Hematology/Oncology

The Sickle Cell Center of Louisiana

Hemophilia Center at Tulane University

hemophilia
stroke and cardiac defects

Benjamin Watkins, MD
Justin Farge, MD

Awards and Recognitions

Dr. Ben Watkins was named the 2024 New Orleans City Business Healthcare Hero.

Dr. Ben Watkins sits on the following national and international committees.

-Children’s International Consortium on Acute Leukemia. Steering Committee Member. 2018-present

-Acute GVHD Suppression using Costimulation Blockade to Expand Non-malignant Transplant (ASCENT). Co-Chair and Study Committee Member. 2019-present 

-A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Trial of Abatacept Extended Dosing for Graft Versus Host Disease Prophylaxis (ABA3).  2019-present.

-Children’s Oncology Group Myeloid Disease Committee Member. 2021-Present

-Children’s Oncology Group Cellular Therapies for AML Task Force. 2021-present

-Chair of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Global Health Special Interest Group.

-Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Consortium Graft versus Host Disease Strategy Group. 2023-present

News

Ben Watkins: Featured on the Oncology Learning Network. Evaluating Strategies and Approaches to Prevent Graft-Versus-Host Disease. August 22, 2023. https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/onc/evaluating-strategies-and-approaches-prevent-graft-versus-host-disease.

Ben Watkins: Featured in nationally syndicated Associated Press article, “FDA approves 2 gene therapies for sickle cell. One is the first to use the editing tool CRISPR”. December 8, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/sickle-cell-fda-approval-vertex-crispr.

Ben Watkins: Featured in nationally syndicated Bloomberg article, “A sickle cell breakthrough is here. Now the hard part”. December 8, 2023.  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-08/a-crispr-sickle-cell-breakthrough-is-here-now-the-hard-part.

Ben Watkins: Featured in the Advocate and NOLA.com article, “Only one Louisiana hospital to offer potentially life-saving sickle cell gene therapy.” https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/louisiana_health/only-one-louisiana-hospital-to-offer-potentially-life-saving-2-3m-sickle-cell-gene-therapies-for-kids/article_96189748-eb9a-11ee-bfbf-97c3b42d3c51.html

Recent Publications

1.     Schoettler ML, Dandoy CE, Harris A, Chan M, Tarquinio KM, Jodele S, Qayed M, Watkins B, Kamat P, Petrillo T, Obordo J, Higham CS, Dvorak CC, Westbrook A, Zinter MS, Williams KM. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage after hematopoietic cell transplantation- response to treatments and risk factors for mortality. Front Oncol. 2023 Jul 20;13:1232621. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1232621. PMCID: PMC10399223.

2.     Hughes C, Harris A, Watkins B, Qayed M, Parikh S, Horwitz E, Stenger E, Williams KM, Schoettler ML. Severe refractory hemorrhagic cystitis after hematopoietic cell transplantation responds to recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor-Case report and review of the literature. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Oct;70(10):e30606. doi: 10.1002/pbc.30606. Epub 2023 Aug 2. PMID: 37533091.

3.     Takahashi T, Al-Kofahi M, Jaber M, Bratrude B, Betz K, Suessmuth Y, Yu A, Neuberg DS, Choi SW, Davis J, Duncan C, Giller R, Grimley M, Harris AC, Jacobsohn D, Lalefar N, Farhadfar N, Pulsipher MA, Shenoy S, Petrovic A, Schultz KR, Yanik GA, Blazar BR, Horan JT, Watkins B, Langston A, Qayed M, Kean LS. Higher abatacept exposure after transplant decreases acute GVHD risk without increasing adverse events. Blood. 2023 Aug 24;142(8):700-710. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023020035. PMID: 37319437.

4.     Raghunandan S, Qayed M, Watkins BK, Graiser M, Gorfinkel L, Westbrook A, Gillespie S, Bratrude B, Petrovic A, Suessmuth Y, Horan J, Kean LS, Langston AA. Abatacept for graft versus host disease prophylaxis in patients 60 years and older receiving mismatched unrelated donor transplantation for hematologic malignancies. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2023 Aug 14. doi: 10.1038/s41409-023-02043-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37580397.

