Aaron Goodman, MD

Aaron Goodman, MD, is a hematologist who specializes in treating a variety of blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and multiple myeloma. He performs stem cell transplants for cancer treatment, including autologous (stem cells come from the individual receiving the transplant) and allogeneic (stem cells come from a matched donor) transplants.

Dr. Goodman treats and writes guidelines for the rare lymphoproliferative disorder Castleman disease. He also uses experimental therapeutics to treat people with rare histiocytosis, which is a group of syndromes characterized by an abnormal increase in the number of certain immune cells called histiocytes. They include Langerhans cell histiocytosis, Erdheim-Chester disease, and Rosai-Dorfman disease. Many of these novel therapies are designed to be more effective with less toxicity and targeted for individualized therapy.

He is part of the joint UC San Diego Health / Sharp HealthCare Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program, which provides patients with the unique opportunity to receive care from the same physician throughout all phases of blood cancer treatment. This includes initial consultation and diagnosis, treatment to help achieve remission, care throughout stem cell transplants, and follow-up survivorship care.

Dr. Goodman also offers chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CAR T-cell therapy harnesses the patient's own immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. It is just one of many types of personalized cancer therapies offered at UC San Diego Health. Dr. Goodman also has clinical and research interests in cutaneous and T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) and is part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline writing committee for both cutaneous NHLs and T-cell NHLs.

Working with the Department of Dermatology, he co-founded the first comprehensive cutaneous lymphoma clinic in San Diego. As an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Goodman instructs medical students, residents and fellows at UC San Diego School of Medicine. His research interests include immunotherapy and cellular therapy treatment for hematologic malignancies and identifying biomarkers for response to immunotherapy. He has contributed book chapters to Early Phase Cancer Immunotherapy and Cancer Screening, and his work has been published in Oncology, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research, among others.

Dr. Goodman completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., where he was selected for his leadership and clinical abilities to serve as chief resident. He earned his medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology.

Outside of work, Dr. Goodman enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He plays rock guitar and classical piano and also stays active through running and hiking.

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For more information, see Blood Cancers and Cancer Care.