Michael Robert Savona, M.D.

Professor

michael.savona@vanderbilt.edu
Faculty Appointments
Professor of Medicine
Education
M.D., Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North CarolinaB.A., Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
Office Address
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232
Publications
Steensma DP, Brunner AM, DeZern AE, Garcia-Manero G, Komrokji RS, Odenike OS, Roboz GJ, Savona MR, Stone RM, Sekeres MA. Low Clinical Trial Accrual of Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Causes and Potential Solutions. Cancer [print-electronic]. 2018 Oct 10/5/2018; PMID: 30289970, DOI: 10.1002/cncr.31769, ISSN: 1097-0142.

Bose P, Nazha A, Komrokji RS, Patel KP, Pierce SA, Al-Ali N, Sochacki A, Shaver A, Ma W, Su X, Daver NG, DiNardo CD, Garcia-Manero G, Loghavi S, Bueso-Ramos C, Kantarjian HM, Sekeres MA, Savona MR, Maciejewski JP, Verstovsek S. Mutational landscape of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm - unclassifiable (MDS/MPN-U). Blood [print-electronic]. 2018 Sep 9/21/2018; PMID: 30242087, PII: blood-2018-05-848473, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2018-05-848473, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Ramsey HE, Fischer MA, Lee T, Gorska AE, Arrate MP, Fuller L, Boyd KL, Strickland SA, Sensintaffar J, Hogdal LJ, Ayers GD, Olejniczak ET, Fesik SW, Savona MR. A Novel MCL-1 Inhibitor Combined with Venetoclax Rescues Venetoclax Resistant Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Cancer Discov [print-electronic]. 2018 Sep 9/5/2018; PMID: 30185627, PII: 2159-8290.CD-18-0140, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-18-0140, ISSN: 2159-8290.

Byrne M, Savani B, Savona MR. Leveraging JAK-STAT regulation in myelofibrosis to improve outcomes with allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplant. Ther Adv Hematol. 2018 Sep; 9(9): 251-9. PMID: 30210754, PMCID: PMC6130097, PII: 10.1177_2040620718786437, DOI: 10.1177/2040620718786437, ISSN: 2040-6207.

Savona MR, Kolibaba K, Conkling P, Kingsley EC, Becerra C, Morris JC, Rifkin RM, Laille E, Kellerman A, Ukrainskyj SM, Dong Q, Skikne BS. Extended dosing with CC-486 (oral azacitidine) in patients with myeloid malignancies. Am. J. Hematol [print-electronic]. 2018 Jul 7/17/2018; PMID: 30016552, DOI: 10.1002/ajh.25216, ISSN: 1096-8652.

Stein EM, Garcia-Manero G, Rizzieri DA, Tibes R, Berdeja JG, Savona MR, Jongen-Lavrenic M, Altman JK, Thomson B, Blakemore SJ, Daigle SR, Waters NJ, Suttle AB, Clawson A, Pollock R, Krivtsov A, Armstrong SA, DiMartino J, Hedrick E, Löwenberg B, Tallman MS. The DOT1L inhibitor pinometostat reduces H3K79 methylation and has modest clinical activity in adult acute leukemia. Blood [print-electronic]. 2018 Jun 6/14/2018; 131(24): 2661-9. PMID: 29724899, PII: blood-2017-12-818948, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2017-12-818948, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Savona MR, Pollyea DA, Stock W, Oehler VG, Schroeder MA, Lancet J, McCloskey J, Kantarjian HM, Ma WW, Shaik MN, Laird AD, Zeremski M, O'Connell A, Chan G, Cortes JE. Phase Ib Study of Glasdegib, a Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor, in Combination with Standard Chemotherapy in Patients with AML or High-Risk MDS. Clin. Cancer Res [print-electronic]. 2018 May 5/15/2018; 24(10): 2294-303. PMID: 29463550, PII: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2824, DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-2824, ISSN: 1078-0432.

Burris HA, Flinn IW, Patel MR, Fenske TS, Deng C, Brander DM, Gutierrez M, Essell JH, Kuhn JG, Miskin HP, Sportelli P, Weiss MS, Vakkalanka S, Savona MR, O'Connor OA. Umbralisib, a novel PI3Kd and casein kinase-1e inhibitor, in relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and lymphoma: an open-label, phase 1, dose-escalation, first-in-human study. Lancet Oncol [print-electronic]. 2018 Apr; 19(4): 486-96. PMID: 29475723, PII: S1470-2045(18)30082-2, DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30082-2, ISSN: 1474-5488.

