Sheena Bhalla, M.D. Titles and Appointments Director, Thoracic Medical Oncology Clinical Operations Assistant Professor Schools Medical School Departments Internal Medicine You have reached the Academic Profile. For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile. Biography Dr. Sheena Bhalla, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a medical oncologist at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she serves as Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology Clinical Operations. Dr. Bhalla specializes in caring for patients with thoracic malignancies, including non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, mesothelioma, and thymoma, and leads clinical initiatives to enhance lung cancer care delivery across the center. Dr. Bhalla earned her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she also pursued fellowship training in hematology and medical oncology. Board certified in medical oncology and hematology by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Bhalla joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021. She is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, where she serves on the Education Committee. Her research focuses on improving lung cancer outcomes through pragmatic clinical trials and translational studies to optimize lung cancer screening, treatment, and care delivery. She is principal investigator of investigator-initiated, cooperative-group, and industry-sponsored clinical trials in advanced non-small cell lung cancer and has published numerous articles in her key areas of research. Education Medical School University of Florida College of Medicine (2015) Residency Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2018), Internal Medicine Fellowship Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2021), Hematology Oncology Research Interest Cancer Care Delivery Clinical Trials Lung Cancer Publications Featured Publications Health Beliefs and Adherence to Lung Cancer Screening in a Diverse Safety-Net Population. Bhalla S, Hamann HA, Prasad T, Mullins MA, Malone ST, Rodriguez J, Gwin ME, Natchimuthu V, Nair RG, Ibekwe-Agunanna LN, Craddock Lee SJ, Johnson DH, Wahid U, Gao A, Zhang S, Gerber DE, J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2026 Jan 24 1 Radiologists' Perceptions of the 21st Century Cures Act. Porembka JH, Paton EL, Xi Y, Carlos RC, Bhalla S, Cetnar JP, Makhnoon S, Krishnaraj A, Rubin EM, Gerber DE, J Am Coll Radiol 2025 Oct Mortality in a Diverse, Real-World Lung Cancer Screening Cohort. Gwin ME, Prasad T, Wahid U, Bhalla S, Zhang S, Lee JL, Johnson DH, Oliver G, Vice L, Tan C, Watkins C, Gerber DE, Clin Lung Cancer 2025 May Commentary on A Pulmonary Nodule with an Unexpected Mutation Profile. Patel V, Bhalla S, Clin Chem 2025 Mar 71 3 356-357 Virtual Health Care Encounters for Lung Cancer Screening in a Safety-Net Population: Observations From the COVID-19 Pandemic. Gwin ME, Wahid U, Bhalla S, Kandathil A, Malone S, Natchimuthu V, Watkins C, Vice L, Chatriand H, Moten H, Tan C, Styrvoky KC, Johnson DH, Semlow AR, Lee JL, Browning T, Mullins MA, Santini NO, Oliver G, Zhang S, Gerber DE, JCO Clin Cancer Inform 2025 Mar 9 e2400086 Concerning safety and efficacy of concurrent and consolidative durvalumab with thoracic radiotherapy in PDL1-unselected stage III non-small cell lung cancer: brief report. Zhang Y, Iyengar P, Montalvo S, Westover KD, Rashdan S, Donthireddy K, Kim J, Dowell JE, Drapkin B, Bhalla S, Chukwuma C, Nadeem U, Ahn C, Timmerman RD, Gerber DE, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2024 Aug Differences in systemic immune parameters in individuals with lung cancer according to race. von Itzstein MS, Liu J, Mu-Mosley H, Fattah F, Park JY, SoRelle JA, Farrar JD, Gwin ME, Hsiehchen D, Gloria-McCutchen Y, Wakeland EK, Cole S, Bhalla S, Kainthla R, Puzanov I, Switzer B, Daniels GA, Zakharia Y, Shaheen M, Zhang J, Xie Y, Gerber DE, bioRxiv 2024 Jun Geographic Accessibility and Completion of Initial Low-Dose CT-Based Lung Cancer Screening in an Urban Safety-Net Population. Yi S, Rathod RA, Natchimuthu VS, Bhalla S, Lee JL, Browning T, Adesina JO, Do M, Balis D, de Wiliams JG, Kitchell E, Santini NO, Johnson DH, Hamann HA, Lee SJC, Hughes AE, Gerber DE, J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2024 Apr 1-7 Effect of Patient Navigation on Completion of Lung Cancer Screening in Vulnerable Populations. Bhalla S, Natchimuthu V, Lee JL, Wahid U, Zhu H, Santini NO, Browning T, Hamann HA, Johnson DH, Chiu H, Craddock Lee SJ, Gerber DE, J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2024 Mar 1-7 Incidence, Correlates, and Prognostic Significance of Mixed Response in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer. Gerber DE, Wang Y, Ramalingam SS, Bhalla S, Sun Z, Borghaei H, Brahmer JR, Schiller JH, Oncologist 2024 Jan Results 1-10 of 29 1 2 3 Next Last Honors & Awards International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Academy Awardee (2025) Chief FellowIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2020-2021) Student Teaching AwardIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2017) Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor SocietyUniversity of Florida College of Medicine (2015) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Society of Clinical Oncology (2018) International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (2021)
