I am a board-certified hematologist and oncologist with special expertise in using hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cell transplantation to treat adults with hematologic malignancies. I am part of a group of hematologists and transplant specialists who work together in a coordinated and collaborative manner to provide our patients with the best cancer care. My particular interest is in using cord blood as a source of blood-forming stem cells for transplantation in patients who lack a suitably matched sibling or unrelated donor, or who are in need of an urgent transplant. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, cord blood transplantation has made it possible for more patients — particularly those from racial or ethnic minorities — to undergo transplantation. As a clinical researcher, I am investigating new strategies to make transplantation safer and more effective. These include the use of less-toxic chemo-radiation (reduced intensity conditioning) to prepare patients for transplantation and novel therapies to prevent and treat graft-versus-host disease, a potentially life-threatening complication that can develop after transplant.