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Ellin Berman, MD

Ellin Berman, MD

Leukemia Specialist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Leukemia
  • Blood, bone marrow, and hematologic cancers and conditions
  • Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)

My Specialties

  • Clinical trials
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Dr. Berman's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist with a clinical and research focus on new drug development in acute and chronic leukemias, including acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). As a member of the multidisciplinary Leukemia Disease Management Team, I work closely with the many individuals who make up the clinical and research programs here.

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Along with other members of the Leukemia Service, I am involved in clinical trials of new drugs that hopefully will lead to new treatment approaches for these diseases. I have also worked closely with the Food and Drug Administration in this regard, and for the last 20 years have helped review new drug applications for the treatment of leukemia.

My current research focuses on understanding how the cells within the bone marrow interact with leukemia cells. We have recently shown that the drug imatinib — one of a relatively new class of agents called tyrosine kinase inhibitors that inhibit growth of CML cells — can also inhibit other cells within the bone marrow that affect growth of bone. In conjunction with researchers here and at other institutions, we have begun to examine how cells within the bone marrow communicate with each other.

I am also interested in why some patients with CML progress despite treatment with imatinib. In collaboration with colleagues here, we have begun to study abnormalities of the CML protein that may explain why imatinib is ineffective in some patients.

As a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, I am also involved in defining the standard of care for patients with CML. I am a member of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), the committee that approves, monitors, and reviews research studies at the Center. I am an Associate Editor for the journal Leukemia Research, and review articles for a number of other journals including Blood. the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Research, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

What I Do at MSK

A leukemia specialist is a doctor with special training in diagnosing and treating leukemia.

  • Attending Physician
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

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

My Specialties

  • Clinical trials
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Harvard Medical School

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - Boston University Medical Center

Fellowships

  • Hematology/Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Internal Medicine
  • Hematology
  • Medical Oncology

Awards and Honors

  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2025)
  • Castle Connolly: Exceptional Women in Medicine (2024)
  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2024)
  • Top Doctors New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly (2023)
  • Exceptional Women in Medicine Award, Castle Connolly (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: America's Top Doctors (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: New York Magazine Top Doctors (2017-2018)

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA and NYC retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

See updates

Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

See updates

Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Metroplus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

City Employee Health Plans (Gold and Gold Care)

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

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.

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Contact and Location

Dr. Berman sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
530 East 74th Street New York NY 10021
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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.

See all Leukemia Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
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. Berman’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

Doctors and faculty members 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.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members 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.

Ellin Berman discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


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, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). 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 [email protected].


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