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Dr. Marco Davila is a medical oncologist in the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. His clinical focus is utilizing cell therapies to treat patients with hematologic malignancies. He obtained his MD and PhD degrees at the Duke University School of Medicine and trained in medicine and medical oncology at NY Presbyterian Weill-Cornell and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, respectively. He is a clinical expert with significant experience with gene-engineered T cell therapies that are revolutionizing cancer therapy. It is Dr. Davila’s goal to translate innovative laboratory development for the benefit of patients at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Davila’s research has been acknowledged with grants and/or awards from the American Society of Hematology, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Education & Training
Board Certification:
- Medical Oncology
Fellowship:
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - Medical Oncology
Residency:
- New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center - Medicine
Medical School:
- Duke University - MD
CLINICAL TRIAL 17263
Phase I Trial of ex-vivo Expanded Donor Regulatory T Cells for Prevention of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: FK506 (Tacrolimus); Rapamune (Sirolimus); Rapamycin (Sirolimus); Sirolimus; Tacrolimus
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18374
A Phase II Trial Evaluating the use of a Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Panobinostat for Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) Prevention
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Not Applicable; Panobinostat (LBH589)
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18814
A Multi-Center, Phase II Trial of HLA-Mismatched Unrelated Donor Bone Marrow Transplantation with Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide for Patients with Hematologic Malignancies
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: busulfan; cyclophosphamide; cytoxan (cyclophosphamide); fludarabine (Fludarabine phosphate)
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 17790
A Randomized Phase II Study of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation with Tadalafil and Lenalidomide Maintenance with or without Activated Marrow Infiltrating Lymphocytes (MILs) in High Risk Myeloma
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Alkeran (Melphalan); CC-5013 (Lenalidomide); Lenalidomide (Revlimid); Marrow Infiltrating Lymphocytes (MILs); Melphalan; Tadalafil
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18766
A Calcineurin Inhibitor-Free GVHD Prevention Regimen After Related Haploidentical Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Cellcept (Mycophenolate Mofetil); Mycophenolate Mofetil; Rapamune (Sirolimus); Rapamycin (Sirolimus); Sirolimus; busulfan; cyclophosphamide; cytoxan (cyclophosphamide); fludarabine (Fludarabine phosphate)
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18664
A Phase 2, Multi-Center Study of High Dose Chemotherapy with Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Followed by Maintenance Therapy with Romidepsin for the Treatment of T cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Alkeran (Melphalan); Carmustine; Cytarabine (Cytosine Arabinoside); FK228 (Romidepsin); Melphalan; Romidepsin; etoposide
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18763
A Randomized, Phase II, Multicenter, Open Label, Study Evaluating Sirolimus and Prednisone in Patients with Refined Minnesota Standard Risk, Ann Arbor 1/2 Confirmed Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Rapamune (Sirolimus); Rapamycin (Sirolimus); Sirolimus; prednisone
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18783
A Phase I/II GVHD Prevention Trial Combining Pacritinib With Sirolimus-Based Immune Suppression
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Alkeran (Melphalan); FK506 (Tacrolimus); Melphalan; Pacritinib; Rapamune (Sirolimus); Rapamycin (Sirolimus); Sirolimus; Tacrolimus; busulfan; fludarabine (Fludarabine phosphate)
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18950
A Phase I/Ib Study of Ipilimumab or Nivolumab in Patients with Relapsed Hematologic Malignancies after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: BMS-936558 (Nivolumab); Nivolumab
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 19089
Optimizing Cord Blood and Haploidentical Aplastic Anemia Transplantation (CHAMP)
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Thymoglobulin; cyclophosphamide; cytoxan (cyclophosphamide); fludarabine (Fludarabine phosphate)
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 19119
A Single-Cohort, Phase 2 Study of Ruxolitinib in Combination With Corticosteroids for the Treatment of Steroid-Refractory Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: Jakafi (Ruxolitinib); Methylprednisolone; Ruxolitinib; prednisone
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 18964
Randomized Double-Blind Phase III Study of Ibrutinib During and Following Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Versus Placebo in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma of the Activated B-cell Subtype
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: 748645 (Ibrutinib); Ibrutinib (Imbruvica); PCI-32765 (Ibrutinib); Placebo
Open
CLINICAL TRIAL 19143
A Randomized, Multi-Center, Phase III Trial of Calcineurin Inhibitor-Free Interventions for Prevention of Graft-versus Host-Disease
Condition: Malignant Hematology
Intervention: ATG; Alkeran (Melphalan); FK506 (Tacrolimus); MESNA; Melphalan; Tacrolimus; busulfan; cyclophosphamide; cytoxan (cyclophosphamide); fludarabine (Fludarabine phosphate); methotrexate
Open
If you believe you are eligible for one of these trials or studies, please call
1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488).
