Nicole Alyse Aqui, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Vice Chair for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
Director, Pathology Residency Training Program
Chief of Transfusion and Apheresis Services
Contact Information3 White Building
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-615-4344
Fax: 215-662-6891
Email: aqui@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Specialty Division
Transfusion Medicine & Therapeutic Pathology
Clinical Expertise
Transfusion medicine, apheresis, blood banking, hematopoietic stem cell and immune effector cell collection/processing, sickle cell disease
Education
B.S. (Cellular and Molecular Biology), University of Maryland College Park, 1996
M.D. (Medicine), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2001
Specialty Certification
Clinical Pathology, 2004
Postgraduate Training
Student Fellowship, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 1999-2000
Resident, Clinical Pathology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2001-2004
Fellow, Patient Oriented Training Program, University of Pennsylvania, 2003-2004
Fellow, Division of Transfusion Medicine
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2004-2005
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, 2005-2006
Awards and Honors
Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania Medical Student Award for Leadership and Community Service, 1999-1999
American Association of University Women Selected Professions Fellowship, 2000-2001
Charles Drew Award, University of Pennsylvania, 2001-2001
Helen O. Dickens Award, Perelman School of Medicine, 2001-2001
American Association of Blood Banks-Baxter Transfusion Medicine Fellow Award, 2004-2004
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Fellow's Award, 2004-2005
Best Abstract, International Society for Cellular Therapy Annual Meeting, 2009-2009
Gift of Life Award, Ree Wynn Foundation, 2015
Philadelphia Living Legend, Council of the City of Philadelphia, 2016
Academy of Master Clinicians, Penn Medicine, 2020
Memberships and Professional Organizations
College of American Pathologists, 2001 - 2010
International Society of Cellular Therapy, 2003 - Present
AABB (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks), 2004 - Present
American Society for Hematology, 2007 - Present
International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer, 2009 - 2012
American Society for Apheresis, 2010 - present
American Red Cross, Penn-Jersey Blood Services Region, 2016 - present
Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, 2017 - present
Society of Black Pathologists, 2021 - present
American Red Cross, 2021 - present
Web Links
Selected Publications
Considerations for immune effector cell therapy collections: a white paper from the American Society for Apheresis
Liu HD, Su L, Winters JL, Thibodeaux SR, Park YA, Wu Y, Schwartz J, Zubair AC, Schneiderman J, Gupta GK, Ramakrishnan S, Aqui NA., Cytotherapy 24(9): 916-922, 2022, PMID:35398001
Guidelines on the Use of Therapeutic Apheresis in Clinical Practice - Evidence-Based Approach from the Writing Committee of the American Society for Apheresis: The Eighth Special Issue
Padmanabhan A, Connelly-Smith L, Aqui N, Balogun RA, Klingel R, Meyer E, Pham HP, Schneiderman J, Witt V, Wu Y, Zantek ND, Dunbar NM, Schwartz GEJ, J Clin Apher 34(3): 171-354, 2019, PMID:31180581
Lack of defined apheresis collection criteria in publicly available CAR-T cell clinical trial descriptions: Comprehensive review of over 600 studies.
Thibodeaux SR, Aqui NA, Park YA, Schneiderman J, Su LL, Winters JL, Zubair AC, Schwartz J, Liu HD; Immune Effector Cell Therapy Subcommittee, Clinical Applications Committee, American Society for Apheresis., J Clin Apher 37(3): 223-236, 2022, PMID:35085413
A randomized controlled study of convalescent plasma for individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia
Bar KJ, Shaw PA, Choi GH, Aqui N, Fesnak A, Yang JB, Soto-Calderon H, Grajales L, Starr J, Andronov M, Mastellone M, Amonu C, Feret G, DeMarshall M, Buchanan M, Caturla M, Gordon J, Wanicur A, Monroy MA, Mampe F, Lindemuth E, Gouma S, Mullin AM, Barilla H, Pronina A, Irwin L, Thomas R, Eichinger RA, Demuth F, Luning Prak ET, Pascual JL, Short WR, Elovitz MA, Baron J, Meyer NJ, Degnan KO, Frank I, Hensley SE, Siegel DL, Tebas P, J Clin Invest. 131(24): e155114, 2021, PMID:34788233
The report from ASFA COVID-19 taskforce: Considerations and prioritization on apheresis procedures during the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic
Yamada C, Hofmann JC, Witt V, Gupta GK, Winters JL; ASFA COVID-19 Taskforce., J Clin Apher 36(6): 878-881, 2021, PMID:34510542
Plasma Exchange and Glucocorticoids in Severe ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
Walsh M, Merkel PA, Peh CA, Szpirt WM, Puéchal X, Fujimoto S, Hawley CM, Khalidi N, Floßmann O, Wald R, Girard LP, Levin A, Gregorini G, Harper L, Clark WF, Pagnoux C, Specks U, Smyth L, Tesar V, Ito-Ihara T, de Zoysa JR, Szczeklik W, Flores-Suárez LF, Carette S, Guillevin L, Pusey CD, Casian AL, Brezina B, Mazzetti A, McAlear CA, Broadhurst E, Reidlinger D, Mehta S, Ives N, Jayne DRW; PEXIVAS Investigators., N Engl J Med 382(7): 622-631, 2020, PMID:32053298
Update to the ASFA guidelines on the use of therapeutic apheresis in ANCA-associated vasculitis
Balogun RA, Sanchez AP, Klingel R, Witt V, Aqui N, Meyer E, Padmanabhan A, Pham HP, Schneiderman J, Schwartz J, Wu Y, Zantek ND, Connelly-Smith L, Dunbar NM., J Clin Apher 35(5): 493-499, 2020, PMID:32770558
Risk of bleeding with transplant kidney biopsy followed by apheresis - A single center's experience
Wong T, Aqui N, Geara AS, Clin Nephrol 93(6): 305-306, 2020, PMID:32213282
