Speakers
View Videos of the Conference:
Plenary Sessions Video
Concurrent Sessions Video
View Conference Photos
Photographs by Ed Cunicelli
Symposium Chairs
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Read More about Carl H. June, MD
Carl H. June, MD
Carl H. June, MD Website
Richard W Vague Professor in Immunotherapy
Director, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies
Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USACarl June, MD maintains a research laboratory that studies various mechanisms of lymphocyte activation that relate to immune tolerance and adoptive immunotherapy for cancer and chronic infection. In 2011, his research team published findings detailing a new therapy in which patients with refractory and relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia were treated with genetically engineered versions of their own T cells. The June laboratory has published more than >500 publications, and has a google scholar h-index of 155 with >100,000 citations. He currently serves as the Richard W. Vague Professor in immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and as the Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at the Perelman School of Medicine, as well as the Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including his election into the National Academies of Medicine and Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Read More about Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD
Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD
Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD Website
Yetta Deitch Novotny Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Lead, Pediatric Program, Abramson Cancer Center
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Section Chief, Cellular Therapy and Transplant, Division of Oncology
Director, Susan P. and Stephen S. Kelly Center for Cancer Immunotherapy
Medical Director, Cell and Gene Therapy Lab
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAStephan Grupp, MD PhD, is the Chief of the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section, Director of the Susan and and Steven Kelly Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Medical Director of the Cell and Gene Therapy Lab at CHOP, as well as the Novotny Professor of Pediatrics at the U Penn Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Grupp came to CHOP in 1996 after receiving his MD/PhD in Cincinnati and training in Boston. His primary area of research is the use of CAR T and other engineered cell therapies in pediatric cancers and other life-threatening disorders such as sickle cell disease. He led all of the pediatric ALL trials of CTL019, including Novartis’ international registration trial, leading to the first FDA approval of a CAR product as Kymriah. As a result of this work, he presented the Clinical Perspective at the first FDA ODAC CAR meeting. Dr. Grupp was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019.
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Read More about Bruce L. Levine, PhD
Bruce L. Levine, PhD
Bruce L. Levine, PhD Website
Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Founding Director of Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility
President, International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Bruce Levine, Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy, is the Founding Director of the Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility (CVPF) in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. (Biology) from Penn and a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from Johns Hopkins. First-in-human adoptive immunotherapy trials include the first use of a lentiviral vector, the first infusions of gene edited cells, and the first use of lentivirally-modified cells to treat cancer. Dr. Levine is co-inventor of the first FDA approved gene therapy (Kymriah), chimeric antigen receptor T cells for leukemia and lymphoma, licensed to Novartis. Dr. Levine is co-inventor on 30 issued US patents and co-author of >200 manuscripts and book chapters with a Google Scholar citation h-index of 101. He is a Co-Founder of Tmunity Therapeutics, and of Capstan Therapeutics both spinouts of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Levine is a recipient of the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award, the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation, the National Marrow Donor Program/Be The Match ONE Forum 2020 Dennis Confer Innovate Award, and serves as Immediate Past-President of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy. He has written for Scientific American and Wired and has been interviewed by the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, Time Magazine, National Geographic, Bloomberg, Forbes, BBC, and other international media outlets.
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Read More about David L. Porter, MD
David L. Porter, MD
David L. Porter, MD Website
Jodi Fisher Horowitz Professor of Leukemia Care Excellence
Director, Cell Therapy and Transplant
Abramson Cancer Center
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Porter is the Jodi Fisher-Horowitz Professor of Leukemia Care Excellence at the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center, and Director of Cell Therapy and Transplant at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated the University of Rochester and earned a medical degree at Brown University. He completed internship and residency at Boston University Hospital, and fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Porter chairs or serves on numerous local, national and international committees focused on hematologic malignancies, stem cell transplantation and cell therapy. He is a past Chair and emeritus member of the Board of Directors of the National Marrow Donor Program and serves on a number of cell therapy advisory boards, monitoring boards, and steering committees for several organizations including the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cell Therapy, the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards from local and national organizations that include recognition for Service, Professionalism and Mentorship.