- Betts BC, Pidala J, Kim J, Mishra A, Nishihori T, Perez L, Ochoa-Bayona JL, Khimani F, Walton K, Bookout R, Nieder M, Khaira DK, Davila M, Alsina M, Field T, Ayala E, Locke FL, Riches M, Kharfan-Dabaja M, Fernandez H, Anasetti C. IL-2 promotes early Treg reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Haematologica. 2017 May;102(5):948-957. Pubmedid: 28104702. Pmcid: PMC5477614.
- Locke FL, Davila ML. Regulatory challenges and considerations for the clinical application of CAR-T cell anti-cancer therapy. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2017 Jun;17(6):659-661. Pubmedid: 28454503.
- Sallman DA, Davila ML. Is Disease-Specific Immunotherapy a Potential Reality for MDS?. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2017 Jul;17S:S26-S30. Pubmedid: 28760299.
- Ghosh A, Smith M, James SE, Davila ML, Velardi E, Argyropoulos KV, Gunset G, Perna F, Kreines FM, Levy ER, Lieberman S, Jay HV, Tuckett AZ, Zakrzewski JL, Tan L, Young LF, Takvorian K, Dudakov JA, Jenq RR, Hanash AM, Motta AC, Murphy GF, Liu C, Schietinger A, Sadelain M, van den Brink MR. Donor CD19 CAR T cells exert potent graft-versus-lymphoma activity with diminished graft-versus-host activity. Nat Med. 2017 Feb;23(2):242-249. Pubmedid: 28067900. Pmcid: PMC5528161.
- Li G, Park K, Davila ML. Gammaretroviral Production and T Cell Transduction to Genetically Retarget Primary T Cells Against Cancer. Methods Mol Biol. 2017 Feb;1514:111-118. Pubmedid: 27787796.
- Davila ML, Brentjens RJ. CD19-Targeted CAR T cells as novel cancer immunotherapy for relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol. 2016 Oct;14(10):802-808. Pubmedid: 27930631. Pmcid: PMC5536094.
- Abate-Daga D, Davila ML. CAR models: next-generation CAR modifications for enhanced T-cell function. Mol Ther Oncolytics. 2016 May;3:16014. Pubmedid: 27231717. Pmcid: PMC4871190.
- Davila ML, Sadelain M. Biology and clinical application of CAR T cells for B cell malignancies. Int J Hematol. 2016 Jul;104(1):6-17. Pubmedid: 27262700. Pmcid: PMC5512169.
- Oluwole OO, Davila ML. At The Bedside: Clinical review of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for B cell malignancies. J Leukoc Biol. 2016 Dec;100(6):1265-1272. Pubmedid: 27354412.
- Bouhassira DC, Thompson JJ, Davila ML. Using gene therapy to manipulate the immune system in the fight against B-cell leukemias. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2015 Mar;15(3):403-416. Pubmedid: 25666545. Pmcid: PMC4586131.
- Davila ML, Papapetrou EP. CARs Move To the Fast Lane. Mol Ther. 2014 Mar;22(3):477-478. Pubmedid: 28141992. Pmcid: PMC3944338.
- Davila ML, Riviere I, Wang X, Bartido S, Park J, Curran K, Chung SS, Stefanski J, Borquez-Ojeda O, Olszewska M, Qu J, Wasielewska T, He Q, Fink M, Shinglot H, Youssif M, Satter M, Wang Y, Hosey J, Quintanilla H, Halton E, Bernal Y, Bouhassira DC, Arcila ME, Gonen M, Roboz GJ, Maslak P, Douer D, Frattini MG, Giralt S, Sadelain M, Brentjens R. Efficacy and toxicity management of 19-28z CAR T cell therapy in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Sci Transl Med. 2014 Feb;6(224):224ra25. Pubmedid: 24553386. Pmcid: PMC4684949.
