Memorial Sloan Kettering hematologic oncologist Sheng Cai

Sheng F. Cai, MD, PhD

Leukemia Specialist & Early Drug Development Specialist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Leukemia
  • Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
  • Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

My Specialties

  • Clinical trials
  • Early-phase clinical trials
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Dr. Cai's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a board-certified medical oncologist and physician-scientist who specializes in caring for people with hematologic malignancies, including acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, and myeloproliferative neoplasms.

I currently spend the majority of my time performing laboratory-based research with the central aim of developing and investigating the mechanisms of action of novel leukemia-directed epigenetic therapies. My hope is that these research efforts will ultimately result in a deeper understanding of how leukemias develop as well as improved clinical outcomes for our patients.

What I Do at MSK

I’m a leukemia specialist, which is a doctor with special training in diagnosing and treating leukemia (loo-KEE-mee-uh). This cancer starts in tissue that forms blood, such as bone marrow.

I'm an early drug development specialist, which is a scientist who tests new drugs to treat cancer. I have special training in research studies, also known as clinical trials.

  • Assistant Attending Physician
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Leukemia
  • Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
  • Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
  • Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
  • Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
  • Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
  • Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN)/Myeloproliferative disorders
  • Hairy cell leukemia (HCL)
  • Systemic mastocytosis
  • Blood, bone marrow, and hematologic cancers and conditions

My Specialties

  • Clinical trials
  • Early-phase clinical trials
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Residencies

  • NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine

Fellowships

  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Internal Medicine
  • Medical Oncology

Awards and Honors

  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Career Development Program Fellow Award
  • American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award
  • Momentum Fellowship Award, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
  • The Truth 365 Young Investigator Award
  • Scholar Award, American Society of Hematology
  • Young Investigator Award, EvansMDS
  • NCI/NIH K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award
  • Holly and Gerald N. Wogan Scholar Award

Insurance Information

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Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

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Current Patients
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Contact and Location

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue New York NY 10065
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Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

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Clinical Trials

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Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Cai’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Sheng F. Cai discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Daiichi Sankyo
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Ursamin
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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