Joshua Brody, MD ’00

2009 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award Recipient

After graduating from Stony Brook, Dr. Brody performed his internship and residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and then moved on to Stanford University Medical Center as a post-doctoral research fellow in immunology and clinical fellow in medical oncology. Dr. Brody remains at Stanford today as an instructor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology.

He has made a name for himself with his work in making cancer vaccines more powerful by combining them with stem cell transplants. After overcoming significant hurdles, Dr. Brody was granted FDA approval for his investigational new drug. Patients travel from around the country to participate in his immunotransplant clinical trial for mantle cell lymphoma. Dr. Brody recalls the day he received FDA approval as hands down the most important one of his career. “An administrator left a blue post-it note on my desk that read, ‘The FDA called. No call back needed. You’re OK.'”

His work has attracted recognition and awards, including a clinical investigator career development award from the Lymphoma Research Foundation of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America. In August, he was granted a prestigious K99/R00 National Cancer Institute “Pathway to Independence Award,” a five-year grant to continue studying “Immunotransplant for the Treatment of Lymphoma.”

While Dr. Brody is engaged in highly respected molecular and clinical research in novel therapies, classmate Konstantin Zakashansky, MD ’00 points out, “What his resume cannot convey is the exceptional devotion and compassion he offers to his patients.” Patients appreciate his skills as a physician as well as his ability to connect. He’s known for giving the attention and time to answer patients’ questions and for his ability to make them laugh – a skill he honed working as a stand-up comedian during his student days. One grateful patient treated by Dr. Brody believes that having him involved in her care has made “living with lymphoma – even on the darkest of days – seem possible.”

For Dr. Brody, making a difference in the lives of patients is gratifying. “Being selected Outstanding Recent Graduate is a great honor,” says Dr. Brody, “especially in view of the School’s growing roster of notable alumni. I’ve kept in touch with Dr. Zakashansky, whose research in lymphangiogensis in ovarian cancer is well known. I’ve kept in touch with Dr. Zeitlin, a foremost infectious disease specialist. The list goes on. Because of the positive memories and the great esteem I hold for Stony Brook, I guess it’s just nice to know the feeling is mutual.”