
  • Leukemia
  • Myelodysplastic Syndrome
  • Aplastic Anemia
Research Area
  • Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
  • Graft Versus Host Disease
Other Languages Spoken
Japanese
Academic Appointments
  • Jan & Mace Siegel Professor in Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Division of Leukemia, Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
  • Director, Center for Stem Cell Transplantation
Clinical Teams
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Leukemia
Lymphoma
Research Teams
Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Since joining City of Hope in 2002, Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D., has been at the forefront of leading-edge research in stem cell transplantation with a focus on immune reconstitution and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). His clinical and research expertise extend to leukemia and bone marrow failure syndrome including aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and other rare diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and large granular lymphocyte (LGL) disease. Among his promising projects: Development of vaccines against cytomegalovirus (CMV) and COVID-19 for transplant recipients, novel immunotherapy with bi-specific CMV-CD19CAR T cells, new therapy/prevention of GVHD using microbiome-directed therapy. Furthermore, he has led a national study of older adults with MDS to compare survival according to the donor availability and define the role of stem cell transplantation for this group of patients (NCT 02016781). 

Dr. Nakamura’s leadership in the transplant/cellular therapy research and clinical practice community have earned him appointments as Co-Chair of the Chronic Leukemia Working Committee of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research, Steering Committee member for the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Clinical Trials Network, and Director, Community or Clinical Practice of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy

Dr. Nakamura trained in Japan and served a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, before arriving at City of Hope’s  Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, which includes the Center for Stem Cell Transplantation,  Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research, Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center and Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research. Dr. Nakamura serves as the director of the Center for Stem Cell Transplantation and is the Jan & Mace Siegel Professor in Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. 

Location

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 1991, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, M.D.

Fellowship

  • 1998-2001, Fellow, Hematology/Oncology, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Residency

  • 1995-1998, Resident, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

  • 1993-1994, Resident and Chief Resident (1994) in Internal Medicine, Iizuka Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

  • 1991-1993, Resident, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan

Professional Experience
  • 2024-2027, Director of Community or Clinical Practice, American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
  • 2002-current, Staff physician, Division of Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplantation, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California
  • 2004-2009, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplantation
  • 2008-current, Associate Chair, Cancer Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee
  • 2009-current, Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/HCT
  • 2011-current, Member, Hematologic Malignancies program, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center 
  • 2016-current, Director, HCT Center of City of Hope Hematologic Malignancies Institute
  • 2018-2019, Member, Enterprise Initiative Committee (EIC), City of Hope
  • 2019- current, Professor, Department of Hematology/Hematopoietic Cell transplantation
  • 2021- current, Chair, HCT Quality Management Council 

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • The 2021 Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meeting, Best Abstract Award: A Multi-Center Biologic Assignment Trial Comparing Reduced Intensity Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation to Hypomethylating Therapy or Best Supportive Care in Patients Aged 50-75 with Advanced Myelodysplastic Syndrome Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network Study 1102
    Hope Colleague Award 2021 (City of Hope)

  • 2008-2009, Recipient, Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship Award

  • 2000, Fellows Travel Award for the 10th Annual Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Hematology/Oncology Reviews. Intensive immunosuppression with high-dose cyclophosphamide and autologous CD34+ selected hematopoietic cell support for treatment of chronic refractory autoimmune thrombocytopenia: Jacksonville, Florida

Memberships

  • 2019-present, Co-Chair, CIBMTR Chronic Leukemia Working Committee

  • 2019-present, Member, NCI Lymphoma Steering Committee (BMT CTN representative)

  • 2019-present, Member, NCCN HCT Committee

  • 2020-present, NIH-Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) reviewer, ZRG1 IMM-H(02)M