Dr. Porter is an accomplished clinical investigator with research interests in development of novel approaches to cellular therapy and stem cell transplantation. He has an extensive publication record and has been the primary or co-author of over 200 research and review articles. He currently serves as the Deputy Editor of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (formerly Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation), and is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Hematology. Along with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania he has pioneered the successful development of CAR T cells for cancer. Other research highlights include development of novel trials designed to prevent GVHD after allogeneic SCT by blocking lymphocyte trafficking, and studies to enhance graft-vs-tumor activity at the time of transplant, after non-myeloablative therapy, and for relapse after SCT.
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Read More about Alexis A. Thompson MD, MPH
Alexis A. Thompson MD, MPH
Alexis A. Thompson MD, MPH Website
Elias Schwartz, MD, Endowed Chair in Hematology,
Chief of the Division of Hematology,
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Professor of Pediatrics,
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Alexis Thompson is Chief, Division of Hematology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and holds the Elias Schwartz MD Endowed Chair in Hematology. Previously, Dr. Thompson was the Hematology Section Head at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois and held the A. Watson and Sarah Armour Endowed Chair for Blood Diseases and Cancer from 2001 to 2021. She was also Professor of Pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. For over 12 years, Dr. Thompson was Associate Director for Equity and Minority Health at the Northwestern’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Thompson has co-authored over 160 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Her clinical interests include hemoglobinopathies (thalassemia and sickle cell disease), and stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients, including gene therapy. She has been an investigator on multi-center trials and as well as her own institutional clinical studies. Her most significant scientific contributions are clinical and translation studies to better understand and treat hemoglobinopathies. She has been a leader in multicenter collaborations, such as the NHLBI-funded Thalassemia Clinical Research Network and the Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium. She has served on regional and national on advisory committees for governmental agencies as well as non-profit organizations focused on improving healthcare access, increasing workforce diversity and reducing health disparities. She was the President of the American Society of Hematology in 2018.
Symposium Co-Chairs
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Read More about Trish M. Hankins, BSN, RN, CCRC
Trish M. Hankins, BSN, RN, CCRC
Trish M. Hankins, BSN, RN, CCRC Website
Senior Clinical Program Operations Manager
Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAAccomplished professional with excellent knowledge in the field of Cellular Therapy and Transplant and in the areas for genetically modified cellular therapies for nonmalignant and rare diseases. Extensive experience in personnel, project, program and systems management with attention to regulatory compliance and quality assurance. In current role with the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section (CTTS) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) oversees and implements administrative and programmatic functions in support of CTTS. This is inclusive of department administrative, research, quality and clinical support processes. Fosters engagement, team building and consensus through collaboration, and other professionally sound methods, and maintains working partnerships in a matrix reporting environment with clinical teams, including nurse practitioners, nursing leadership, pharmacy, physician leaders and other hospital entities which support CTTS
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Read More about Patricia Mangan, RN, MSN, CRNP, APRN-BC
Patricia Mangan, RN, MSN, CRNP, APRN-BC
Patricia Mangan, RN, MSN, CRNP, APRN-BC Website
Nurse Lead, Hematologic Malignancies Program
Abramson Cancer Center
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAPatricia A. Mangan, MSN, CRNP, is Nurse Coordinator of the Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Stem Cell Transplant Programs at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In addition, she works in collaborative practice with Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD, focusing on the care of patients with multiple myeloma and other blood cancers. She is also a Clinical Academic Associate at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. Ms. Mangan is a member of the Nursing Leadership Board of the International Myeloma Foundation.
She earned her Master of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a board-certified registered nurse practitioner (CRNP) and clinical nurse specialist.
An invited speaker on a broad number of topics that deal with bone marrow transplant, cellular immunotherapy, and the care of patients with hematologic malignancies, Patricia Mangan has lectured on both the local, national, and international level. The results of her work have appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as Science, Blood, Nursing, Bone Marrow Transplant, Clinical Journal of the Oncology Nursing Society (CJON), The Lancet Haematology and The Nurse Practitioner.
Keynote Speaker
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Read More about Drew Weissman, MD, PhD
Drew Weissman, MD, PhD
Drew Weissman, MD, PhD Website
Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research
Director of Vaccine Research, Infectious Diseases Division
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADrew Weissman, MD, PhD is a professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He received his graduate degrees from Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Weissman, in collaboration with Dr. Katalin Karikó, discovered the ability of modified nucleosides in RNA to suppress activation of innate immune sensors and increase the translation of mRNA containing certain modified nucleosides. The nucleoside-modified mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine platform Dr. Weissman’s lab created is used in the first 2 approved COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. They continue to develop other vaccines that induce potent antibody and T cell responses with mRNA–based vaccines. Dr. Weissman’s lab also develops methods to replace genetically deficient proteins, edit the genome, and specifically target cells and organs with mRNA-LNPs, including lung, heart, brain, CD4+ cells, all T cells, and bone marrow stem cells.
Special Guest Speaker
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Read More about Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil
Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil
Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil Website
Associate Professor of Medicine
Columbia University, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chair and Co-founder of VOR Biopharma
New York, NY, USASiddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction, and The Laws of Medicine. He is the editor of Best Science Writing 2013.
Siddhartha Mukherjee’s THE GENE: An Intimate History is his latest work – the story of the quest to decipher the master-code of instructions that makes and defines humans, that governs our form, function, and fate and determines the future of our children.
Mukherjee is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician and researcher. A Rhodes scholar, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. He has published articles in Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, and Cell. He lives in New York with his wife and daughters.
Speakers
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Read More about Haig Aghajanian, PhD
Haig Aghajanian, PhD
Haig Aghajanian, PhD Website
Co-Founder and Vice President of Research
Capstan Therapeutics
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USAHaig Aghajanian, PhD is Co-Founder, VP and Head of Research at Capstan Therapeutics, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania, he authored several high-impact publications including a study in Nature using CAR T cells to treat heart disease and a study in Science using targeted lipid nanoparticles to reprogram immune cells in vivo which led to the founding of Capstan. He received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Biology from Villanova University.
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Read More about Michael Allwin
Michael Allwin
Michael Allwin Website
Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking
Truist Securities
New York, NY, USAMichael Allwin recently joined Truist Securities as a Managing Director focused on Investment Banking coverage of the Biotech sector, based in New York. He joined Truist from Credit Suisse where he was also a senior member of the Life Sciences Investment Banking team focused on coverage in Biotech. Prior to Credit Suisse, Michael was a senior member of the Equity Capital Markets division of RBC Capital Markets where he led the origination and execution of equity and equity-linked transactions in the Biotech sector. Michael has significant experience in leading transactions in the Life Sciences sector, and has an extensive background in equity and equity-linked finance, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He currently serves as Head of Healthcare Equity Capital Markets at Truist.
Michael received his BA in Political Science and Economics from Bucknell University. He serves on the New York board of directors for Harlem Lacrosse & Leadership, a school-based non-profit organization.
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Read More about Arun Anand, MD
Arun Anand, MD
Arun Anand, MD Website
Chief Operating Officer and Board Director
Immuneel Therapeutics
Bengaluru Area, IndiaPhysician Business Leader experience in clinical development and strategic roles in biotech.
Currently, Chief Operating Officer at Immuneel Therapeutics - a young organisation driven by the desire to bring affordable cell and gene therapies for cancer to India.
Previously, Senior Director & Head, Global Portfolio Management, Biologics covering portfolio strategy and analytics, technology assessment and product differentiation strategy. Focus areas- Biologics and Biosimilars.
Earlier leadership experience heading Global Biologics Medical Affairs and Strategy, Clinical Development, program management and translational oncology; with expertise in Biologics Development (NBE and biosimilars)
Core Strength: Clinical development of Novel biologics and molecules in oncology and immunology. Special focus in early phase development Phase I and II in patients and Design. Hands on experience in Phase III clinical development strategy, and program development for biotech products including biosimilars for global markets, including Emerging Markets.
Specialties: Medical & Regulatory Strategy, Clinical development, Biologics & Biosimilars drug development, Emerging Markets Access, Program Management for Biotech, Translational research in oncology, immunology, cancer biomarkers, cancer vaccines, Molecular imaging.
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Read More about Diane Baniewicz, RN, MSN, CRNP
Diane Baniewicz, RN, MSN, CRNP
Diane Baniewicz, RN, MSN, CRNP Website
Nurse Practitioner on the Immunotherapy Team
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USADiane E. Baniewicz, RN, MSN, CRNP, has more than 30 years of pediatric hematology/oncology experience. She is currently a pediatric nurse practitioner in the Cancer Immunotherapy Program of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with a focus on caring for children receiving CAR T-cell therapy and their families. She received an RN from Chestnut Hill College, a BSN from La Salle University, and an MSN from Villanova University.
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Read More about Christiana Bardon, MD, MBA
Christiana Bardon, MD, MBA
Christiana Bardon, MD, MBA Website
Co-Managing Partner
BioImpact Capital
Boston, MA, USADr. Christiana (Chris) Bardon is Co-Managing Partner of BioImpact Capital, an affiliate manager of MPM, and leads the firm’s public market investing as portfolio manager for BioImpact Equities and the Oncology Impact Funds.
Previously, Chris was a health care analyst at Fidelity Investments covering biotechnology, life-science tools and diagnostics, and she started her career as an analyst at MPM. She currently serves on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows and is a Trustee of the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation.
Chris earned her M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. While at Harvard Medical School, she was the recipient of a Howard Hughes fellowship, and she completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She received her M.S./B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Read More about Samantha Barone, MSN, CPNP-AC, CPHON
Samantha Barone, MSN, CPNP-AC, CPHON
Samantha Barone, MSN, CPNP-AC, CPHON Website
Bone Marrow Transplant Nurse Practitioner
Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USASamantha Barone, MSN, CPNP-AC, CPHON is a nurse practitioner with the Blood and Marrow Transplant program in the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Samantha began her nursing career at Lurie Children’s hospital in Hematology, Oncology, Neuro-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant in 2014 after graduating with her BSN from Loyola University Chicago. In 2016 she continued her nursing career in the Oncology Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She obtained her MSN in Pediatric Acute Care with an oncology concentration from University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and joined the Blood and Marrow Transplant team in 2021. Samantha specializes in cell collection and donation and the CNS Autologous PSCT patient population; she also supports the Allogeneic and Autologous patients requiring admission for cellular therapy or transplant.
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Read More about Denise Belcher
Denise Belcher
Denise Belcher Website
Blood and Marrow Transplant Coordinator
Gene Therapy Coordinator
Cellular Therapy and Transplant
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USADenise Belcher is a Transplant and Gene Therapy Coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia within the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section (CTTS). She started her career at CHOP in 2015 in the Family Health Coverage Program, assisting families with obtaining insurance and financial assistance. She then transferred to Oncology/BMT as the dedicated Insurance Specialist and Financial Counselor. Denise also has experience in social work case management, non-profit organizational leadership, and has expertise with community-based resources including the criteria and application process. She holds an MBA from Eastern University with a focus on Healthcare Administration.
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Read More about Nikolas Buescher, MHS
Nikolas Buescher, MHS
Nikolas Buescher, MHS Website
Executive Director of Cancer Service Line
Penn Medicine / Lancaster General Health
Lancaster, PA, USANikolas Buescher has spent the last 17 years leading large, community-based cancer programs in the Midwest, the South, and the East Coast. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Cancer Services for Penn Medicine in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He holds both a Masters in Health Science and a Bachelors in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University, where he is also associate faculty for the Masters in Healthcare Administration program. He has been a frequent presenter on best practices in oncology population health, value-based care, and performance improvement at the Association of Community Cancer Centers, Oncology Nursing Society, and Epic Systems’ annual User Group Meetings and was proud to represent community-based cancer programs at then Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot summit. Penn's cancer program in Lancaster has many United States and world 'firsts', including first to administer Xofigo, first Cyberknife M6, first proton Pro Beam 360 and first community practice to administer Kymriah. The practice was one of the most successful groups in Medicare's Oncology Care Model value-based payment program, beating cost benchmarks every period for six years and consistently set the pace on both quality measures and patient experience.
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Read More about R. Carter Caldwell, MBA
R. Carter Caldwell, MBA
R. Carter Caldwell, MBA Website
Co-Investment Program Director
University of Pennsylvania Health System / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAAs the Penn Medicine Co-Investment Program Director, Carter leads Penn Medicine's investments in the cell therapy, gene therapy, mRNA, lipid nanoparticle, and connected health sectors. Utilizing multiple decades of experience as both an entrepreneur and an investor, he sources investment opportunities, manages relationships with co-investors, completes due diligence, and supports the governance of the funded companies.
Carter has spent much of his career in venture capital and private equity and has been particularly focused on spearheading new investment efforts within the Healthcare IT, SaaS and Enterprise Software, AI, and Fintech industries, among others. He was previously a Managing Director with Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, a venture capital firm with 4 funds and over $500 million under management.
He has a strong technology background, having founded and managed two software companies. Carter founded and served as COO of Quazant Technology, the developer of the Transaction Accelerator®, a high-speed transaction-processing database used in the Financial Services, Telecommunications and Enterprise Resource Planning industries. Prior to Quazant, Carter served as Director of Corporate Development and Product Manager at Acorn Systems, an activity-based cost analysis software and services company which was acquired by Ignite Technologies in July 2014.
Frequently published in industry journals, Carter is a guest lecturer at Villanova Law School, and is a regular guest speaker at many industry events. He has served as a Judge for the nationally-recognized Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Competition, Wharton Business Plan Competition, Wharton Sustainable VC Investment Competition, and the New York and New England Venture Summits.
Carter holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Read More about Colleen Callahan RN, MSN, CRNP
Colleen Callahan RN, MSN, CRNP
Colleen Callahan RN, MSN, CRNP Website
Nurse Practitioner in the Cancer Center
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA USAColleen Callahan RN, MSN, CRNP is a nurse practitioner on the Cancer Immunotherapy Team in the Oncology Division at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She has worked in pediatric oncology for 28 years and has been a nurse practitioner in the Division of Oncology for 23 years. She has worked in the Cancer Immunotherapy Program since 2013 caring for patients pre, during, and post CAR T cell therapy in the outpatient setting. She follows these patients from their initial referral to the Cancer Immunotherapy Team, through their T cell collection, T cell infusion, and then after infusion monitoring for side effects, adverse events, and long term effects and responses.
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Read More about Anna D’Aprile, MSN, RN
Anna D’Aprile, MSN, RN
Anna D’Aprile, MSN, RN Website
Nurse Manager, Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAAnna D’Aprile is the Nurse Manager of the Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Anna has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing in Healthcare Administration from Villanova University. Anna has been CPHON certified for 10 years. Anna began her career at CHOP as a Nurse Extern. Over the past 14 years, she has served in many roles including Clinical Nurse Expert and Clinical Supervisor for Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant and Interim Nurse Manager in Oncology Clinic Day Hospital and Day Medicine. For the past three years, Anna has served as the Nurse Manager for Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant. Anna has worked on hospital wide initiatives such as the Nurse Residency Advisory Board, the Integrated Rounding Workgroup and the Consumer Oriented Experience Tactic.
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Read More about Louis J. DeGennaro, PhD
Louis J. DeGennaro, PhD
Louis J. DeGennaro, PhD Website
President and CEO
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Rye Brook, NY, USALouis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., is president and chief executive officer of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a global leader in the fight against cancer. Dr. DeGennaro leads the mission and operations of this $400 million cancer patient advocacy agency with headquarters in Rye Brook, New York.
Dr. DeGennaro joined LLS as chief scientific officer in 2005, was appointed chief mission officer in 2009, and named president and CEO in September 2014.
As the key architect of LLS's cures and access agenda, Dr. DeGennaro conceived and pioneered LLS’s Therapy Acceleration Program® - a venture philanthropy approach to accelerating new treatments to patients through drug discovery and development partnerships with the biotechnology industry. LLS’s foray into venture philanthropy helped redefine the activist role of non-profits to meet urgent unmet medical needs. Under Dr. DeGennaro’s leadership LLS launched its groundbreaking precision medicine Beat AML® Master Trial in October 2016, leading the offensive against acute myeloid leukemia, one of the most deadly blood cancers.
