Nirali N. Shah, MD, MHS
- Academic Title: Faculty Member
- Primary Appointment: Pediatrics
- Additional Title: Director, Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cell and Gene Therapy Program University of Maryland Golisano Children’s Hospital; Associate Director for Translational Research, University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Email: Nirali.Shah@som.umaryland.edu
- Location: 110 S. Paca Street, 9th Floor
- Phone (Primary): 410-328-2955
Education and Training
Education and Training:
- 1997-2000 B.S. (Secondary Education in Chemistry), University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
- 2000-2004 M.D., University of Illinois, College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- 2010-2012 MHSc, (Clinical Research) Duke University-National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- 2004-2005 Internship, Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program, Boston, MA
- 2005-2008 Resident, Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program, Boston, MA
- 2007-2008 Chief Resident, Harvard Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program, Boston MA
- 2009-2013 Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD and National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, MD
- 2013-2015 Clinical Fellow, Advanced Studies Program in Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Branch, NCI, Bethesda, MD
- 2020-2021 NCI Senior Executive Enrichment and Development (SEED) Training
- 2020-2021 American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Leadership Course
- 2024-2025 Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Fellow
Biosketch
Dr. Shah is a physician-scientist and Professor and Director for the Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cell and Gene Therapy program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Golisano Children’s Hospital. She is also the Associate Director for Translational Research at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her primary research interests focus on translation of immunotherapeutic approaches to treat high-risk hematologic malignancies in children, adolescents and young adults, including in patients who have experience relapsed after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Her clinical trials focus on exploring and optimizing novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell based strategies and other antibody-based therapies to target surface proteins found on leukemia cells to improve outcomes for chemotherapy refractory disease. Additional areas of expertise include pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in both malignant and non-malignant diseases, development of early phase clinical trials in pediatric oncology, and ethical considerations for inclusion of minors in research. Through more recent efforts, she has focused on exploring the biology of CAR T-cell toxicities, with a specific interest in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)-like manifestations. She is also Dr. Shah received her M.D. in 2004 from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. She subsequently completed a dual residency program in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Harvard Combined Residency program and trained jointly at the Children’s Hospital Boston and Massachusetts General Hospital, during which time she also served as Chief Resident. She then joined the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Fellowship joint training program between the National Cancer Institute, Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB) and Johns Hopkins University. She joined the faculty at NIH in 2013 and led the Hematologic Malignancies Section in the POB, was appointed as an NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in 2019 and received tenure in 2025. Additional training has included obtaining a Master of Health Science in Clinical Research through the joint NIH-Duke University School of Medicine
Research/Clinical Keywords
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Acute leukemia; Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult oncology
Highlighted Publications
Additional Publications
Awards and Affiliations
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2024 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Frank A. Oski Memorial Lectureship
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2025 NCI Director’s Award for Translational Science-Scientific
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2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
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2026 Outstanding New Investigator Award, American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
Professional Activity
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Editor-in-Chief at Pediatric, Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Journal, https://pedayajournal.com/
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Vice Chair, Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC)
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2024-2025 Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine
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Member of:
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American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
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American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
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American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology
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American Society of Hematology
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Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium