Samik Upadhaya

Samik Upadhaya, Ph.D., is the assistant director of scientific affairs at the Cancer Research Institute. He is passionate about harnessing the full potential of scientific advances in cancer immunotherapy to help patients live better, longer lives. Together with the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator team, he leads the program’s scientific diligence efforts, including analyses of emerging trends and challenges in the global cancer immunotherapy landscape. He assists in the team’s collaborative ventures, clinical trial design, drug development plan, and maintenance of immuno-oncology landscape databases. He is also involved in all of CRI’s research programs, and closely follows the research done by CRI grantees, evaluating their potential contributions to the field as a whole.

Prior to joining CRI, Samik completed his doctoral studies in Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Columbia University where he focused on investigating the spatiotemporal dynamics of blood and immune cell production. Following his Ph.D., he pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship at New York University School of Medicine where he developed new techniques to visualize and analyze in-vivo behaviors of stem cells of the immune system. He also received his M.S. in Chemistry and a dual B.S. (summa cum laude) in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences from Central Michigan University.

When not at his desk, real or virtual, Samik enjoys the great outdoors and can be found running, biking, or hiking.