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Alessandro Santin, MD

Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences; Clinical Research Team Leader, Gynecologic Oncology, Yale Cancer Center; Co-Chief, Section of Gynecologic Oncology

Contact Information

Alessandro Santin, MD

Office Location

Mailing Address

  • Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences

    PO Box 208063

    New Haven, CT 06520-8063

    United States

Research Summary

Dr. Santin is a skilled gynecologic oncologist and talented clinical scientist who has a strong background in training and mentoring talented young physician-scientists. Dr. Santin’s research and clinical accomplishments have been published in high-impact journals in the cancer research field, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Proceeding of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), The Journal of Clinical Investigations, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and the Journal of Virology, while numerous additional publications have been reported in subspecialty journals.

Dr. Santin’s translational research program in gynecologic cancers has been funded multiple times by federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), the National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as private National and International Foundations. His research program spans a range from basic studies in molecular cancer genetics and tumor immunology to translational clinical cancer research testing novel immunotherapeutic strategies and targeted compounds in vivo for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies.

Specialized Terms: Mutational landscape of gynecologic tumors; Personalized treatment modalities, Therapeutic vaccine development for gynecologic malignancies; Tumor immunology; Immunotherapy; Tumor angiogenesis; Radiation biology; Experimental therapeutics in gynecologic oncology

Extensive Research Description

Dr. Santin is a skilled gynecologic oncologist and talented clinical scientist who has a strong background in training and mentoring talented young physician-scientists. He has been involved in the training of 50 post-doctoral fellows, including Gynecologic Oncology, Medical Oncology and Surgical Oncology Fellows, the majority of whom have gone on to academic careers in the U.S. and abroad in Gynecologic Oncology and cancer research.

Dr. Santin’s research and clinical accomplishments have been published in high-impact journals in the cancer research field, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, and the Journal of Virology, while numerous additional publications have been reported in subspecialty journals. Dr. Santin’s translational research program in ovarian cancer has been funded multiple times by federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), the National Institute of Health (NIH) as well as private National and International Foundations. He is currently funded by NIH to evaluate the potential use of Clostridium Perfringens Enterotoxin (CPE) as a novel therapy against chemotherapy resistant ovarian carcinoma.

His research program spans a range from basic studies in molecular cancer genetics and tumor immunology to translational clinical cancer research testing novel immunotherapeutic strategies and targeted compounds in vivo for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies. Dr. Santin is an active member of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) and the International Gynecological Cancer Society (IGCS), the two largest organizations of gynecologic oncologists in the world. He is a member of the GOG Developmental Therapeutics Committee, a national Committee that reviews multi-site concepts/protocols to be implemented at nationwide level by the GOG funded by the NIH and he is Chairman for the entire GOG of multiple Phase II clinical studies testing novel biologic agents in patient harboring gynecologic malignancies.

Dr. Santin has initiated and completed multiple investigator’s initiated FDA approved clinical trials in gynecologic cancer patients using novel immunotherapeutic strategies developed and characterized in his own laboratory. Dr Santin 's bench-to-bedside research work in uterine serous carcinoma (USC), one of the most biologically aggressive and lethal variant of endometrial cancer, has established a new standard of care for patients with both advanced and recurrent USC harboring c-erbB2 gene amplification (ie, carboplatin/paclitaxel/trastuzumab is now included in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, which are widely recognized and used as the standard for clinical policy in oncology by both clinicians and payers, as the preferred regimen for the treatment of women with HER2+, advanced or recurrent USC).

Dr. Santin also serves as peer reviewer for a number of journals including Lancet, Nature Medicine, Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, International Journal of Cancer, British Journal of Cancer, Gynecologic Oncology, International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Journal of Immunotherapy, International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, BMC Cancer, Cancer Detection & Prevention, Molecular Cancer Research, Cancer, Cancer Biology & Therapy, Reproductive Sciences.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Genital Neoplasms, Female; Gynecology; Immunotherapy; Neoplasms, Experimental; Ovarian Neoplasms

Selected Publications

Clinical Trials