Dr. M. Usman Ahmad, M.D.

Dr. Ahmad is currently a postdoctoral research fellow under the mentorship of Prof. George Poultsides in the Section of Surgical Oncology at Stanford University. In addition, he engages in basic scientific inquiry in tumor immunology under Prof. Amanda Kirane. As part of an interdisciplinary team, Dr. Ahmad is currently investigating the role of the intratumor microbiome and response to treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer funded by the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) and Sarafan ChEM-H. He entered his current position after completing 2 years of general surgical training at Stanford University and the University of Colorado.

Dr. Ahmad received his medical education at the University of South Florida (USF) where he was the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including the Galen Scholarship, SELECT Koch Award, Anderson SELECT Scholarship, and Osler Award. During medical school, Dr. Ahmad was productive in both basic science and research resulting in 3 peer-reviewed publications and induction into the Robert A. Good Honor Society bestowed upon the top 10% of medical students in research.

Dr. Ahmad also received the Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn A. Kuckein Fellowship to continue policy work on improving the organ supply for Americans requiring organ transplants. Early in medical school, he conducted basic scientific work transplanting immune cells on metastatic melanoma in a mouse model while a visiting researcher under Prof. Gavin Pettigrew & Prof. Reza Mottalebzadeh in the Department of Surgery at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Dr. Ahmad was also active in health policy work culminating in a role as Vice Chair of the Medical Student Section Committee of Legislation & Advocacy for the American Medical Association with several roles at university, county, and state levels in both Florida and Pennsylvania. Dr. Ahmad has an extensive record of volunteer activity serving at risk populations in the United States during medical school including HIV, LGBTQ, pediatric, and homeless populations. In addition, he spends time mentoring and reviewing scholarship applications for Greenhouse Scholars, program focused on developing under-resourced high performing American students from high school to first career and beyond.

Prior to medical school, Dr. Ahmad had a career in the life sciences industry after receiving a degree in Economics from Northwestern University where he primarily focused on bringing new medical technology to market. Dr. Ahmad was part of a team selected by the Chicago Chamber of Commerce as the most innovative company in 2010 winning a state-wide competition. He also volunteered his time as a board member re-vitalizing a 25 year old arts organization in Chicago and helping to develop a business incubator in Detroit shortly after the Great Recession.

Dr. Ahmad is a native Chicagoan hailing from a large family raised near the Southside of Chicago. In his free time he enjoys cooking, reading, history, traveling, working on cars, and developing his interest in aviation.

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Research Interests/Project Description

As part of an interdisciplinary team, Dr. Ahmad is currently investigating the role of the intratumor microbiome and response to treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer funded by the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) and Sarafan ChEM-H under Prof. Poultsides.

In addition, Dr. Ahmad conducts basic scientific research in tumor immunology on the interaction of AXL, macrophages, and treatment response in mouse models and humans with melanoma under Prof. Kirane.

News Briefs

• Dr. Ahmad Receives Sarafan ChEM-H Grant | Surgery | Stanford Medicine

• AI can predict missed appointments. How can hospitals use that data? (statnews.com)

• Want To Make In-Person School Safer In The Fall? Use Lessons From Behavioral Science (forbes.com)

• Flowers, chocolates, organ donation — are you in? - Harvard Health

• (20) USF Health Medicine on Twitter: "Our own M. Usman Ahmad, 4th-year SELECT student, was recently selected as a national vice chair to the American Medical Association Medical Student Section Committee on Legislation and Advocacy. Read more: https://t.co/qY1Z8GE5P8 https://t.co/fJJP2yvCDm" / Twitter

Publications

• Vega, E. A., Newhook, T. E., Mellado, S., Ruzzenente, A., Okuno, M., De Bellis, M., Panettieri, E., Ahmad, M. U., Merlo, I., Rojas, J., De Rose, A. M., Nishino, H., Sinnamon, A. J., Donadon, M., Hauger, M. S., Guevara, O. A., Munoz, C., Denbo, J. W., Chun, Y. S., Tran Cao, H. S., Sanchez Claria, R., Tzeng, C. D., De Aretxabala, X., Vivanco, M., Brudvik, K. W., Seo, S., Pekolj, J., Poultsides, G. A., Torzilli, G., Giuliante, F., Anaya, D. A., Guglielmi, A., Vinuela, E., Vauthey, J. Benchmarks and Geographic Differences in Gallbladder Cancer Surgery: An International Multicenter Study. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2023; 30: 4904-4911. DOI 10.1245/s10434-023-13531-2

