Lakshmi Nayak, MD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Neurology

PCNSL Study Results & New Clinical Trials

Dr. Lakshmi Nayak serves as Director of the Center for CNS Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She received her medical degree at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, India. She completed her residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Cornell, and fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her research includes development of novel therapies through preclinical and clinical studies for management of primary brain tumors including glioblastoma and primary central nervous system lymphoma, with particular focus on molecular targeted agents and immunotherapeutics, including CAR T-cell therapy. She leads the international neurologic assessment in neuro-oncology (NANO) effort for evaluation of neurologic function in patients with brain tumors.

Christian Grommes, MD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Neuro-Oncologist & Early Drug Development Specialist

The EIFEL Trial for Refractory/Recurrent CNS Lymphoma

Dr. Grommes is a neuro-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) who cares for patients with brain tumors and neurologic complications of cancer. He specializes in adult primary brain tumors, including glioblastomas, anaplastic gliomas, low-grade gliomas, meningiomas, and ependymomas as well as metastases to the nervous system from cancers outside the brain. He is particularly interested in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and is currently conducting basic research to uncover genetic abnormalities in PCNSL to better understand and treat the disease.

He is an early drug development specialist, which is a scientist who tests new drugs to treat cancer. He has special training in research studies, also known as clinical trials.

Introducing Dr. Grommes

Cameron Lilly, PhD

Medical Science Liaison - Belay Diagnostics

Diagnostic Testing for CNS Tumors

Cameron L. Lilly, PhD earned his PhD In molecular virology and was then introduced to the challenges of rare diseases and cancers during his post-doctoral research on oncolytic virotherapy. From his post-doc, he entered industry to leverage his passion for strong science and science communication in a sales role at Cell Signaling Technology, where he developed his commercial acumen. From there, the clear patient need lead to him joining the liquid biopsy space first as a Scientific Affair Liaison then as an MSL for cell-based and cell-free technologies for monitoring and characterizing cancer. He brings his 5+ years of experience in liquid biopsy and interfacing in the health care space with HCPs and KOLs to the team at Belay, where he has joined as MSL to bring his passion for cutting edge and patient-centered medical science to the challenging field of CNS tumors.

Dr. Ahmed Hamdy

Chief Medical Officer - Curis

The TakeAim Lymphoma Clinical Trial

Dr. Hamdy is Chief Medical Officer of Curis, joining the Company in May 2025. Prior to joining Curis, he served as CEO and Chairman of the board of directors of Vincerx Pharma, Inc. Prior to Vincerx, Dr. Hamdy co-founded Acerta Pharma, LLC, and served as its CEO and CMO. Before Acerta, Dr. Hamdy was CMO of Pharmacyclics, Inc. Dr. Hamdy is an Adjunct Professor at University of California Santa Cruz Department of Biomolecular Engineering and is a member of the Dean’s Council of the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Hamdy received his MBBCH from the KasrAlainy School of Medicine at the University of Cairo, Egypt.

Shreya Prakash

EBCI Patient/Caregiver and Clinical Trial Navigation Services

In this segment of the End Brain Cancer Initiative’s “New Developments in PCNSL Treatments” webinar, Clinical Research Coordinator/Patient Navigator Shreya Prakash shares how EBCI supports patients and caregivers through free one-on-one guidance in their Direct Connect Program. She introduces EBCI’s Patient Resource Center, which offers fact sheets on immunotherapy side effects, clinical trials, and practical tips. Shreya also explains how to access these resources online and how to request help by filling out a short Patient Inquiry Form. Support is available nationwide by phone, email, text, Zoom, or in-person at EBCI’s Redmond, WA office. For help:

Visit www.endbraincancer.org
Email shreya@endbraincancer.org
Call/Text 425-436-8688

Interested in sponsoring the End Brain Cancer Initiative's 2026 New Developments in PCNSL Treatments event? This annual online event allows members of the PCNSL cancer community to hear directly from top experts in the field about new research, clinical trials, treatments, devices, advanced diagnostics, and more. 

Your support will have a positive impact on the distribution, reach, and success of this event. Your company will benefit from the awareness and reach in promoting the event and the lasting patient disease educational post-videos that are created from this online webinar for each presentation.