My Locations
Part of the Duke Cancer Institute
About Me
I study disorders of the bone marrow and bone marrow failure syndromes. I also see some leukemias and lymphomas and other blood malignancies. Duke offers a very personalized, individualized level of care to each patient. Nobody is the same, so we take the whole patient, we listen to them, and we offer our best recommendations for treatment options. We offer some of the latest treatment options that are available, usually in the setting of a clinical trial. If not, we offer the latest advancement in the field. When I was going through medical school, molecular biology was the new field. Everything was being described as a new cancer-causing gene. And to me that was so appealing – we’re going to figure out what causes cancer and new ways to treat it. That’s what really brought me into the hematology oncology world – things were being discovered that were new and exciting and hopefully would lead to new treatment options. Duke offers an extremely high standard of care. Though we’re not always successful and the disease sometimes wins, our goal is to give the patients the best possible care.
- Professor of Medicine, Medicine, Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy 2021
- Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute 1988
Call for an Appointment
Areas of Expertise
- Leukemia
- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
- Hairy Cell Leukemia
- Myelodysplastic Syndrome
- Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
Loading
Clinical Focus and Research
I study disorders of the bone marrow and bone marrow failure syndromes.
- External Quality Assurance Program Oversight Laboratory (EQAPOL) awarded by National Institutes of Health 2024 - 2031
- CLNP023C12303 awarded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation 2023 - 2026
- Risitano, Antonio M., Carlos de Castro, Bing Han, Austin Kulasekararaj, Jaroslaw P. Maciejewski, Phillip Scheinberg, Yasutaka Ueda, et al. “Patient-reported improvements in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria treated with iptacopan from 2 phase 3 studies.” Blood Adv 9, no. 8 (April 22, 2025): 1816–26. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014652.
- Babushok, Daria V., Amy E. DeZern, Carlos M. de Castro, Zora R. Rogers, David Beenhouwer, Michael S. Broder, Suzanne R. Fanning, et al. “Modified Delphi panel consensus recommendations for management of severe aplastic anemia.” Blood Adv 8, no. 15 (August 13, 2024): 3946–60. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2023011642.
- Peffault de Latour, Régis, Morag Griffin, Richard J. Kelly, Jeff Szer, Carlos de Castro, Regina Horneff, Lisa Tan, Michael Yeh, and Jens Panse. “Hemolysis events in the phase 3 PEGASUS study of pegcetacoplan in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.” Blood Adv 8, no. 11 (June 11, 2024): 2718–25. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2024012672.
- Griffin, Morag, Peter Hillmen, Jeffrey Szer, Ilene C. Weitz, Alexander Roeth, Britta Hoechsmann, Jens Panse, et al. “Results of the Pegasus Phase 3 Randomized Trial Demonstrating Superiority of the C3 Inhibitor, Pegcetacoplan, Compared to Eculizumab in Patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria.” In BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, 193:63–65, 2021.
- De latour, Regis Peffault, Carlos M. De Castro, Jeffrey Szer, Kensuke Usuki, Peter Hillmen, Morag Griffin, Mohamed Hamdani, Temitayo Ajayi, Hisakazu Nishimori, and Ilene C. Weitz. “"Superiority of Pegcetacoplan Compared to Eculizumab in Patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria, Regardless of Prior Transfusion Requirement: Analysis at 16-weeks of PEGASUS Phase 3 Randomized Trial".” In BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, 193:189–90, 2021.
- Roeth, Alexander, Britta Hoechsmann, Morag Griffin, Carlos M. De Castro, Jeffrey Szer, Kensuke Usuki, Juliette Soret, et al. “Effect of Pegcetacoplan on Quality of Life in Patients with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria from the Pegasus Phase 3 Trial Comparing Pegcetacoplan to Eculizumab.” In BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, 193:198–99, 2021.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
-
Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
-
Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
-
Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
-
*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
-
Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
-
*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
-
Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
-
Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
-
Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
-
Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
-
NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
-
TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
-
United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
-
*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
-
**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.