Address:
Division of Oncology
Mail Stop 8056-0029-11
Washington University
660 South Euclid Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
Room 11309, Mid Campus Center (office)
Admin:
Annalise Seger
segera@wustl.edu
- Global oncology
- Clinical trials in resource-limited settings
- Cancer in people living with HIV
- Immunotherapy and targeted therapy for virus-associated cancers
- Implementation science
Dr. Thomas Odeny’s career vision in Global Oncology is to address gaps in cancer care by translating research advances to practical and scalable cancer programs in low-resource settings in the U.S. and in Africa through high-quality direct patient care and clinical/translational and implementation research.
His clinical research interest is broadly focused on reducing disparities in eligibility for immunotherapy clinical trials and expanding treatment options for cancer in people living with HIV. He is studying the effect of CD4+ T cell count on treatment-emergent adverse events and survival among patients with and without HIV receiving immunotherapy for advanced cancer. This work led to an ASCO Merit Award (2021).
As an ASCO Global Oncology Young Investigator Awardee, Dr. Odeny is also studying the association between Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) subtypes and clinical severity of disease in patients with KSHV-associated diseases (KAD) in North America and Africa. This will be among the first studies to evaluate KSHV subtype and cytokine profiles as predictors of survival in patients with KAD such as Kaposi sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and KSHV-associated multicentric Castleman disease. By integrating patient clinical characteristics with KSHV genomic analyses, this study will provide a platform for understanding diseases that disproportionately affect low-income, stigmatized, and marginalized communities globally, and are therefore understudied to date.
He is also interested in leading patient and clinician education initiatives in global oncology with plans to establish a formal program in Global Oncology within the WUSTL Global Health Center in the Institute for Public Health. This will be a platform for training of a new generation of globally-oriented physicians who will advance scientific discovery for underserved populations with cancer globally. This will be an important step toward sustaining the potential spread of emerging cancer prevention and therapeutic strategies globally and make a lasting impact.
Prior to pivoting to a career in Global Oncology, Dr. Odeny was in-country PI or co- investigator for multiple NIH-funded trials, including 3 NIH R01s. These trials studied the application implementation science to promote engagement in the HIV care cascade, and the use of technological innovations to support HIV prevention and treatment efforts. There is a growing recognition that urgent research is needed to find optimal approaches for the translation of efficacious clinical interventions into effective and appropriately scaled programs in the global response to cancer and HIV. As such, Dr. Odeny is interested in leveraging his expertise in implementation science to the growing academic field of global oncology.
Biosketch
Education
- 2022-2020: Clinical Fellow, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
- 2020-2017: Resident, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO
- 2016-2013: PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- 2014-2013: University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs Graduate Certificate
- 2013-2012: Senior Fellow/Post-Graduate Fellow, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Seattle, WA
- 2012-2011: Clinical Research Fellow, NIH/Fogarty International Center
- 2011-2009: MPH, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
- 2006-2001: MBChB, University of Nairobi, Kenya (equivalent of MD degree)
Academic Positions
- present-2022: Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Board Certification
- present-2023: American Board of Internal Medicine, Board Certified in Medical Oncology
- present-2020: American Board of Internal Medicine, Board Certified in Internal Medicine
Honors & Awards
- 2022: Global Oncology Young Investigator Award – Conquer Cancer, The ASCO Foundation
- 2022, 2021: Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, NIH Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program
- 2021: ASCO Conquer Cancer Merit Award, 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting
- 2020: Certificate of Global Research Excellence – Kenya Medical Research Insitute 40th Anniversary
- 2020: Sirridge Award in Recognition of Outstanding Humanistic Qualities – University of Missouri-Kansas City Internal Medicine Residency Program
- 2019: Travel Award – UMKC School of Medicine, Annual Vijay Babu Rayudu Quality and Patient Safety Day
- 2018: New Investigator Award – Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
- 2018: Gold Humanism Society Inductee – School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City
- 2017: Young Investigator Award – Kenya National AIDS Control Council
- 2015: People’s Choice Award – Africa Regional Meeting on Digital Health, Lilongwe, Malawi
- 2015: Young Researcher Award, Emerging Research Talen – UNESCO/Merck Africa Research Summit
- 2015: International Mentored Scientist Award – Center for AIDS Research, UCSF
- 2013: New Investigator Nominee – UW/FHCRC CFAR Sub-Saharan Africa Working Group
- 2013: UW/FHCRC CFAR Developmental Core Trainee Support Grant (Travel Award)
- 2012: Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellowship
- 2012: Young Investigator Award, 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
- 2012: Outstanding Student Award – Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington
- 2011: Travel Scholarship, NIH mHeath Winter Institute – Foundation for the NIH
- 2011: Nominee, Top 11 in 2011 mHeatlth Innovators Challenge, Rockefeller Foundation and mHealth Alliance
Professional Societies & Organizations
- present-2020: American Society of Hematology
- present-2018: American Society of Clinical Oncology
- present-2017: American College of Physicians
- present-2013: International AIDS Society
- present-2006: Licensed Medical Practitioner, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council