William Kelly, MD

Dr. Kelly is a medical oncologist specializing in neuro-oncology and thoracic oncology. As an early clinical investigator, he is focused on bringing novel therapies from the bench to the bedside. His interest in translational research began during his postbaccalaureate training at the National Cancer Institute. As the recipient of a research training award, he investigated the Trim 32 and Carp-1 genes in the myc apoptotic pathways while honing basic laboratory skills such as DNA extraction, PCR amplification and sequencing. As his capstone project at Georgetown School of Medicine, he returned to NIH in the Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology to conduct genetic analysis on a case of suspected Reifenstein syndrome.

His scope broadened to include clinical research during his residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. There he analyzed more than 2,000 patients to identify high-risk women for referral to breast cancer prevention and early detection services. This project fostered an appreciation for the need for better prognostic biomarkers in oncology. After residency, he continued training as an oncology fellow at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. He was struck by the devastation caused by these malignancies of the central nervous system, diseases that seemed to deprive these patients of even the most vital and intrinsic functions. At the same time, he had become fascinated by the limited understanding of neuro-physiology and the immune sanctuary effect of the blood-brain barrier. He resolved to dedicate his work to the translation of basic scientific discoveries into efficacious therapeutics for these patients. During his third year of medical oncology fellowship, he trained in the laboratory of Translational Immunology at the National Cancer Institute, where he gained experience in flow cytometry and developed a protocol to investigate the impact of corticosteroids on patients with CNS tumors treated with checkpoint inhibitors. After this, he completed a yearlong neuro-oncology fellowship to facilitate the study’s completion as a lead associate investigator and to gain additional expertise in the care of rare CNS malignancies. As an assistant professor at  UT Health San Antonio, he hopes to shed light on promising neuro-oncologic biomarkers and immunotherapeutics.