Dr. DeGennaro has devoted his career to saving lives through drug discovery – first in academic research, later directing drug development at several pharmaceutical companies. At LLS he has found the perfect intersection of science and patient care, overseeing the funding of cutting-edge research, supporting patients and engaging in patient advocacy work. In addition to providing leadership and vision for his staff, he is committed to keeping a significant constituency of volunteers motivated and dedicated to the organization. -
Read More about Benjamin Dibling, PhD
Benjamin Dibling, PhD
Benjamin Dibling, PhD Website
Deputy Managing Director
Penn Center for Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USABen Dibling is Deputy Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, where he leads the licensing, corporate contracting, and corporate outreach groups. Ben’s team is responsible for working with Penn faculty, staff, and students to evaluate, protect and commercialize Penn inventions and discoveries, and to facilitate engagement with industry and start-up company formation. Prior to joining Penn in 2016, Ben was Senior Associate Director of Licensing in the Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research at UCLA. Ben started his career in technology transfer in 2004 as a marketing intern at UChicagoTech, the office of technology and intellectual property at the University of Chicago, and was the Program Manager in Oncology at the time he moved to UCLA in 2011.
Ben holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Medicine from the University of Leeds and a Bachelor of Medical Science from the University of Birmingham and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Ben is a member of AUTM, LES and past chair of the Board of Governors for Certified Licensing Professionals (CLP).
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Read More about Caroline Diorio, MD, FRCPC, FAAP
Caroline Diorio, MD, FRCPC, FAAP
Caroline Diorio, MD, FRCPC, FAAP Website
Attending Physician, Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Caroline Diorio is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist with a clinical focus on pediatric leukemias and the application of cellular immunotherapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CART) for children with difficult to treat leukemias. Dr. Diorio completed her medical school at the University of Toronto and pediatric residency at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She then completed a pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. During fellowship, she completed a Master of Science in Translational Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Diorio is currently an instructor working in translational research under the mentorship of Dr. David T. Teachey at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her research focus is on translating immunotherapies for childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) from the laboratory into the clinic, and on mechanistic understanding of the side effects of CART, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS).
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Read More about Bhavya S. Doshi, MD
Bhavya S. Doshi, MD
Bhavya S. Doshi, MD Website
Attending Physician, Division of Hematology
Assistant Director, Special Coagulation Laboratory
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USABhavya Doshi is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania. She is a pediatric hematologist with clinical and research interests in hemostatic disorders, with an emphasis in hemophilia. Her clinical research encompasses improved diagnostic approaches for bleeding disorders. Her basic science laboratory studies mechanisms of immune responses to therapies with the goal to translate these findings to novel therapies.
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Read More about Mark J. Duckworth
Mark J. Duckworth
Mark J. Duckworth Website
Senior Program Manager, Cell Therapy
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAMark Duckworth is the Sr. Program Manager for the Cell Therapy Program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Mark has administratively overseen the Cell Therapy Program for over 9 years and has taken on an institutional lead role to onboard several Cell and Gene Therapies over the last few years. He serves as the Vice-Chair on the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) Administrative Director Special Interest Group and Chair’s the Pediatric Administrative Director Subcommittee.
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Read More about Michael D. Farwell
Michael D. Farwell
Michael D. Farwell Website
Assistant Professor of Radiology
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Michael Farwell is an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his MD from Columbia University, is board-certified in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, and he holds a master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University. Dr. Farwell runs a translational research laboratory focused on the development of new methods for tracking cellular therapies and imaging the immune response to cancer immunotherapy via PET. Dr. Farwell serves as Principal Investigator on several clinical trials that utilize imaging biomarkers to guide more effective individualized treatment for cancer, including a trial to evaluate if an early tumor flare on FDG PET/CT predicts response to anti-PD-1 therapy. In addition, Dr. Farwell is the Imaging Lead for a multicenter Phase 2 PET/CT imaging trial that employs a 89Zr-labeled anti-CD8 minibody (89Zr-Df-Crefmirlimab) to image CD8+ T cells in patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Farwell is co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Immuno-Oncology Working Group and he is the Imaging Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Melanoma Committee.
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Read More about Noelle Frey, MD, MSCE
Noelle Frey, MD, MSCE
Noelle Frey, MD, MSCE Website
Constance and Sankey Williams Associate Professor (Hematology Oncology)
Director of Clinical Cellular Therapy, Cell and Transplant Therapy Program
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USANoelle V. Frey, MD, MSCE, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of Clinical Cellular Therapy, Cell and Transplant Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Her clinical and research interests focus on early phase clinical trials using novel therapeutics, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, in patients with leukemia. She received her BS from Yale University and her medical degree from Columbia University. She completed her residency and fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania where she was a recipient of both the Leukemia and Lymphoma Special Fellow in Clinical Research and the Robert Austrian Award for Translational Research.
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Read More about Lindsey A. George, MD
Lindsey A. George, MD
Lindsey A. George, MD Website
Tenure Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Attending Physician, Hematology
Director of Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Lindsey George is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy and Attending Hematologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her laboratory studies the molecular and cellular basis of coagulation. Specifically, her work focuses on mechanisms that regulate factor VIII/VIIIa cofactor function to improve understanding of associated disease states of deficiency (hemophilia A) or excess function (thrombosis). Ongoing translational studies in her group aim to exploit their biochemical insights of FVIII function to development novel gene-based therapies for hemophilia A. Dr. George previously led early phase, adeno-associated virus (AAV) mediated gene transfer trials for hemophilia A and B. Lastly, she directs the Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy group at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that supports all aspects of translational and clinical research in in vivo gene therapy as well as aims to safely and efficiently implement licensed AAV vectors across the institution.
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Read More about Saar I. Gill, MBBS, PhD, FRACP
Saar I. Gill, MBBS, PhD, FRACP
Saar I. Gill, MBBS, PhD, FRACP Website
Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology Oncology)
Scientific Co-Director, Cell Therapy and Transplant Program
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Gill obtained his medical degree and Ph.D in immunology from the University of Melbourne, and trained in hematology at St Vincent’s Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. In 2008 he moved to the United States, first to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in cellular therapy at Stanford University, and then in 2011 to the University of Pennsylvania where he is now an associate professor of medicine. Dr. Gill’s clinical practice is in leukaemia and bone marrow transplantation. He has led clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for chronic and acute leukemias. Dr. Gill’s research laboratory focuses on the interface between adoptive cellular therapy and genetic engineering.
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Read More about Jill P. Ginsberg, MD
Jill P. Ginsberg, MD
Jill P. Ginsberg, MD Website
Director, Cancer Survivorship Program
Director, Fertility Preservation Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Jill Ginsberg is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a pediatric oncologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program as well as the Director of the Fertility Preservation Program. Dr. Ginsberg spent her undergraduate years at Cornell University. She then attended medical school at Weill Cornell. She completed her pediatric residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and her pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has spent the last 20 years at CHOP building the Cancer Survivorship Program where children and adolescent survivors of pediatric cancers are followed for any long-term effects of their cancer and therapy. Additionally, she oversees the CHOP pediatric Fertility Preservation Program for young patients being treated with cancer therapies that can cause future infertility. The CHOP Fertility Preservation Program was the first in the nation to offer investigational options to prepubertal patients. To date, this program has facilitated fertility preservation for hundreds of pediatric oncology patients.
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Read More about Asthika Gooewardene, MBA
Asthika Gooewardene, MBA
Asthika Gooewardene, MBA Website
Managing Director, Senior Biotech Analyst
Truist Securities
New York, NY, USAAsthika Goonewardene is a Managing Director at Truist Securities covering biotechnology companies with a focus on cell therapy, immuno-oncology, and antibody technology. Prior to joining Truist Securities’ Biotech research team in 2019, Asthika was a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, leading coverage of the global biotech sector. Before joining Bloomberg in 2011, Asthika worked as a senior management consultant at Datamonitor. He started his career as an analyst at OSI Pharmaceuticals in 2005, and first joined the sell-side in 2007, with the biotech team at Piper Jaffray in London. Asthika holds a BS in Biotechnology and an MBA in Technology Management from Rochester Institute of Technology.
