Ravi B. Patel, MD, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, specializing in the study and treatment of skin, breast, and genitourinary malignancies. Dr. Patel maintains an active, translational research laboratory.
Dr. Patel is board-certified in radiation oncology. He completed a combined MD/Ph.D. program at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Patel received both his masters and doctoral degrees in Biomedical Engineering under the mentorship of Dr. Agata Exner and he published 10 manuscripts over the course of his graduate training. Upon completion of medical school, he completed a preliminary medicine internship at Akron General Medical Center followed by a residency in radiation oncology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. During his residency, Dr. Patel received several honors including the RSNA Roentgen Resident Research Award and the ABS HDR Brachytherapy Scholarship and he was invited to participate in the 2016 AACR Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology Workshop. After residency, Dr. Patel joined the Department of Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin where he was a Benston Translational Research Fellow. During this time, Dr. Patel received several grants and awards for his work including the RSNA Research Fellow Grant, ASCO Young Investigator Award, Immuno-oncology Young Investigator’s Forum Abstract Presentation Award, and an Abstract Travel Award for Society of Immunotherapy in Cancer. Based on his fellowship work, Dr. Patel received an NIH KO8 career development award and joined the faculty at Hillman Cancer Center as a physician-scientist. Dr. Patel has published over 35 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 2 book chapters, and presented over 75 abstracts at national meetings.
Education & Training
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, MD
- Case Western Reserve University, Biomedical Engineering, PhD
- Residency: University Hospitals of Cleveland, Radiation Oncology
Representative Publications
Patel RB, Hernandez R, Carlson P, Grudzinski J, Bates AM, Jagodinsky JC, Erbe A, Marsh IR, Arthur I, Aluicio-Sarduy E, Sriramaneni RN, Jin WJ, Massey C, Rakhmilevich AL, Vail D, Engle JW, Le T, Kim K, Bednarz B, Sondel PM, Weichert J, Morris ZS. Low-dose targeted radionuclide therapy renders immunologically cold tumors responsive to immune checkpoint blockade. Sci Transl Med 2021 Jul14;13(602):eabb3631. PMID: 34261797
Carlson PM, Mohan M, Patel RB, Birstler J, Nettenstrom L, Sheerar D, Fox K, Rodriguez M, Hoefges A, Hernandez R, Zahm C, Kim K, McNeel DG, Weichert J, Morris ZS, Sondel PM. Optimizing flow cytometric analysis of immune cells in samples requiring cryopreservation from tumor-bearning mice. J Immonol. 2021 Jul 15;207(2):720-734. PMID: 34261667
Bates AM, Brown RJ, Pieper AA, Zangl LM, Arthur I, Carlson PM, Le T, Sosa GA, Clark PA, Sriramaneni RN, Kim K, Patel RB, Morris ZS. Combination of Bempegaldesleikin and Anti-CTLA-4 Prevents Metastatic Dissemination After Primary Resection or Radiotherapy in a Preclinical Model of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Front Oncol. 2021 Apr15;11:645352. PMID: 33937052
Carlson PM, Mohan M, Rodriguez M, Subbotin V, Sun CX, PAtel RB, Birstler J, Hank JA, Rakmilevich AL, Morris ZS, Erbe AK, Sondel PM. Depth of tumor implatation affects response to in situ vaccination in a syngeneic murine melanoma model. J Immunother Cancer 2021 April;9(4):e002107. PMID: 33858849
Research Interests
The broad goal of Dr. Patel’s research focus is to utilize radiation therapy to immunomodulate the tumor microenvironment to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy treatments in solid tumors. His lab works on translational research first in preclinical models to optimize dosing, timing, and efficacy of combination treatments with the goal of translating these findings in the lab to early phase clinical trials in patients. His lab hopes to use data gathered in a laboratory setting to gain mechanistic insights into how radiation interacts with tumor cells as well as a patient’s immune system. The ultimate goal of this work is to design treatments that will result in improved patient survival and eventual cures in cancer patients with metastatic disease. In particular, Dr. Patel’s lab focuses on the development of targeted radionuclide therapies that can deliver immunomodulatory radiation to all sites of disease in patients with metastatic cancer to stimulate an anti-tumor immune response and enhance the efficacy of standard immunotherapy treatments in resistant tumors.
Research Grants
K08CA241319 07/01/19-6/30/24
NCI
Utilization of molecular targeted radioisotopes to prime immune responses at local and distant metastatic tumor sites
Goals: The aims of this proposal look to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy treatments in preclinical models of metastatic immunologically “cold” tumors that don’t respond to traditional systemic immunotherapy such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI, e.g. anti-CTLA4, anti-PD1) and most closely resembles our current target patient population today in whom we are trying to improve outcomes.