David Sallman, MD

David Sallman, MD, is an assistant member in the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center and assistant professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida, both in Tampa. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida College of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital before completing a hematology/oncology fellowship at Moffitt Cancer Center. He is board certified in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine. 

Dr Sallman’s clinical interests are myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and myeloproliferative neoplasms. His research interests focus on the development of novel targeted therapeutic strategies (phase 1 and 2 clinical trials) for patients with MDS and AML, based on the underlying mutational drivers of each disease. Specifically, he studies the genetic drivers of myeloid diseases to improve prognostication for patients and to allow for more personalized treatment. He has published significantly on this topic, including recently in highly regarded journals such as Leukemia and Haematologica, and these works are the foundation of clinical trials/translational studies designed to improve the quality of life and survival of patients with MDS. He is the principal investigator for multiple ongoing studies focused on higher-risk MDS. Furthermore, his recent work has focused on TP53-mutant MDS, where he and his team identified and validated that the clonal burden of TP53 mutation is strongly concordant with patient outcomes and are intimately tied with the clinical trajectory of these patients. Additionally, they have identified that serial next-generation sequencing has significant prognostic value and can be an early biomarker of outcome with novel agents. He has been the lead principal investigator for a phase 1b/2 clinical trial of APR-246 in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of TP53-mutant MDS and AML patients, a proposal that was developed at American Society of Hematology Clinical Research Training Institute. This trial has been one of the highest impact studies in high-risk MDS, and the data from this trial support the registrational, randomized, phase 3 trial that ideally will lead to the first molecularly targeted approval for MDS. This work has led to funding support from Moffitt Cancer Center and the Edwards P. Evans Foundation of the MDS Clinical Research Consortium and an Dresner Foundation Early Career Award to support his career goals as an innovative clinical/translational investigator in MDS.

Dr Sallman has authored or coauthored numerous articles, books, book chapters, and abstracts and serves as reviewer for multiple journals. He received the Young Investigator Grant from the MDS Foundation in 2017 and he won the Best Abstract Award at the Moffitt Research Symposium in 2016.