As part of our “Meet Yale Internal Medicine” series, today’s featured physician is Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS, associate professor of medicine (hematology).
Growing up in Jordan, Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS, knew at a young age that he would pursue medicine. His mother bought me a stethoscope toy when he was young and pushed her son towards a career in science. She was actually his first teacher.
“My mother taught first grade,” said Zeidan. “And she says that I was the smartest kid she ever taught, but you will have to take that with a grain of salt,” he joked.
While undergoing medical school in Jordan, Zeidan would meet the patient that would guide his career. The eight year-old boy had Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive, rare cancer.
“He kept progressing on all the standard treatments,” said Zeidan. “We were able to help with his pain, but we couldn’t offer any investigation or clinical trial agents. It was very frustrating to me.”
Zeidan channeled his frustration into action, and began to hone the skills for what would be his life’s calling. He emigrated to the United States for residency in Rochester, N.Y.. He then continued to Baltimore, Md. for a fellowship in hematology/oncology, and a clinical research fellowship in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). He also completed a Master of Health Science degree in clinical investigation.
At this time, Yale School of Medicine’s (YSM) Section of Hematology was undergoing a transformation. The section was growing in size and scale. Zeidan was recruited to assist with building work in clinical trials within the section for blood cancers, to complement the already active work in solid tumors. His personal goal was to grow the trials to offer ‘promising agents’ for every patient.
“We wanted to give every patient the opportunity to get novel therapies and participate in trials without having to travel elsewhere,” said Zeidan. “I am proud to say that now we have a robust portfolio of clinical trials with cutting-edge compounds that we can offer our patients.”
Zeidan decided to work in MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) due to their limited therapy options. He was drawn to the challenge and is determined to make an impact.
Over the past two to three years, new drugs have been approved to treat AML, but Zeidan is concerned that many patients are still not receiving active treatment. With MDS, there are misperceptions about the disease itself, which presents its own set of challenges.
In addition to his work in clinical trials, Zeidan does effectiveness and outcomes research, which aims to understand how therapies translate into the real-life setting. Through his talks around the world, Zeidan urges that both MDS and AML patients should be considered for clinical trials from diagnosis to try and improve outcomes.
He admits the work can be emotionally draining, but Zeidan is inspired by the gratitude he receives from his patients and their families. He shared a story of a patient who recently passed away.
“When the leukemia progressed for one of my patients and he went to hospice, his daughter yesterday texted me that he wanted to call me to express how much that my help has been very impactful for him and his family,” explained Zeidan. “When you hear things like that, it really keeps you going. I tell my patients that I cannot promise you a cure, because nobody can, but I can promise you the best effort, and that is what I always stick by.”
Zeidan continues to work to develop novel therapies for MDS, AML, and other hematologic malignancies where he serves as the principal investigator on several clinical trials. His team is focusing on the use of immunotherapies including the immune checkpoint inhibitors to fight blood cancers.
Despite the challenges that these diseases present, he remains optimistic.
“Hopefully we can get to a point where we can cure almost all younger patients with AML and MDS. For older patients with these cancers, the hope is at least convert their malignancies into chronic diseases, almost like diabetes or hypertension. While you cannot cure these diseases, the patients can have long survival with good quality of life using a series of well tolerated and effective therapies with minimal complications. For a subset of older patients, I hope some can further achieve what I would call a functional cure, in which the patient can go off therapy, and be treatment free for years. I'm optimistic that the outcomes overall are definitely going in a better direction, but I think it's very important that we all keep pressing hard with clinical trials to continue to improve and maintain this momentum.”
The Section of Hematology is committed to advancing the science and practice of hematology by understanding the molecular basis of disease, and translating basic discoveries to the clinic. To learn more about the section, within YSM’s Department of Internal Medicine, visit Hematology.