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Memorial Sloan Kettering Hematologic Oncologist Saad Z. Usmani

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, MBA, FACP, FASCO

Myeloma Specialist & Cellular Therapist

My Role at MSK

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
  • Smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM)
  • Multiple myeloma and other plasma-cell diseases

My Specialties

  • Bone marrow transplant
  • CAR T Cell Therapy
  • Immunotherapy
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Dr. Usmani's Office Information
Languages: English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu
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About Me

What I Do at MSK
  • Chief, Myeloma Service
Get To Know Me

I am a hematologist-oncologist specializing in the care of patients with multiple myeloma and other disorders affecting plasma cells (the cells that produce the antibodies that protect us against infection). I treat patients who have received a diagnosis of multiple myeloma or a diagnosis of another plasma cell disorder, such as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), smoldering myeloma, or amyloidosis. Many of the patients I see have a disease that has been deemed hard to treat or high risk.

A blood cancer diagnosis dramatically changes the trajectory of a patient’s life. I am acutely aware of the impact that I have on a patient’s cancer treatment journey and am passionate about having the opportunity to make a difference in my patients’ lives. Throughout my 14-plus years of caring for patients with multiple myeloma and plasma cell disorders, my patients and their family members have always been the most important people in the room for me. It is my responsibility to educate my patients with relevant information about their disease, alleviate their concerns at each stage in the process, and develop a treatment plan that best befits their individual needs. This is not a responsibility that I take lightly. I am committed to making each of my patients feel comforted in the expertise of their care team and empowered by the information provided to them.

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Recent advances in immunotherapy (a type of cancer treatment that uses a patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells in much the same way that it attacks bacteria or viruses) and small molecule therapy are helping to change the outlook for patients with multiple myeloma and other plasma cell disorders. I am excited by the prospect of developing new therapeutic strategies for the treatment and management of these diseases and have been involved with the clinical development of several therapies approved by the FDA for patients with multiple myeloma and other blood cancers.

In addition to novel therapies, my research also centers on the use of minimal residual disease (MRD) testing to guide treatment decisions, developing new approaches for patients with high-risk disease, and establishing methods to recognize patients whose disease will progress from an early precursor disease that does not require treatment to an active disease that does.

Outside of the clinic and the lab, I can likely be found training for a race or an endurance event to raise moneys for cancer research. My most memorable fundraisers so far have been the Mount Everest Base Camp trek in 2018, the Boston Marathon in 2019, and the recently completed 2021 New York City Marathon.

My Role at MSK

A myeloma specialist is a doctor with special training in diagnosing and treating myeloma.

A cellular therapy specialist is a doctor with special training in using cell therapies to treat health conditions such as cancer. Therapies can include chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
  • Smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM)
  • Multiple myeloma and other plasma-cell diseases
  • Light chain (AL) amyloidosis

My Specialties

  • Bone marrow transplant
  • CAR T Cell Therapy
  • Immunotherapy
  • Cellular therapy
Education & Honors

Education

  • MBBS, Allama Iqbal Medical College

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - Sinai-Grace Hospital/Wayne State University

Awards and Honors

  • Board Member of the International Myeloma Society (2023)
  • LLS Scholar in Clinical Research Award (2017-2022)
  • Celgene Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research in Hematology (2018)
  • Vice-Chair, ASH Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia (2019)
  • Chair, ASCO Educational Program Committee on Plasma Cell Disorders (2019)
  • Chair, ASH Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia (2020)
  • Chair, ASCO Educational Program Committee on Plasma Cell Disorders (2021)
  • Vice-Chair, SWOG Barlogie-Salmon Myeloma Committee (2020-present)
  • Multiple Myeloma Excellence in Clinical Research Award, COMy Congress (2020)
  • Bart Barlogie Young Investigator Award in Clinical and Translational Research, 18th International Myeloma Workshop, Vienna, Austria (2021)
  • Career Development Achievement Award, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (2022)
  • Chair, ALLIANCE Myeloma Committee (2022-present)
  • Fellow, Royal College of Physicians UK (2023-present)
  • Board Member, International Myeloma Society (2023-2027)
  • Fellow, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2024-present)

Fellowships

  • Hematology & Medical Oncology - University of Connecticut Health Center

Board Certifications

  • ABIM Internal Medicine, Hematology & Medical Oncology

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA and NYC retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

See updates

Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO, DSN

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

See updates

Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

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Contact and Location

Dr. Usmani sees patients at two locations.

Office Phone
Location
Montvale, NJ
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen
225 Summit Avenue Montvale NJ 07645
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David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
530 East 74th Street New York NY 10021
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Cellular Therapy Service doctors

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Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

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Research and Publications

Usmani SZ, Heuck C, Mitchell A, Szymonifka J, Nair B, Hoering A, Alsayed Y, Waheed S, Haider S, Restrepo A, Van Rhee F, Crowley J, Barlogie B. Extramedullary disease portends poor prognosis in multiple myeloma and is over-represented in high-risk disease even in the era of novel agents. Haematologica. 2012 Nov;97(11):1761-7. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2012.065698. Epub 2012 Jun 11. PMCID: PMC3487453

Usmani SZ, Mitchell A, Waheed S, Crowley J, Hoering A, Petty N, Brown T, Bartel T, Anaissie E, van Rhee F, Barlogie B. Prognostic implications of serial 18-fluoro-deoxyglucose emission tomography in multiple myeloma treated with total therapy 3. Blood. 2013 Mar 7;121(10):1819-23. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-08-451690. Epub 2013 Jan 10. PMCID: PMC3591801.

Usmani SZ, Weiss BM, Plesner T, Bahlis NJ, Belch A, Lonial S, Lokhorst HM, Voorhees PM, Richardson PG, Chari A, Sasser AK, Axel A, Feng H, Uhlar CM, Wang J, Khan I, Ahmadi T, Nahi H. Clinical efficacy of daratumumab monotherapy in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Blood. 2016 Jul 7;128(1):37-44. doi: 10.1182/blood-2016-03-705210. Epub 2016 May 23. PMCID: PMC4937359.

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Bhutani M, Zhang Q, Friend R, Voorhees PM, Druhan LJ, Barlogie B, Sonneveld P, Morgan GJ, Symanowski JT, Avalos BR, Copelan EA, Usmani SZ. Investigation of a gene signature to predict response to immunomodulatory derivatives for patients with multiple myeloma: an exploratory, retrospective study using microarray datasets from prospective clinical trials. Lancet Haematol. 2017 Sep;4(9):e443-e451. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(17)30143-6.

Usmani SZ, Hoering A, Cavo M, Miguel JS, Goldschimdt H, Hajek R, Turesson I, Lahuerta JJ, Attal M, Barlogie B, Lee JH, Kumar S, Lenhoff S, Morgan G, Rajkumar SV, Durie BGM, Moreau P. Clinical predictors of long-term survival in newly diagnosed transplant eligible multiple myeloma - an IMWG Research Project. Blood Cancer J. 2018 Nov 23;8(12):123. doi: 10.1038/s41408-018-0155-7. PMCID: PMC6251924.

Facon T, Kumar S, Plesner T, Orlowski RZ, Moreau P, Bahlis N, Basu S, Nahi H, Hulin C, Quach H, Goldschmidt H, O’Dwyer M, Perrot A, Venner CP, Weisel K, Mace JR, Raje N, Attal M, Tiab M, Macro M, Frenzel L, Leleu X, Ahmadi T, Chiu C, Wang J, Van Rampelbergh R, Uhlar CM, Kobos R, Qi M, Usmani SZ; MAIA Trial Investigators. Daratumumab plus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone for Untreated Myeloma. N Engl J Med. 2019 May 30;380(22):2104-2115. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1817249.

Usmani SZ, Nahi H, Mateos MV, van de Donk NWCJ, Chari A, Kaufman JL, Moreau P, Oriol A, Plesner T, Benboubker L, Hellemans P, Masterson T, Clemens PL, Luo M, Liu K, San-Miguel J. Subcutaneous delivery of daratumumab in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Blood. 2019 Aug 22;134(8):668-677. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019000667. Epub 2019 Jul 3. PMCID: PMC6754719.

Dimopoulos M, Quach H, Mateos MV, Landgren O, Leleu X, Siegel D, Weisel K, Yang H, Klippel Z, Zahlten-Kumeli A, Usmani SZ. Carfilzomib, dexamethasone, and daratumumab versus carfilzomib and dexamethasone for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (CANDOR): results from a randomised, multicentre, open-label, phase 3 study. Lancet. 2020 Jul 18;396(10245):186-197. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30734-0. Erratum in: Lancet. 2020 Aug 15;396(10249):466.

Usmani SZ, Hoering A, Ailawadhi S, Sexton R, Lipe B, Hita SF, Valent J, Rosenzweig M, Zonder JA, Dhodapkar M, Callander N, Zimmerman T, Voorhees PM, Durie B, Rajkumar SV, Richardson PG, Orlowski RZ; SWOG1211 Trial Investigators. Bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone with or without elotuzumab in patients with untreated, high-risk multiple myeloma (SWOG-1211): primary analysis of a randomised, phase 2 trial. Lancet Haematol. 2021 Jan;8(1):e45-e54. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(20)30354-9. Epub 2020 Dec 22.

Berdeja JG, Madduri D, Usmani SZ, Jakubowiak A, Agha M, Cohen AD, Stewart AK, Hari P, Htut M, Lesokhin A, Deol A, Munshi NC, O’Donnell E, Avigan D, Singh I, Zudaire E, Yeh TM, Allred AJ, Olyslager Y, Banerjee A, Jackson CC, Goldberg JD, Schecter JM, Deraedt W, Zhuang SH, Infante J, Geng D, Wu X, Carrasco-Alfonso MJ, Akram M, Hossain F, Rizvi S, Fan F, Lin Y, Martin T, Jagannath S. Ciltacabtagene autoleucel, a B-cell maturation antigen-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (CARTITUDE-1): a phase 1b/2 open-label study. Lancet. 2021 Jul 24;398(10297):314-324. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00933-8. Epub 2021 Jun 24. Erratum in: Lancet. 2021 Oct 2;398(10307):1216.

Usmani SZ, Garfall AL, van de Donk NWCJ, Nahi H, San-Miguel JF, Oriol A, Rosinol L, Chari A, Bhutani M, Karlin L, Benboubker L, Pei L, Verona R, Girgis S, Stephenson T, Elsayed Y, Infante J, Goldberg JD, Banerjee A, Mateos MV, Krishnan A. Teclistamab, a B-cell maturation antigen × CD3 bispecific antibody, in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MajesTEC-1): a multicentre, open-label, single-arm, phase 1 study. Lancet. 2021 Aug 21;398(10301):665-674. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01338-6. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Usmani’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Saad Z. Usmani discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • AbbVie
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Genzyme
    Professional Services and Activities
  • GlaxoSmithKline
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Gracell Biotechnologies Ltd.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Janssen Biotech, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Merck & Co Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Novartis
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Pfizer, Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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