  • 2019-present, Member, NCCN HCT Committee

  • American Medical Association

  • American Society of Hematology

  • American College of Physicians

  • Japanese Society of Internal Medicine

  • American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Publications

  • Versluis J, Saber W, Tsai HK, Gibson CJ, Dillon LW, Mishra A, McGuirk J, Maziarz RT, Westervelt P, Hegde P, Mukherjee D, Martens MJ, Logan B, Horowitz M, Hourigan CS, Nakamura R, Cutler C, Lindsley RC; Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network. Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Improves Outcome in Myelodysplastic Syndrome Across High-Risk Genetic Subgroups: Genetic Analysis of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network 1102 Study. J Clin Oncol. 2023 Aug 22:JCO2300866. doi: 10.1200/JCO.23.00866. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37607457.
  • Aribi A, Salhotra A, Afkhami M, Munteanu A, Ali H, Aldoss I, Otoukesh S, Al Malki MM, Sandhu KS, Koller P, Arslan S, Stewart F, Artz A, Curtin P, Ball B, O'Hearn J, Spielberger R, Smith E, Budde E, Nakamura R, Stein A, Forman S, Marcucci G, Becker PS, Pullarkat V.WT1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia is sensitive to fludarabine-based chemotherapy and conditioning regimens. Leuk Lymphoma. 2023 Aug 3:1-11. doi: 10.1080/10428194.2023.2241096. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37533373.
  • Mei M, Palmer J, Tsai NN, Simpson J, O'Hearn J, Stein A, Forman S, Spielberger R, Cai JL, Htut M, Nakamura R, Al Malki MM, Herrera A, Wong J, Nademanee A. Results of a Phase II Trial of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Using90Y-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) in Combination With Fludarabine and Melphalan in Patients With High-Risk B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2023 Sep;23(9):e268-e276. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2023.05.011. Epub 2023 May 23. PMID: 37301631.
  • Mei M, Palmer J, Tsai NN, Simpson J, O'Hearn J, Stein A, Forman S, Spielberger R, Cai JL, Htut M, Nakamura R, Al Malki MM, Herrera A, Wong J, Nademanee A. Results of a Phase II Trial of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Using90Y-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan (Zevalin) in Combination With Fludarabine and Melphalan in Patients With High-Risk B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2023 Sep;23(9):e268-e276. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2023.05.011. Epub 2023 May 23. PMID: 37301631.
  • Al Malki MM, London K, Baez J, Akahoshi Y, Hogan WJ, Etra A, Choe H, Hexner E, Langston A, Abhyankar S, Ponce DM, DeFilipp Z, Kitko CL, Adekola K, Reshef R, Ayuk F, Capellini A, Chanswangphuwana C, Eder M, Eng G, Gandhi I, Grupp S, Gleich S, Holler E, Javorniczky NR, Kasikis S, Kowalyk S, Morales G, Özbek U, Rösler W, Spyrou N, Yanik G, Young R, Chen YB, Nakamura R, Ferrara JLM, Levine JE. Phase 2 study of natalizumab plus standard corticosteroid treatment for high-risk acute graft-versus-host disease. Blood Adv. 2023 Sep 12;7(17):5189-5198. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023009853. PMID: 37235690; PMCID: PMC10505783.
  • Yao JM, Otoukesh S, Kim H, Yang D, Mokhtari S, Samara Y, Blackmon A, Arslan S, Agrawal V, Pourhassan H, Amanam I, Ball B, Koller P, Salhotra A, Becker P, Curtin P, Artz A, Aldoss I, Ali H, Stewart F, Smith E, Stein A, Marcucci G, Forman SJ, Nakamura R, Al Malki MM. Tocilizumab for Cytokine Release Syndrome Management After Haploidentical Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation With Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide-Based Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis. Transplant Cell Ther. 2023 Aug;29(8):515.e1-515.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2023.05.008. Epub 2023 May 12. PMID: 37182736.
  • McCune JS, Armenian SH, Nakamura R, Shan H, Kanakry CG, Mielcarek M, Gao W, Mager DE. Immunosuppressant adherence in adult outpatient hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2023 May 3:10781552231171607. doi: 10.1177/10781552231171607. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37134196.
  • Hill JA, Martens MJ, Young JH, Bhavsar K, Kou J, Chen M, Lee LW, Baluch A, Dhodapkar MV, Nakamura R, Peyton K, Shahid Z, Armistead P, Westervelt P, McCarty J, McGuirk J, Hamadani M, DeWolf S, Hosszu K, Sharon E, Spahn A, Toor AA, Waldvogel S, Greenberger LM, Auletta JJ, Horowitz MM, Riches ML, Perales MA. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in the first year after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant: a prospective, multicentre, observational study. EClinicalMedicine. 2023 May;59:101983. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101983. Epub 2023 Apr 27. PMID: 37128256; PMCID: PMC10133891.
