Dr. Merchant studies the interaction of cancer and the immune system. Most specifically he focuses on how the tumor microenvironment can drive the progression of cancer and promote resistance to treatments. He is an expert in spatial profiling of the tumor micrenvironment and he is the founding director of the Spatial Molecular Profiling core facility at Cedars Sinai Cancer. Dr. Merchant's clinical interests are in the care of patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. He is co-Director of the Lymphoma program and leads several clinical trials that offer novel therapies for patients with blood cancers. His ultimate goal is to better understand the immune response to cancer to better predict which patients will respond to treatment with immuno-oncology drugs and cellular therapies and to identify new immuno-oncology targets in the future.