Dr. Yelena Y. Janjigian

Dr. Yelena Y. Janjigian is Chief of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she brings medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation specialists, dietitians, genetics counselors, pharmacists, and social workers into one morning conference so every patient starts the day with a unified treatment plan. Biopsy results, imaging, and symptom questionnaires appear on a shared dashboard that the team reviews before clinic opens, letting clinicians align systemic therapy schedules, nutritional support, and rehabilitation referrals in a single visit. Nurse navigators fluent in several languages arrange scans, telemedicine check-ins, and financial-counseling sessions during one phone call, reducing travel and administrative stress for families who live far from Manhattan. A secure mobile portal shows infusion dates, lab results, and direct-message links, inviting questions that receive rapid replies and building trust through transparency. This tightly choreographed workflow replaces fragmented referrals with coordinated care, giving each person a clear, compassionate roadmap from diagnosis through long-term surveillance.

 

Dr. Janjigian’s translational program focuses on biomarker-guided immunotherapy for stomach and esophageal cancers, testing how PD-1 blockade and HER2 targeting can work together to shrink tumors and prolong remission. In a flagship international study she demonstrated that adding pembrolizumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy improves disease control in HER2-positive gastric cancer; parallel correlative work links circulating tumor DNA, spatial-proteomic patterns, and radiographic response to refine risk-adapted dosing. Tissue and blood collected across these trials populate a living biobank that fuels laboratory discovery of resistance mechanisms and guides design of next-line combinations. Findings circulate quickly through open-access dashboards so community oncologists can adapt protocols without delay. By shortening the loop from bench insight to bedside application, her team offers participants therapies that evolve with their tumor’s biology while advancing knowledge for future patients.

 

Beyond laboratory discovery Dr. Janjigian serves as a global educator and advocate, mentoring fellows on ethical trial design, biomarker interpretation, and empathic communication while leading webinars that translate complex data into plain-language guidance for clinicians and patients. Collaborations with advocacy groups produce bilingual toolkits explaining molecular testing, nutrition during chemotherapy, and access to financial assistance. Podcast interviews and conference panels spotlight strategies for earlier gastric-cancer detection in underserved communities, encouraging primary-care partnerships that shorten time to diagnosis. Data-science trainees rotate through her program to apply machine-learning methods to radiomic and genomic datasets, generating insights that cycle back into protocol hypotheses. By weaving mentorship, public engagement, and policy work into daily practice, she builds a culture where new knowledge travels rapidly from academic hallways to living rooms worldwide, assuring families that their care team remains informed, transparent, and responsive.