  • Lee K, Shamunee J, Lindenfeld L, Ross E, Hageman L, Sedrak MS, Wong FL, Nakamura R, Forman SJ, Bhatia S, Armenian SH. Feasibility of implementing a supervised telehealth exercise intervention in frail survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation: a pilot randomized trial. BMC Cancer. 2023 May 1;23(1):390. doi: 10.1186/s12885-023-10884-5. PMID: 37127595; PMCID: PMC10150529.
  • Ngo D, Chen J, Tinajero J, Aribi A, Arslan S, Marcucci G, Nakamura R, Al Malki MM, Forman SJ, Dadwal S, Ali H. The impact of SARS-CoV2 vaccines on the incidence of graft versus host disease in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: a single-center retrospective study. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2023 Apr 18;14(1):95. doi: 10.1186/s13287-023-03326-3. PMID: 37072867; PMCID: PMC10112306.
  • *Saunthararajah Y, *Nakamura R (co-1st author), Nam JM, Robyn J, Loberiza F, Maciejewski JP, Simonis T, Molldrem J, Young NS, Barrett AJ. HLA-15 (DR2) is over-represented in myelodysplastic syndrome and aplastic anemia and predicts a response to immunosuppression in myelodysplastic syndrome. Blood. 2002 Sep 1;100(5):1570-4. PMID: 12176872
  • Hillmen P, Young NS, Schubert J, Brodsky RA, Socié G, Muus P, Röth A, Szer J, Elebute MO, Nakamura R, Browne P, Risitano AM, Hill A, Schrezenmeier H, Fu CL, Maciejewski J, Rollins SA, Mojcik CF, Rother RP, Luzzatto L. The complement inhibitor eculizumab in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. N Engl J Med. 2006 Sep 21;355(12):1233-43.PMID: 16990386
  • Nakamura R, Auayporn N, Smith DD, Palmer J, Sun JY, Schriber J, Pullarkat V, Parker P, Rodriguez R, Stein A, Rosenthal J, Wang S, Karanas C, Gaal K, Senitzer D, Forman SJ. Impact of graft cell dose on transplant outcomes following unrelated donor allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation: higher CD34+ cell doses are associated with decreased relapse rates. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2008 Apr;14(4):449-57.PMID: 18342788
  • *Rodriguez R, *Nakamura R (co-first author), Palmer JM, Parker P, Shayani S, Nademanee A, Snyder D, Pullarkat V, Kogut N, Rosenthal J, Smith E, Karanes C, O'Donnell M, Krishnan AY, Senitzer D, Forman SJ. Tacrolimus and Sirolimus as GVHD Prophylaxis for HLA-MRD Allogeneic HCT Conditioned with 3 Regimens. Blood. 2010 Feb 4;115(5):1098-105. Epub 2009 Nov 19. Erratum in: Blood. 2010 May 27;115(21):4318. PMID: 19965688
  • Nakamura R, La Rosa C, Tsai W, Lacey S, Srivastava T, Seidel A, Senitzer D, Forman SJ, Diamond DJ. Ex vivo detection of CD8 T cells specific for H-Y minor histocompatibility antigens in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Transpl Immunol. 2014 May;30(4):128-35. PMID: 24582729
  • Nakamura R, La Rosa C, Longmate J, Drake J, Slape C, Zhou Q, Lampa MG, O’Donnell M, Cai J, Farol L, Salhotra A, Snyder DS, Aldoss I, Forman SJ, Miller JS, Zaia JA, Diamond DJ. Viraemia, immunogenicity, and survival outcomes of cytomegalovirus chimeric epitope vaccine supplemented with PF03512676 (CMVPepVax) in allogeneic haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation: randomised phase 1b trial. Lancet Haematol. 2016 Feb;3(2):e87-98.
  • Aldoss I, Pham A, Li SM, Gendzekhadze K, Afkhami M, Telatar M, Hong H, Padeganeh A, Bedell V, Cao T, Khaled SK, Al Malki MM, Salhotra A, Ali H, Aribi A, Palmer J, Aoun P, Spielberger R, Stein AS, Snyder D, O'Donnell MR, Murata-Collins J, Senitzer D, Weisenburger D, Forman SJ, Pullarkat V, Marcucci G, Pillai R, Nakamura R. Favorable impact of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with therapy-related myelodysplasia regardless of TP53 mutational status. Haematologica. 2017 Sep 29. pii: haematol.2017.172544. doi: 10.3324/haematol. 2017.172544. PMID: 28971906
  • Armenian SH, Xiao M, Berano Teh J, Lee B, Chang HA, Mascarenhas K, Lee S, Iukuridze A, Xie JJ, Scott JM, Jones LW, Wong FL, Forman SJ, Nakamura R. Impact of sarcopenia on adverse outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019;111(8): djy231.
  • Aldoss I, La Rosa C, Baden LR, Longmate J, Ariza-Heredia EJ, Rida WN, Lingaraju CR, Zhou Q, Martinez J, Kaltcheva T, Dagis A, Hardwick N, Issa NC, Farol L, Nademanee A, Al Malki MM, Forman S, *Nakamura R (Co-Senior Author), *Diamond DJ; TRIPLEX VACCINE Study Group. Poxvirus Vectored Cytomegalovirus Vaccine to Prevent Cytomegalovirus Viremia in Transplant Recipients: A Phase 2, Randomized Clinical Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2020 Feb 11. doi: 10.7326/M19-2511. PMID: 32040960 
  • Nakamura R, Saber W,  Martens MJ, Ramirez A, Scott B, Oran B, Leifer E, Tamari R, Mishra A, Maziarz RT, McGuirk J, Westervelt P,  Vasu S, Patnaik, Kamble R, Forman SJ, Sekeres MA, Appelbaum F, Mendizabal A, Logan B, Horowitz M, Cutler C, on behalf of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network. A Biologic Assignment Trial of Reduced Intensity Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Based on Donor Availability in Patients Aged 50-75 with Advanced Myelodysplastic Syndrome. J Clin Oncol. In press

Ratings & Reviews

Ratings and reviews below are gathered from the Press Ganey Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS) survey. CG CAHPS is a standardized survey that is used to measure a patient's experience in the physician office setting. Ratings are an average of all responses to questions about a provider's care, with five stars being the highest.
5.0
Recommend this provider office
5.0
Provider explain in way you understand
5.0
Provider listen carefully to you
5.0
Know important info medical history
5.0
Show respect for what you say
5.0
Spend enough time with you
5.0
Rate provider 0-10
04/29/25
I would give Dr Nakamura an 11 on a scale of 1-10 and gladly recommend him to those in need of his expertise. - Verified patient
04/29/25
Once again the medical practice that Dr Nakamura offers is outstanding. I am under the impression that he is attempting to give me additional options that my already excellent doctors at [...], may not be able to do because of limitations because of my age. [...] - Verified patient
04/29/25
Dr Nakamura spent a significant amount of time with myself and my partner [...], during this conversation. This [...] follow up, as well as a pending one scheduled at the moment for [...], was impressive and informative. He has indicated that I may have options available with COH that may not be available in the future with [...]. This interests me greatly and I look forward to the [...] meeting with him to discuss further. Dr Nakamura spent a significant amount of time with me the video appt, and the information he shared regarding my unusual condition, has given me additional hope that new methods could be used to help me in my condition. - Verified patient
04/27/25
Dr. Nakamura was very kind and explained everything clearly. I was nervous about my first time at the hospital, but I was able to ask the doctor several questions and he listened to my concerns.I think he is a very good doctor. - Verified patient
04/25/25
He saved my life - Verified patient