Nataliya Buxbaum

MD
Hematologic Oncology

Cancers Treated:

Specializing In:

Immunometabolism Graft-versus-host disease Magnetic resonance imaging of cellular immunotherapy and cancer Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Translational research Cellular immunotherapy

Research Interests:

T-cell metabolism Cancer imaging and therapy Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Metabolic MRI Deuterium MRI X-nuclei MRI

About Nataliya Buxbaum

Biography:

I am a physician-scientist in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy. The primary goal of my translational research program is to elucidate mechanisms underlying immune barriers to successful HCT. GvHD is a prevalent and morbid complication of HCT that can affect multiple organs. By uncovering cellular metabolism switches within immune cells that are mediating GvHD, we are developing new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for this condition. Currently, clinical diagnosis of GvHD is challenging and is based on either subjective clinical findings and/or biopsies of the affected organs. To address this important clinical need, my group has developed a non-invasive and non-radioactive metabolic imaging method for GvHD. A clinical trial to test this novel diagnostic approach for HCT patients will soon be open to enrollment at Roswell Park. Metabolic imaging may allow objective and safe diagnosis of GvHD and visualization of therapeutic responses in vivo. Furthermore, pre-clinical testing of metabolic inhibitors to reprogram alloreactive immune cells in pre-clinical models has shown promising results and we are planning clinical trials to test these therapies in patients undergoing HCT.

Additionally, we are developing a non-radioactive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach for cancer and cellular immunotherapy. By using deuterated isotopes and their MRI detection we have been able to visualize tumors and immune cells without the use of radioactivity. A patent on this novel approach has been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark office in June 2023. A clinical trial to test this approach in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma will soon open at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Furthermore, dMRI may have applicability in imaging cellular immunotherapy products after they are infused and may allow visualization of their activation within the tumor microenvironment (TME). This may not only serve as a useful pre-clinical tool for developing the next generation of cellular therapies but may also be deployed for clinical prediction of early therapeutic responses to immunotherapy.

Lab member: Jill Duzen, PhD.

View the Buxbaum Lab

Positions

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Assistant Professor of Oncology
  • Department of Pediatric Oncology
  • Department of Immunology

Jacobs School Of Medicine And Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo

  • Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Background

Education and Training:

  • MD - Robert Wood Johnson - Rutgers Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ

Residency:

  • Pediatrics, Columbia Presbyterian Children’s Hospital of New York (CHONY), New York, NY

Fellowship:

  • Pediatric Hem/Onc Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins-NCI, NIH Combined Program, Bethesda, MD

Board Certification:

  • Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

Professional Memberships:

  • Member, UB Graduate Faculty
  • 2019-current - National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease: Treatment of Chronic GVHD Working Group member
  • 2015-2017 - Full scientific member of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Institutional Review Board (IRB)
  • 2013-current - Fellow, American Board of Pediatrics, Hematology-Oncology Sub-board
  • 2009-current - Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics (F.A.A.P)
  • 2009-current - American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) formerly ASBMT
  • 2009-current - American Society of Hematology (ASH)

Honors & Awards:

  • 2023-2024 Clinical Research Investigator-Initiated Studies Program (CRI-ISP) Award
  • 2022-2023 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Impact Award
  • 2020 - Cancer Imaging Highlight, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)
  • 2019 - Winner, Magnetic Moments 2019, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM)
  • 2018 - NIH Center for Cancer Research Federal Technology Transfer Award
  • 2014 - NIH chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease Multidisciplinary Team Recognition Award
  • 2014 - NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)
  • 2002-2003 - Research Scholars Program, Howard Hughes Medical Institute-NIH
  • 2000 - Summa Cum Laude Rider University

Research

Research Overview:

The Buxbaum Laboratory is focused on developing novel diagnostics and therapies for cancer and immunity, including bone marrow transplantation and cellular immunotherapies

Buxbaum Lab


Clinical Trials


Publications

Full Publications list on PubMed

Brender, J.R., Assmann, J.C., Farthing, D.E., Saito, K., Warrick, K.A., Maglakelidze, N., Larus, T., Merkle, H., Gress, R.E., Krishna, M.C., Buxbaum, N.P. In vivo deuterated water labeling followed by deuterium magnetic resonance imaging of xenografted tumors; accepted, Nature Scientific Reports, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2842420/v1

Nanjireddy, P.M., Olejniczak, S.H., Buxbaum, N.P. Targeting of chimeric antigen receptor T cell metabolism to improve therapeutic outcomes. Frontiers in Immunology, 2023, 14:1121565 (accepted); https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36999013/.

Buxbaum, N.P., Socie, G., Hill, G.R., MacDonald, K.P.A., Tkachev, V., Teshima, T., Lee, S.J., Ritz, J., Sarantopoulos, S., Luznik, L., Zeng, D., Paczesny, S., Martin, P.J., Pavletic, S.Z., Schultz, K.R., Blazar, B.R. Chronic GvHD NIH Consensus Project Biology Task Force: Evolving path to personalized treatment of chronic GvHD. Blood Advances, 2022 (in press); https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2022007611

Mhandire, K., Saggu, K., Buxbaum, N.P. Immunometabolic Therapeutic Targets of Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD). Metabolites, 2021, 11, 736; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo11110736.

Assmann, J.C., Farthing, D.E., Saito, K., Maglakelidze, N., Oliver, B.U., Warrick, K.A., Sourbier, C., Ricketts, C.J., Meyer, T.J., Pavletic, S.Z., Linehan, W.M., Krishna, M.C., Gress, R.E., Buxbaum, N.P. Glycolytic metabolism of pathogenic T cells early in disease enables metabolic 13C-MRI detection of GvHD. Blood, 2021, 137 (1): 126–137; https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020005770.

US Patent and Trademark Office patent, US 11,684,306. Buxbaum, N.P. (lead inventor) et al, “Stable water isotope labeling and magnetic resonance imaging for visualization of rapidly dividing cells”, issued June 27, 2023. 
https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/116843…