• Sun, B., Ahmad, M., Gingrich, A. A., Walsh, A., Nielsen, R., Maverakis, E., Kirane, A. R. The Role of AXL Tyrosine Kinase in the Melanoma Immune Microenvironment. Annals of Surgical Oncology 2022; 20 Suppl 2: 465.

• Javadi, C., Chang, J., Forgo, E., Ahmad, M., Fisher, G. A., Chang, D. T., Delitto, D. J., Dua, M. M., Lee, B., Visser, B. C., Norton, J. A., Poultsides, G. A. Radiographic, Biochemical, or Pathologic Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Resected Pancreatic Cancer: Which Is Best? Annals of Surgical Oncology 2022; 20, Suppl 2: 351.

• Lowe, M. C., Ahmad, M., Sun, B., Gholami, S., Maverakis, E., Kirane, A. R. Neoadjuvant Intralesional Therapy for High Risk Stage II Melanoma. Annals of Surgical Oncology; 20, Suppl 2: 534.

• Ahmad, M. U., Javadi, C., Poultsides, G. A. Neoadjuvant Treatment Strategies for Resectable Proximal Gastric, Gastroesophageal Junction and Distal Esophageal Cancer. Cancers, 2022; 14 (7). DOI 10.3390/cancers14071755

• Ahmad, M., Gebregziabher, B., Lee, B. Rare histologies in peritoneal carcinomatosis: a narrative review Digestive Medicine Research, 2022; 5. DOI 10.21037/dmr-22-4

• Jiang, Y., Zhang, Z., Wang, W., Huang, W., Chen, C., Xi, S., Ahmad, M., Ren, Y., Sang, S., Xie, J., Xiong, W., Li, T., Han, Z., Yuan, Q., Xu, Y., Xing, L., Poultsides, G., Li, G., Li, R. Biology-guided deep learning predicts prognosis and cancer immunotherapy response. Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 37th Annual Meeting, 2022. DOI 10.1136/jitc-2022-SITC2022.1284

• Ahmad, M., Riley, K. D., Ridder, T. S. Acute Colonic Pseudo-Obstruction After Posterior Spinal Fusion: A Case Report and Literature Review. World Neurosurgery, 2020; 142: 352-363. DOI 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.07.013

• Ahmad, M., Zhang, A., Mhaskar, R. A predictive model for decreasing clinical no-show rates in a primary care setting. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 2021; 14 (3): 829-836. DOI 10.1080/20479700.2019.1698864

• Ahmad, M., Hanna, A., Mohamed, A., Schlindwein, A., Pley, C., Bahner, I., Mhaskar, R., Pettigrew, G. J., Jarmi, T. A Systematic Review of Opt-out Versus Opt-in Consent on Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation (2006-2016). World Journal of Surgery, 2019; 43 (12): 3161-3171. DOI 10.1007/s00268-019-05118-4

• Creelan, B. C., Ahmad, M., Kaszuba, F. J., Khalil, F. K., Welsh, A. W., Ozdemirli, M., Grant, N. N., Subramaniam, D. S. Clinical Activity of Nivolumab for Human Papilloma Virus-Related Juvenile-Onset Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis. Oncologist, 2019; 24 (6): 829-835. DOI 10.1634/theoncologist.2018-0505

• Ahmad, M., Hanna, A., Mohamed, A., Mhaskar, R., Jarmi, T., Schlindwein, A., Pley, C., Bahner, I. Increasing Organ Supply in the US: A Systematic Review of Presumed Consent vs. Informed Consent (2006-2016). American Journal of Transplantation, 2017; 17, Suppl 3: 307.