Hematologist Ankur Varma, M.D., Joins UAMS Stem Cell Transplant, Cellular Therapy Team
| Ankur Varma, M.D.,MPH, has joined the Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Team in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where he is treating patients with blood cancer.
Board-certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology, Varma joins Arkansas’ only adult stem cell transplant and cellular therapy program at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. It also is the first and only hospital in Arkansas approved to provide CAR T-cell therapy, a revolutionary new therapy for certain types of lymphoma.
“Dr. Varma is a great addition to our growing stem cell and cellular therapy transplant team at UAMS,” said Michael Birrer, the Cancer Institute’s director and UAMS vice chancellor. “He is impeccably trained at MD Anderson and Baylor and joins a very experienced team that sees about 300 new patients per year.”
Varma is accepting new patients. To make an appointment, please call (501) 296-1200.
In addition to treating patients with blood cancer, Varma is trained in the treatment of bone marrow disorders, genetic diseases, bleeding disorders and solid tumors. He also serves associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine.
Before joining UAMS, Varma was an assistant professor of bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy at Rush University in Chicago. He completed a fellowship in stem cell transplant and cellular therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center and hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas (UT) Health Sciences Center and a Master of Public Health at the UT School of Public Health. Varma received bachelor’s degrees in medicine and surgery at West Bengal University of Health Sciences in Kolkaka, India.
In 2018, Baylor College of Medicine named Varma an Outstanding Oncology Fellow.
Varma is a member of the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, the American College of Physicians and the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. He serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of Transplantation and is a journal reviewer for Blood Advances, the Biology of Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Journal, European Journal of Hematology, Oncotargets and Therapy. He has published extensively and is a well-known researcher in the field of hematological malignancy, stem cell transplant and cellular therapy. He has a been a principal investigator for both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials.