Faculty
Vijay G Bhoj, MD PhD
Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
3400 Civic Ctr Blvd.
8-111 South Pavilion Extension
Philadelphia, PA 19104
8-111 South Pavilion Extension
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Lab: 215-573-8931
Email:
vbhoj@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
vbhoj@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Publications
Education:
B.S. (Biology)
The College of New Jersey, 2002.
MD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2010.
PhD (Immunology)
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2010.
Permanent linkB.S. (Biology)
The College of New Jersey, 2002.
MD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2010.
PhD (Immunology)
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2010.
Description of Clinical Expertise
Transfusion MedicineDescription of Other Expertise
Engineered Cell Therapy, ImmunotherapyDescription of Research Expertise
My clinical expertise is in transfusion medicine, which includes therapeutic apheresis and blood banking.My research expertise is in the area of cellular immunotherapy. Specifically, my laboratory conducts translational research that spans preclinical development of immunotherapies to patient correlative studies to phase I clinical trials.
While I have developed therapies for the treatment of cancer, my primary focus is on using engineered cells for immune modulation and treatment of non-malignant conditions such as autoimmunity and transplantation. In this regard, we have ongoing projects focused on immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (iTTP), Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis (MS), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Hemophilia A, and organ transplantation. Our preclinical studies involve in vitro, murine, and non-human primate models.
On the clinical research side, my lab has played lead roles in a number of studies of immunity in the context of CAR T cell therapy and/or vaccination and these efforts are ongoing. Finally, I serve in an advisory capacity and my lab assists with mechanistic studies related to a phase I CAR T cell trial for medullary thyroid carcinoma and I co-lead a phase I trial to evaluate the safety and utility of CAR T cells as a desensitization strategy in highly allosensitized kidney transplant candidates.
Selected Publications
Guruprasad P, Ramasubramanian R, Nason S, Carturan A, Liu S, Paruzzo L, Hornet V, Plesset J, Patel RP, Bhoj V, Beatty GL, Ruella M.: Manufacturing of CRISPR-edited primary mouse CAR T cells for cancer immunotherapy. Nature Protocols July 2025.Doshi BS, Markmann CA, Novak N, Rojas SJ, Davidson R, Chau JQ, Wang W, Carrig S, Rus CM, Samelson-Jones BJ, Small JC, Bhoj VG*, George LA*: Use of CD19-targeted immune modulation to eradicate AAV-neutralizing antibodies. Molecular Therapy March 2025 Notes: *co-corresponding authors.
Papadaki GF, Li Y, Monos DS, Bhoj VG: Cars pick up another passenger: Organ transplantation. Human Immunology November 2024.
Lee K, Chau JQ, Suber YB, Sternberg AR, Pishko AM, George LA, Bhoj VG, Doshi BS, Samelson-Jones BJ: Enhanced procoagulant activity of select hemophilia B causing factor IX variants with emicizumab. Blood September 2024.
Mack EA, Dougher MC, Ginda A, Cahill CQ, Murter M, Schell K, Tanhehco YC, Bhoj V, Fesnak AD, Siegel DL, Kambayashi T, Aqui N, O'Doherty U: Red cell exchange for rapid leukoreduction in adults with hyperleukocytosis and leukostasis. Blood March 2024.
Agarwal D, Liu C, Bhoj V, Kearns J, Bharani T, Choe I, Vivek K, O'Connor DH, Wiseman RW, Duquesnoy RJ, Naji A, Kamoun M: Adaptation of HLA testing to characterize the cynomolgus macaque MHC polymorphisms and alloantibody signatures. HLA January 2024.
Zhang Z, Markmann C, Yu M, Agarwal D, Rostami S, Wang W, Liu C, Zhao H, Ochoa T, Parvathaneni K, Xu X, Li E, Gonzalez V, Khadka R, Hoffmann J, Knox JJ, Scholler J, Marcellus B, Allman D, Fraietta JA, Samelson-Jones B, Milone MC, Monos D, Garfall AL, Naji A*, Bhoj VG*: Immunotherapy targeting B cells and long-lived plasma cells effectively eliminates pre-existing donor-specific allo-antibodies. Cell Report Medicine December 2023 Notes: *co-corresponding authors.
Baglaenko Y, Wagner C, Bhoj VG, Brodin P, Gershwin ME, Graham D, Invernizzi P, Kidd KK, Korsunsky I, Levy M, Mammen AL, Nizet V, Ramirez-Valle F, Stites EC, Williams MS, Wilson M, Rose NR, Ladd V, Sirota M: Making inroads to precision medicine for the treatment of autoimmune diseases: Harnessing genomic studies to better diagnose and treat complex disorders. Cambridge Prisms: Precision Medicine May 2023.
Mireia Uribe-Herranz, Silvia Beghi, Marco Ruella, Kalpana Parvathaneni, Silvano Salaris, Nektarios Kostopoulos, Subin S. George, Stefano Pierini, Guido Ghirardi, Kimberly V. Amelsberg, Yong Gu Lee, Raymone Pajarillo, Caroline Markmann, Bevin McGettigan-Croce, Noelle Frey, Simon F. Lacey, John Scholler, Khatuna Gabunia, Gary Wu, Elise Chong, David L. Porter, Carl H. June, Stephen J. Schuster, Vijay Bhoj and Andrea Facciabene: Modulation of the gut microbiota engages antigen cross-presentation to enhance antitumor effects of CAR T cell immunotherapy. Molecular Therapy March 2023.
Kavitha Muralidharan, Divyansh Agarwal, Ali Naji, and Vijay G. Bhoj: Therapeutic Opportunities for Immunoreceptor-Engineered T Cell Therapy for Modulation of Alloimmunity. The Journal of Immunology 209(10): 1811-1816, November 2022.
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