Vamsidhar Velcheti, MD

It is an extremely gratifying experience to help patients and their families navigate through the complexities of cancer care. My patients’ stories of courage, resilience, and determination are a source of inspiration for me and my team to continually provide the highest quality of care.

As director of thoracic medical oncology at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, I specialize in treating patients who have thoracic malignancies, such as lung cancer and mesothelioma. Our team at Perlmutter Cancer Center offers patients the most advanced treatments, including immunotherapy and targeted therapy, and develops novel therapies through clinical trials.

Lung cancer is a complex disease and requires a group effort to meet the many needs of our patients. We have an outstanding team of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, and researchers at our Lung Cancer Center. This allows us to provide the best care for our patients and offer some of the most innovative treatment approaches in the form of clinical trials.

For me, conquering cancer means offering people hope and giving them new opportunities. It’s an incredible feeling to be part of a team that can make a difference in someone’s life. Over the last few years, we have seen a paradigm shift in our understanding of the biology of cancer. We are able to deliver personalized treatments for patients based on a better understanding of the genetic makeup of the patient’s tumor, which offers an improved chance of success. But I believe personalized medicine goes beyond just providing customized treatment plans—it involves understanding that patients may have varying physical, cognitive, and social needs. To meet every person’s unique needs and provide the best patient experience, it is important to consider the patient and caregiver’s circumstances as they cope with the diagnosis and begin treatment.

My research focuses on developing novel treatments called immunotherapy that can empower the patient’s immune system to fight cancer and discovering biomarkers to predict which patients could benefit from immunotherapy. I have lectured at national and international meetings and have been the recipient of several awards by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, including the Young Investigator Award in 2012, the Merit Award in 2013, and the Career Development Award in 2015.