Faculty Appointments
Patient Care Settings
Cancer, Hospital Medicine
Biography
I am committed to providing my patients complete medical care that takes into account their physical and emotional wellbeing. When I approach my patients, I think of them as a whole, a person behind the story. I enjoy and cherish this special relationship and I always strive to give my patients the best care.
I believe that knowledge is power; I want my patients to be informed when they make decisions that involve their care and their lives. I achieve that by discussing the patient's case with the patient's referring oncologist and by consulting with my colleagues at Wilmot Cancer Center or at other institutions.
I am a firm believer that physician-patient trust is important to deliver effective and complete medical care. This trust develops based on the patient's own experience dealing with their medical team. My goal is to work closely with our medical team to help our patients deal with their illnesses.
My goal in choosing a career in treating cancer patients is to "make a difference" in their lives. I do that not only by doing my best to take care of my patients, but also by researching new ways to help our patients. Our current treatments are not optimal and certainly can be improved to help our patients have better outcomes, which is my ultimate goal in my research career.
Research
Dr. Aljitawi's laboratory is primarily focused on studying the human hematopoietic stem cells and their interaction with their microenvironment. He utilizes this knowledge in studying translational research concepts that apply to patient care. Dr. Aljitawi's work has involved umbilical cord blood stem cells, Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stromal cells, Wharton's jelly matrix, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Dr. Aljitawi's main projects are:
1.Studying umbilical cord blood (UCB) CD34+ cell interaction with erythropoietin (EPO) as a soluble factor in UCB CD34+ microenvironment. Dr. Aljitawi has been investigating EPO signaling through EPO receptor (EPOR) effects on UCB CD34+ cell homing and engraftment. Dr. Aljitawi and his research team discovered that exposure to erythropoietin impairs UCB CD34+ cell homing to the bone marrow. To translate this finding to patient care, Dr. Aljitawi and his research team investigated the use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) as a modality to lower systemic EPO with the aim of improving UCB CD34+ cell homing and engraftment. This work in its entirety was recently published in Blood.
2. Developing in vitro 3D leukemia and myeloma models for chemotherapy drug testing: Dr. Aljitawi's lab has developed a 3D stromal-based co-culture model to grow leukemia and myeloma cells with stromal cells and used it to test the sensitivity of these cancer cells to chemotherapy. More recently, his lab has focused on studying decellularized Wharton's jelly matrix to create an extracellular matrix-based model to test leukemia cell responses to chemotherapy.
3. Studying the interactions between Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stromal cells and Wharton's jelly decellularized matrix for tissue regenerative medicine applications. Dr. Aljitawi's has been studying decellularized Wharton's jelly matrix as a scaffolding material for tissue regenerative applications, including wound and bone healing.
Credentials
Education
1999
MBBS | University of Jordan (Jordan)
Post-doctoral Training & Residency
07/01/2007 - 06/30/2008
Fellowship in Blood & Marrow Transplantation at City of Hope National Medical Center
07/01/2004 - 06/03/2007
Fellowship in Hematology & Oncology at University of Kansas Medical Center
07/01/2002 - 06/30/2004
Residency in Internal Medicine at East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine
07/01/2001 - 06/30/2002
Internship in Internal Medicine at East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine
01/01/1999 - 12/31/2000
Internship in Internal Medicine at Bashir Hospital (Jordan)
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Awards
2014
Faculty Travel Award to present Abstract Poster
Sponsor: 12th International Cord Blood Symposium
2011
Faculty Travel Award to Present Abstract
Sponsor: American Society of Oncology
2010
2010 Best Abstract Award
Sponsor: 2011 BMT Tandem Meetings
2006
Karl & Irene Eisemann Fellowship Award for best Hematology Paper
2004
Caduceus Award Nominee
Sponsor: ETSU Students
Location: East Tennessee State University
2002
First Place Award, residents/fellows division, 18th Annual Student Research Forum, James H. Quillen College of Medicine
Location: East Tennessee State University
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Clinical Trials
A Pilot Study to Determine the Safety and Efficacy of Repeated Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Multiple Myeloma Patients Undergoing High-Dose Therapy and Autologous Stem/Progenitor Transplantation
Lead Researcher: Omar S Aljitawi
Subjects with multiple myeloma (MM) who are considered eligible for high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation by the transplant team at WCI will be enrolled in the study.
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Multicenter safety study of unlicensed, investigational cryopreserved cord blood units (CBUs) manufactured by National Cord Blood Program (NCBP) and provided for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation of pediatric and adult patients
Lead Researcher: Omar S Aljitawi
The purpose of this study is to document and evaluate all problems that may occur with the use of investigational cord blood units. This study will evaluate the safety of administration of the investigational cord blood units by carefully documenting all infusion-related problems. The cord blood units in this study have been collected, processed, tested and stored by the National Cord Blood Program and meet the criteria for transplantation as approved by NetCord-FACT (Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy).
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Phase II Hyperbaric Oxygen in Improving Engraftment in Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation
Lead Researcher: Omar S Aljitawi
The UCB transplant is a type of stem cell transplant used to treat cancer of the blood or lymph glands. The UCB transplant has advantages over other types of transplants such as ease of obtaining the umbilical cord blood, absence of donor risks, reduced risks of contagious infections, and the availability for immediate use. The UCB transplant is also associated with a lower incidence of graft versus host disease, or GvHD (in GvHD, the transplanted graft attacks the recipient organs).
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Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation from Unrelated Donors
Lead Researcher: Omar S Aljitawi
This study is a single-center, treatment protocol with 4 possible preparative regimens, designed to validate the process of umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation at our institution.
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Publications
Journal Articles
11/24/2020
Bawany F, Tbakhi B, Mendler JH, Richardson CT, Bennett JM, Aljitawi OS. "Remission of anti-TIF1? dermatomyositis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant for myelodysplastic syndrome." Blood advances.. 2020 Nov 24; 4(22):5698-5701.
7/2020
Tbakhi B, Furqan F, Scott G, Liesveld JL, Aljitawi OS. "Autologous Stem Cell Rescue recipient with neutrophil tissue delivery detected prior to blood engraftment: a case report." EJHaem.. 2020 Jul; 1(1):330-333. Epub 2020 Aug 07.
6/28/2020
Elad S, Aljitawi O, Zadik Y. "Oral graft-versus-host disease: a pictorial review and a guide for dental practitioners." International dental journal.. 2020 Jun 28; Epub 2020 Jun 28.
Books & Chapters
2017
Chapter Title: Wharton's jelly matrix decellularization for tissue engineering applications
Book Title: Decellularized Scaffolds and Organogenesis
Author List: Converse, G.L; Li, D; E. Buse, E.E.; Hopkins, R.A.; and Aljitawi, O.S.
Published By: Springer Protocols 2017
2005
Chapter Title: The human Mast Cell
Book Title: Mast Cells, Methods and Protocols
Author List: Guha Krishnaswamy, Omar Aljitawi, and David S. Chi.
Published By: Humana Press 2005
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