- Davila ML, Bouhassira DC, Park JH, Curran KJ, Smith EL, Pegram HJ, Brentjens R. Chimeric antigen receptors for the adoptive T cell therapy of hematologic malignancies. Int J Hematol. 2014 Apr;99(4):361-371. Pubmedid: 24311149. Pmcid: PMC4684946.
- Davila ML, Kloss CC, Gunset G, Sadelain M. CD19 CAR-targeted T cells induce long-term remission and B Cell Aplasia in an immunocompetent mouse model of B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. PLoS One. 2013 Oct;8(4):e61338. Pubmedid: 23585892. Pmcid: PMC3621858.
- Davila ML, Hofstetter WL. Endoscopic management of Barrett's esophagus with high-grade dysplasia and early-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma. Thorac Surg Clin. 2013 Nov;23(4):479-489. Pubmedid: 24199698.
- Brentjens RJ, Davila ML, Riviere I, Park J, Wang X, Cowell LG, Bartido S, Stefanski J, Taylor C, Olszewska M, Borquez-Ojeda O, Qu J, Wasielewska T, He Q, Bernal Y, Rijo IV, Hedvat C, Kobos R, Curran K, Steinherz P, Jurcic J, Rosenblat T, Maslak P, Frattini M, Sadelain M. CD19-targeted T cells rapidly induce molecular remissions in adults with chemotherapy-refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Mar;5(177):177ra38. Pubmedid: 23515080. Pmcid: PMC3742551.
- Davila ML, Brentjens R. Chimeric antigen receptor therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia: what are the challenges?. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2013 Apr;27(2):341-353. Pubmedid: 23561477. Pmcid: PMC3615434.
- Davila ML, Brentjens R, Wang X, Rivière I, Sadelain M. How do CARs work?: Early insights from recent clinical studies targeting CD19. Oncoimmunology. 2012 Dec;1(9):1577-1583. Pubmedid: 23264903. Pmcid: PMC3525612.
- Brentjens RJ, Rivière I, Park JH, Davila ML, Wang X, Stefanski J, Taylor C, Yeh R, Bartido S, Borquez-Ojeda O, Olszewska M, Bernal Y, Pegram H, Przybylowski M, Hollyman D, Usachenko Y, Pirraglia D, Hosey J, Santos E, Halton E, Maslak P, Scheinberg D, Jurcic J, Heaney M, Heller G, Frattini M, Sadelain M. Safety and persistence of adoptively transferred autologous CD19-targeted T cells in patients with relapsed or chemotherapy refractory B-cell leukemias. Blood. 2011 Nov;118(18):4817-4828. Pubmedid: 21849486. Pmcid: PMC3208293.
- Lieberman AE, Kuraoka M, Davila M, Kelsoe G, Cowell LG. Conserved cryptic recombination signals in Vkappa gene segments are cleaved in small pre-B cells. BMC Immunol. 2009 Jun;10:37. Pubmedid: 19555491. Pmcid: PMC2711918.
- Davila M, Liu F, Cowell LG, Lieberman AE, Heikamp E, Patel A, Kelsoe G. Multiple, conserved cryptic recombination signals in VH gene segments: detection of cleavage products only in pro B cells. J Exp Med. 2007 Dec;204(13):3195-3208. Pubmedid: 18056287. Pmcid: PMC2150985.
- Cowell LG, Davila M, Ramsden D, Kelsoe G. Computational tools for understanding sequence variability in recombination signals. Immunol Rev. 2004 Aug;200:57-69. Pubmedid: 15242396.
- Cowell LG, Davila M, Kepler TB, Kelsoe G. Identification and utilization of arbitrary correlations in models of recombination signal sequences. Genome Biol. 2003 Jun;3(12). Pubmedid: 12537561. Pmcid: PMC151174.
- Cowell LG, Davila M, Yang K, Kepler TB, Kelsoe G. Prospective estimation of recombination signal efficiency and identification of functional cryptic signals in the genome by statistical modeling. J Exp Med. 2003 Jan;197(2):207-220. Pubmedid: 12538660. Pmcid: PMC2193808.
- Davila ML, Sauter C, Brentjens R. CD19-Targeted T Cells for Hematologic Malignancies: Clinical Experience to Date. Cancer J. 21(6):470-474. Pubmedid: 26588678. Pmcid: PMC4656120.
