Dr. Issa is a clinical and translational researcher in the Departments of Leukemia and Genomic Medicine at the MD Anderson. His work focuses on the genetic underpinnings of leukemia to uncover therapeutic vulnerabilities, mechanisms of disease progression, and treatment response. Through this research, he aims to develop safe and effective targeted therapies
His clinical research centers on menin inhibitors. He serves as Principal Investigator on numerous investigator-initiated studies and multi-institutional trials, which led to the FDA approval off revumenib for KMT2A-rearranged acute leukemia. He is also a lead investigator or steering committee member for global phase 3 trials evaluating menin inhibition in combination with standard of care for newly diagnosed AML. Dr. Issa leads a precision medicine program for acute leukemias susceptible to menin inhibition, focusing on biomarker discovery, MRD assays, resistance mechanisms, and rational combination therapies.