Swords RT, Coutre S, Maris MB, Zeidner JF, Foran JM, Cruz J, Erba HP, Berdeja JG, Tam W, Vardhanabhuti S, Pawlikowska-Dobler I, Faessel HM, Dash AB, Sedarati F, Dezube BJ, Faller DV, Savona MR. Pevonedistat, a first-in-class NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor, combined with azacitidine in patients with AML. Blood [print-electronic]. 2018 Mar 3/29/2018; 131(13): 1415-24. PMID: 29348128, PMCID: PMC5909884, PII: blood-2017-09-805895, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2017-09-805895, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Strickland SA, Shaver AC, Byrne M, Daber RD, Ferrell PB, Head DR, Mohan SR, Mosse CA, Moyo TK, Stricker TP, Vnencak-Jones C, Savona MR, Seegmiller AC. Genotypic and clinical heterogeneity within NCCN favorable-risk acute myeloid leukemia. Leuk. Res [print-electronic]. 2018 Feb; 65: 67-73. PMID: 29310020, PMCID: PMC5856485, PII: S0145-2126(17)30617-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.leukres.2017.12.012, ISSN: 1873-5835.

Komrokji R, Garcia-Manero G, Ades L, Prebet T, Steensma DP, Jurcic JG, Sekeres MA, Berdeja J, Savona MR, Beyne-Rauzy O, Stamatoullas A, DeZern AE, Delaunay J, Borthakur G, Rifkin R, Boyd TE, Laadem A, Vo B, Zhang J, Puccio-Pick M, Attie KM, Fenaux P, List AF. Sotatercept with long-term extension for the treatment of anaemia in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: a phase 2, dose-ranging trial. Lancet Haematol [print-electronic]. 2018 Feb; 5(2): e63-e72. PMID: 29331635, PII: S2352-3026(18)30002-4, DOI: 10.1016/S2352-3026(18)30002-4, ISSN: 2352-3026.

Kantarjian HM, Roboz GJ, Kropf PL, Yee KWL, O'Connell CL, Tibes R, Walsh KJ, Podoltsev NA, Griffiths EA, Jabbour E, Garcia-Manero G, Rizzieri D, Stock W, Savona MR, Rosenblat TL, Berdeja JG, Ravandi F, Rock EP, Hao Y, Azab M, Issa JJ. Guadecitabine (SGI-110) in treatment-naive patients with acute myeloid leukaemia: phase 2 results from a multicentre, randomised, phase 1/2 trial. Lancet Oncol [print-electronic]. 2017 Oct; 18(10): 1317-26. PMID: 28844816, PMCID: PMC5925750, PII: S1470-2045(17)30576-4, DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30576-4, ISSN: 1474-5488.

Moyo TK, Savona MR. Therapy for Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia in a New Era. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2017 Oct; 12(5): 468-77. PMID: 28983777, PII: 10.1007/s11899-017-0408-8, DOI: 10.1007/s11899-017-0408-8, ISSN: 1558-822X.

Ragon BK, Savona MR. The Challenge of Treating Myelodysplastic Syndromes/Myeloproliferative Neoplasms. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2017 Jul; 17S: S37-S42. PMID: 28760301, PII: S2152-2650(17)30213-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.clml.2017.02.012, ISSN: 2152-2669.

Verstovsek S, Savona MR, Mesa RA, Dong H, Maltzman JD, Sharma S, Silverman J, Oh ST, Gotlib J. A phase 2 study of simtuzumab in patients with primary, post-polycythaemia vera or post-essential thrombocythaemia myelofibrosis. Br. J. Haematol [print-electronic]. 2017 Mar; 176(6): 939-49. PMID: 28220932, DOI: 10.1111/bjh.14501, ISSN: 1365-2141.

Mascarenhas JO, Talpaz M, Gupta V, Foltz LM, Savona MR, Paquette R, Turner AR, Coughlin P, Winton E, Burn TC, O'Neill P, Clark J, Hunter D, Assad A, Hoffman R, Verstovsek S. Primary analysis of a phase II open-label trial of INCB039110, a selective JAK1 inhibitor, in patients with myelofibrosis. Haematologica [print-electronic]. 2017 Feb; 102(2): 327-35. PMID: 27789678, PMCID: PMC5286940, PII: haematol.2016.151126, DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2016.151126, ISSN: 1592-8721.

Lee T, Bian Z, Zhao B, Hogdal LJ, Sensintaffar JL, Goodwin CM, Belmar J, Shaw S, Tarr JC, Veerasamy N, Matulis SM, Koss B, Fischer MA, Arnold AL, Camper DV, Browning CF, Rossanese OW, Budhraja A, Opferman J, Boise LH, Savona MR, Letai A, Olejniczak ET, Fesik SW. Discovery and biological characterization of potent myeloid cell leukemia-1 inhibitors [letter]. FEBS Lett [print-electronic]. 2017 Jan; 591(1): 240-51. PMID: 27878989, PMCID: PMC5381274, DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12497, ISSN: 1873-3468.

