Dr. Sharma is a nationally and internationally renowned physician scientist who is a pioneer in the field of immune checkpoint therapy. In 2006, Dr. Sharma designed and conducted the first neoadjuvant (pre-surgical) clinical trial with immune checkpoint therapy. Her work led to FDA-approval of immune checkpoint therapy for cancer patients, including patients with bladder cancer and patients with renal cell carcinoma. Currently, Dr. Sharma serves as the inaugural Scientific Director of the Immunotherapy Platform and she focuses on a "reverse translation" process that encompasses studies on human immune responses to generate hypotheses related to mechanisms of tumor rejection, which she tests in appropriately designed pre-clinical models, and subsequently uses the new data to design novel clinical trials to improve outcomes for patients with cancer. She is a Professor in the departments of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology and is also the Co-Director of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. She is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and was honored with the Women in Science with Excellence (WISE) award in 2020.