5.     Raghunandan S, Gorfinkel L, Bratrude B, Suessmuth Y, Hebert K, Neuberg D, Williams KM, Schoettler ML, Langston AA, Kean LS, Qayed M, Horan J, Watkins BK. Abatacept for the prevention of graft versus host disease in pediatric patients receiving 7/8 HLA-mismatched unrelated transplant for hematologic malignancies: a real-world analysis. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2023 Aug 14. doi: 10.1038/s41409-023-02034-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37580396.

6.     Patel PA, Teherani MF, Xiang Y, Bernardo V, Chandrakasan S, Goggin KP, Haight A, Horwitz E, Liang WH, Parikh SH, Schoettler ML, Spencer K, Stenger E, Watkins B, Williams KM, Leung K, Jaggi P, Qayed M. Short-course empiric antibiotics in children undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. Transplant Cell Ther. 2023 Sep 20:S2666-6367(23)01549-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2023.09.011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37739225.

7.     Schoettler ML, Patel S, Bryson E, Deeb L, Watkins B, Qayed M, Chandrakasan S, Fitch T, Silvis K, Jones J, Chonat S, Williams KM. Compassionate Use Narsoplimab for Severe, Refractory Transplant Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy in Children. Transplant Cell Ther. 2023 Dec 23:S2666-6367(23)01751-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2023.12.017. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38145741.

8.     Watkins B, Qayed M. Novel approaches to acute graft-versus-host disease prevention. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program. 2023 Dec 8;2023(1):155-163. doi: 10.1182/hematology.2023000426. PMID: 38066861; PMCID: PMC10727007.

9.     Schoettler ML, French K, Harris A, Bryson E, Deeb L, Hudson Z, Obordo J, Chandrakasan S, Parikh S, Watkins B, Stenger E, Qayed M, Chonat S, Westbrook A, Switchenko J, Williams KM. D-dimer and sinusoidal obstructive syndrome-novel poor prognostic features of thrombotic microangiopathy in children after hematopoietic cellular therapy in a single institution prospective cohort study. Am J Hematol. 2024 Jan 2. doi: 10.1002/ajh.27186. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38164997.

10.  Gorfinkel L, Raghunandan S, Watkins B, Hebert K, Neuberg DS, Bratrude B, Betz K, Yu A, Choi SW, Davis J, Duncan C, Giller R, Grimley M, Harris AC, Jacobsohn D, Lalefar N, Farhadfar N, Pulsipher MA, Shenoy S, Petrovic A, Schultz KR, Yanik GA, Blazar BR, Horan JT, Langston A, Kean LS, Qayed M. Overlap chronic GVHD is associated with adverse survival outcomes compared to classic chronic GVHD. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2024 May;59(5):680-687. doi: 10.1038/s41409-024-02245-y. Epub 2024 Feb 21. PMID: 38383714.

11.  Takahashi T, Watkins B, Bratrude B, Neuberg D, Hebert K, Betz K, Yu A, Choi SW, Davis J, Duncan C, Giller R, Grimley M, Harris AC, Jacobsohn D, Lalefar N, Farhadfar N, Pulsipher MA, Shenoy S, Petrovic A, Schultz KR, Yanik GA, Blazar BR, Horan JT, Langston A, Kean LS, Qayed M. The Adverse Event Landscape of Stem Cell Transplant: Evidence for aGVHD Driving Early Transplant Associated Toxicities. Transplant Cell Ther. 2024 Apr 6:S2666-6367(24)00317-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2024.03.030. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38583802.

12.  Schoettler ML, Westbrook A, Watkins B, Stenger E, Qayed M, Chonat S, Williams KM. Age, GVHD prophylaxis, and timing matter in thrombotic microangiopathy after haematopoietic cell transplantation-A secondary CIBMTR analysis. Br J Haematol. 2024 May 30. doi: 10.1111/bjh.19506. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38817006.