Moyo TK, Savona MR. Molecular Testing in Patients with Suspected Myelodysplastic Syndromes. Curr Hematol Malig Rep. 2016 Dec; 11(6): 441-8. PMID: 27734261, PII: 10.1007/s11899-016-0356-8, DOI: 10.1007/s11899-016-0356-8, ISSN: 1558-822X.

Steensma DP, Abedi M, Bejar R, Cogle CR, Foucar K, Garcia-Manero G, George TI, Grinblatt D, Komrokji R, Ma X, Maciejewski J, Pollyea DA, Savona MR, Scott B, Sekeres MA, Thompson MA, Swern AS, Nifenecker M, Sugrue MM, Erba H. Connect MDS/AML: design of the myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia disease registry, a prospective observational cohort study. BMC Cancer. 2016 Aug 8/19/2016; 16: 652. PMID: 27538433, PMCID: PMC4991094, PII: 10.1186/s12885-016-2710-6, DOI: 10.1186/s12885-016-2710-6, ISSN: 1471-2407.

Zhao Y, Liu Q, Acharya P, Stengel KR, Sheng Q, Zhou X, Kwak H, Fischer MA, Bradner JE, Strickland SA, Mohan SR, Savona MR, Venters BJ, Zhou MM, Lis JT, Hiebert SW. High-Resolution Mapping of RNA Polymerases Identifies Mechanisms of Sensitivity and Resistance to BET Inhibitors in t(8;21) AML. Cell Rep [print-electronic]. 2016 Aug 8/16/2016; 16(7): 2003-16. PMID: 27498870, PMCID: PMC4996374, PII: S2211-1247(16)30950-0, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.07.032, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Carreau N, Tremblay D, Savona M, Kremyanskaya M, Mascarenhas J. Ironing out the details of iron overload in myelofibrosis: Lessons from myelodysplastic syndromes. Blood Rev [print-electronic]. 2016 Apr 4/19/2016; PMID: 27106071, PII: S0268-960X(16)30011-X, DOI: 10.1016/j.blre.2016.04.003, ISSN: 1532-1681.

Greenplate AR, Johnson DB, Roussel M, Savona MR, Sosman JA, Puzanov I, Ferrell PB, Irish JM. Myelodysplastic Syndrome Revealed by Systems Immunology in a Melanoma Patient Undergoing Anti-PD-1 Therapy. Cancer Immunol Res [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar 3/10/2016; PMID: 26966176, PII: 2326-6066.CIR-15-0213, DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-15-0213, ISSN: 2326-6074.

Strickland SA, Mohan SR, Savona MR. Unfavorable-risk acute myeloid leukemia dissected. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 2016 Mar; 23(2): 144-9. PMID: 26825699, DOI: 10.1097/MOH.0000000000000225, ISSN: 1531-7048.

Sochacki AL, Fischer MA, Savona MR. Therapeutic approaches in myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative overlap syndromes. Onco Targets Ther. 2016; 9: 2273-86. PMID: 27143923, PMCID: PMC4844455, PII: ott-9-2273, DOI: 10.2147/OTT.S83868, ISSN: 1178-6930.

Mughal TI, Cross NC, Padron E, Tiu RV, Savona M, Malcovati L, Tibes R, Komrokji RS, Kiladjian JJ, Garcia-Manero G, Orazi A, Mesa R, Maciejewski JP, Fenaux P, Itzykson R, Mufti G, Solary E, List AF. An International MDS/MPN Working Group's perspective and recommendations on molecular pathogenesis, diagnosis and clinical characterization of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms. Haematologica. 2015 Sep; 100(9): 1117-30. PMID: 26341525, PMCID: PMC4800699, PII: haematol.2014.114660, DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2014.114660, ISSN: 1592-8721.

Savona MR, Malcovati L, Komrokji R, Tiu RV, Mughal TI, Orazi A, Kiladjian JJ, Padron E, Solary E, Tibes R, Itzykson R, Cazzola M, Mesa R, Maciejewski J, Fenaux P, Garcia-Manero G, Gerds A, Sanz G, Niemeyer CM, Cervantes F, Germing U, Cross NC, List AF, . An international consortium proposal of uniform response criteria for myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) in adults. Blood [print-electronic]. 2015 Mar 3/19/2015; 125(12): 1857-65. PMID: 25624319, PII: blood-2014-10-607341, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2014-10-607341, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Savona MR. Are we altering the natural history of primary myelofibrosis?. Leuk. Res [print-electronic]. 2014 Sep; 38(9): 1004-12. PMID: 24931396, PII: S0145-2126(14)00123-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.leukres.2014.04.012, ISSN: 1873-5835.

