Dr. Samer Al-Homsi, an internationally known leader in hematology, has been appointed as system chief of blood and marrow transplant and cellular therapy at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, which treats more New York residents for cancer than any other provider in the state.

He will also serve as director of faculty and academic affairs in medical oncology at the Cancer Institute.

In his new position, Al-Homsi’s clinical responsibilities include treating people with blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and benign bone marrow failures disorders with a focus on blood and marrow transplant and cellular therapy. As system chief, he will oversee the growth of the cancer institute’s existing Blood and  Marrow Transplant Program and guide the transfer of the inpatient units and facilities from North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset to Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, the home of the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital, the only cancer hospital on Long Island.

“Dr. Al-Homsi is a distinguished clinical investigator and leader whose expertise will rapidly expand our ability to provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary care within our Blood and  Marrow Transplant Program and facilitate the development of novel cellular therapies to treat patients with both hematologic and solid tumor malignancies,” said Dr. Richard Barakat, physician-in-chief and executive director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute. “His expertise and vision will be critical to the growth of the Northwell Cancer Institute and the integration of our Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program as a central element of the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Hospital. In addition, he will continue to lead cutting-edge research, working with the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research to make the therapies he provides both safer and more effective.”

Prior to joining Northwell, Al-Homsi served as executive director of transplantation and cellular therapy at the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health for seven years, where he was professor of medicine at New York University, Grossman School of Medicine.

Throughout a career spanning nearly three decades, Al-Homsi’s cutting-edge research has achieved notable progress in his field of expertise. His research is focused on innovations in the prevention of graft versus host disease following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

His research has been supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, Millennium Pharmaceutical and Spectrum Health.

In his position, Al-Homsi will participate in clinical research at Northwell’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, with which Northwell has a strategic affiliation. He will also hold an academic title of professor of medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

Al-Homsi has served on the editorial boards of Frontiers of Immunology, Clinical Hematology International, the Journal of Experimental Hematology, the Austin Journal of Clinical Immunology, Stem Cells International and the Journal of Disease Markers. He has been an active member of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, serving on its clinical standards subcommittee, clinical outcomes improvement committee and functioning as a lead inspector. He also is a founding member of the International Academy for Clinical Hematology and American Arab Assembly of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.

He is currently the president of AAACTT. Al-Homsi has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, books, book chapters and abstracts.

Al-Homsi earned his MD degree at the University of Damascus in Syria and obtained post-doctoral training in hematology and clinical cancerology at the University of Tours and Paris VI in France.

He completed his internal medicine residency at Advocate Health and hematology and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Massachusetts.