Joseph A. Sparano, MD

Joseph A. Sparano, MD, FACP is the Ezra M. Greenspan, M.D. Professor in Clinical Cancer Therapeutics, Chief of the Division of Hematology Oncology, and Deputy Director of the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He is a graduate of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at the City College of New York, and New York Medical College.

Dr. Sparano has led several major NCI-funded trials that have shaped the landscape of breast cancer therapy and clinical practice guidelines, including the TAILORx trial which demonstrated the clinical utility of using the 21-gene Oncotype DX Recurrence Score to guide adjuvant chemotherapy use, and the ECOG E1199 trial which demonstrated that adjuvant weekly paclitaxel improved survival in early breast cancer. He played a leading role in developing the RSClin decision aid that is now widely used in clinical practice.  He also reported one of first studies demonstrating the potential role of liquid biopsies for predicting late breast cancer recurrence years after diagnosis.

Dr. Sparano’s work has been devoted to addressing cancer disparities in vulnerable populations. He has contributed to work showing higher rates of taxane-induced neuropathy in black women and genetic variants associated with this risk, leading to new strategies to reduce the risk of developing this complication. He has also led work that demonstrating racial disparities in outcome for black women with ER+ breast cancer, and is initiating efforts to address this disparity. He also leads the NCI-funded AIDS Malignancy Consortium that includes 39 sites in the U.S. Africa, and Latin America that is evaluating novel cancer screening, prevention, and treatment strategies. His prior work contributed to improving treatment outcomes for patients with HIV infection and lymphoma, Kaposi Sarcoma, and anal carcinoma.

Dr. Sparano has been continuously funded as a principal investigator by NCI since 2001 via a variety of award mechanisms, including a UG1-funded minority underserved NCORP site at Montefiore/Einstein (from 2014-2021), N01-funded New York Cancer Consortium (from 2005-2011), and UM1-funded AIDS Malignancy Consortium (from 2020-present). He has also received funding from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, V Foundation, Komen Foundation, and American Cancer Society. Other notable awards include the Eastern Cooperative Group Young Investigator Award in 2001, the Montefiore Health System Presidential Award in 2017, and the Alliance Charles Moertel Award in 2019, the AACR William L. McGuire Award in 2019, and the ASCO Gianni Bonadonna Award in 2021.