Laille E, Savona MR, Scott BL, Boyd TE, Dong Q, Skikne B. Pharmacokinetics of different formulations of oral azacitidine (CC-486) and the effect of food and modified gastric pH on pharmacokinetics in subjects with hematologic malignancies. J Clin Pharmacol [print-electronic]. 2014 Jun; 54(6): 630-9. PMID: 24374798, DOI: 10.1002/jcph.251, ISSN: 1552-4604.

Savona MR. Molecular monitoring and minimal residual disease in the management of chronic myelogenous leukemia. J Community Support Oncol. 2014 May; 12(5): 171-8. PMID: 24971427, ISSN: 2330-7749.

Savona MR, Saglio G. Identifying the time to change BCR-ABL inhibitor therapy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Acta Haematol [print-electronic]. 2013; 130(4): 268-78. PMID: 23949495, PII: 000353163, DOI: 10.1159/000353163, ISSN: 1421-9662.

Carter CC, McNamara LA, Onafuwa-Nuga A, Shackleton M, Riddell J, Bixby D, Savona MR, Morrison SJ, Collins KL. HIV-1 utilizes the CXCR4 chemokine receptor to infect multipotent hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Cell Host Microbe. 2011 Mar 3/17/2011; 9(3): 223-34. PMID: 21402361, PMCID: PMC3102232, PII: S1931-3128(11)00039-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2011.02.005, ISSN: 1934-6069.

Brown AW, Savona MR. CD9 phones home with a TEM of its own. Blood. 2011 Feb 2/10/2011; 117(6): 1775-6. PMID: 21310932, PII: 117/6/1775, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2010-11-320077, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Larochelle A, Savona M, Wiggins M, Anderson S, Ichwan B, Keyvanfar K, Morrison SJ, Dunbar CE. Human and rhesus macaque hematopoietic stem cells cannot be purified based only on SLAM family markers. Blood [print-electronic]. 2011 Feb 2/3/2011; 117(5): 1550-4. PMID: 21163926, PMCID: PMC3318774, PII: blood-2009-03-212803, DOI: 10.1182/blood-2009-03-212803, ISSN: 1528-0020.

Carter CC, Onafuwa-Nuga A, McNamara LA, Riddell J, Bixby D, Savona MR, Collins KL. HIV-1 infects multipotent progenitor cells causing cell death and establishing latent cellular reservoirs. Nat. Med [print-electronic]. 2010 Apr; 16(4): 446-51. PMID: 20208541, PMCID: PMC2892382, PII: nm.2109, DOI: 10.1038/nm.2109, ISSN: 1546-170X.

Cooper S, Giles FJ, Savona MR. Overcoming resistance in chronic myelogenous leukemia. Leuk. Lymphoma. 2009 Nov; 50(11): 1785-93. PMID: 19883308, PII: 10.3109/10428190903267559, DOI: 10.3109/10428190903267559, ISSN: 1029-2403.

McGregor BA, Brown AW, Osswald MB, Savona MR. The use of higher dose clofarabine in adults with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Am. J. Hematol. 2009 Apr; 84(4): 228-30. PMID: 19260120, DOI: 10.1002/ajh.21365, ISSN: 1096-8652.

Savona M, Talpaz M. Getting to the stem of chronic myeloid leukaemia. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 2008 May; 8(5): 341-50. PMID: 18385684, PII: nrc2368, DOI: 10.1038/nrc2368, ISSN: 1474-1768.

Savona MR, Silver SM. Erythropoietin-stimulating agents in oncology. Cancer J. 2008 Mar; 14(2): 75-84. PMID: 18391611, PII: 00130404-200803000-00002, DOI: 10.1097/PPO.0b013e31816a5f51, ISSN: 1528-9117.

Savona MR, Cruz WP, Thornton JA, Danaher PJ. Comparison of a semipermeable dressing bonded to an absorbent pad and a semipermeable dressing over a separate gauze pad for containment of vaccinia virus at the vaccination site. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol [print-electronic]. 2007 Dec; 28(12): 1339-43. PMID: 17952843, PII: ICHE2007259, DOI: 10.1086/523277, ISSN: 0899-823X.

Savona M, Talpaz M. Chronic myeloid leukemia: changing the treatment paradigms. Oncology (Williston Park, N.Y.). 2006 Jun; 20(7): 707-11; discussion 712. PMID: 16841795, PII: 164571, ISSN: 0890-9091.

Savona MR, Dela Cruz WP, Jones MS, Thornton JA, Xia D, Hadfield TL, Danaher PJ. Detection of vaccinia DNA in the blood following smallpox vaccination [letter]. JAMA. 2006 Apr 4/26/2006; 295(16): 1898-900. PMID: 16639047, PII: 295/16/1898, DOI: 10.1001/jama.295.16.1898, ISSN: 1538-3598.