Dr. Kamalesh Sanghla, M.D.
Kamalesh Kumar Sankhala, M.D. is Associate of Sarcoma Medical
Oncology and Medical Director Clinical Research at the California
Cancer Center and Sarcoma Oncology Center.
Previously, he was clinical faculty at University of Texas Health
Science Center and Clinical Investigator at Institute for Drug Development (IDD) in San
Antonio. He was also a team leader for the Sarcoma program at University of Texas Health
Science Center. Prior to joining as faculty in division of oncology and hematology, Dr.
Sankhala finished his residency and fellowship from University of Texas Health Science
Center and spent two years of additional fellowship in Oncology Drug Development research
where he mastered the various facets of development of novel therapeutics at the prestigious
Institute for Drug Development (IDD) in San Antonio. Founded by Dr. Daniel Van Hoff, IDD
is widely recognized for being the largest Oncology drug development research program in the
United States.
And has set unprecedented standards for the development of novel anti-cancer agents, playing
a pivotal role in the preclinical and clinical development of about 22 new cancer drugs that
were subsequently approved by the FDA. Having trained in such an esteemed institute for the
development of novel drugs, Dr. Sankhala’s evolution as a physician has led him to
translational research of novel anti-cancer agents, studying and evaluating the pre-clinical and
clinical implications of these agents in patients with advanced cancers.
His clinical expertise includes management of patients with advanced malignancies with novel
anticancer drugs as well the optimizing of existing chemotherapeutic agents by reducing
toxicities and increasing efficacy, ultimately yielding better responses to chemotherapy. He has
an extensive clinical research background, having served as the principal investigator as well
as sub-investigator in about 80 Phase-1 clinical trials in addition to sarcoma studies. Dr.
Sankhala’s clinical practice and research primarily focuses on the adroit management of
patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas, lung cancers in addition to other solid tumors and
hematological malignancies. He is the recipient of American Society of Clinical Oncology
Foundation Merit Award and AACR-NCI scholarship for Molecular Biology in Clinical
Oncology.