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Read More about Jennifer Harding, MPA
Jennifer Harding, MPA
Jennifer Harding, MPA Website
Administrative Director, Clinical In Vivo Gene Therapy
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAAs administrative director, Jennifer is responsible for overseeing the organizational, financial, contractual, and strategic planning activities within CIGT. She works closely with hospital partners to ensure institutional readiness for the implementation of both investigational and licensed gene therapies. She has over 15 years of experience implementing and managing complex, multisite research projects in leadership roles at various institutions spanning multiple divisions.
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Read More about Simon Harrison MBBS, MRCP(uk), FRCPath(uk), FRACP, PhDSimon Harrison MBBS, MRCP(uk), FRCPath(uk), FRACP, PhD
Simon Harrison MBBS, MRCP(uk), FRCPath(uk), FRACP, PhD Website
Simon Harrison MBBS, MRCP(uk), FRCPath(uk), FRACP, PhD
Simon Harrison MBBS, MRCP(uk), FRCPath(uk), FRACP, PhD Website
Director, Centre of Excellence for Cellular Immunotherapy
Director of Clinical Aphaeresis
Clinical Haematology
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital
Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre
Honorary Clinical Professor
Sir Peter MacCallum Dept of Oncology
Melbourne University
Victoria, AustraliaProfessor Simon Harrison is the Director of The Centre Of Excellence for Cellular Immunotherapy at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Director of Clinical apheresis, a leading Myeloma doctor and clinical scientist in the Sir Peter MacCallum department of oncology at the Melbourne University. Clinical Research: His clinical research is focused in the field of Multiple Myeloma examining novel therapies including novel drug combinations, early phase clinical trial design, the incorporation of novel biomarkers into clinical protocols and cellular immune therapy such as CAR-T .
Professor Harrison is also the chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) for Myeloma Australia.
Laboratory research: Professor Harrison work focuses on the immunopathology of multiple myeloma, the impact of novel drug combinations and cellular immune therapies. He is collaborating on the development of POL1 inhibitors in combination with other novel drugs to target ribosome biogenesis. -
Read More about Shahrukh K. Hashmi, MD
Shahrukh K. Hashmi, MD
Shahrukh K. Hashmi, MD Website
Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology)
Chair, Hematology & Oncology Division
Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City/Mayo Clinic Abu Dhabi
Rochester, MN, USA & United Arab EmiratesDr. Shahrukh Hashmi is the Medical Director of Research at SSMC, Abu Dhabi, UAE the chairperson of the Dept. of Hematology/Oncology at the SSMC, and the chairperson of SEHA Oncology Council. He graduated from Baqai Medical University, Pakistan, as the top graduate receiving Gold Medal from the President of Pakistan. He received Master’s Degree (MPH) from Yale University, Connecticut, USA. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Preventive Medicine/Public Health, Internal Medicine, and Hematology. He has been at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA for >10 years. He started Mayo Clinic’s first BMT survivorship program. He has served as PI or Co-PI on many industry-sponsored and NIH-sponsored trials. His research interests include premature aging, artificial intelligence, and GVHD. He is also involved in Stem Cell Therapeutics, particularly in regenerative hematology. He has authored >245 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including in JAMA, Lancet, and in NEJM. He chairs many national or international professional committees/groups including being the chair of the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplant’s Nuclear Accident committee (Geneva, Switzerland), founding chair of American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant Society’s Survivorship SIG (Chicago, Illinois), and co-chair of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Registry’s (CIBMTR) Health Services Committee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). He is also faculty at Khalifa University, UAE, and adjunct faculty at Mohamad Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, UAE, at their computer vision department.
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Read More about Kelly E. Heffner, MSW
Kelly E. Heffner, MSW
Kelly E. Heffner, MSW Website
Social Worker
Division of Oncology; Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAKelly Heffner, MSW is a social worker at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section. She provides supportive counseling, education, and resources to children and families who are undergoing bone marrow/stem cell transplants and CAR T-cell therapy. Kelly came to CHOP in January of 2022 after living in Florida for eight years, where she worked as a preschool teacher, research assistant, undergraduate tutor, and eventually a medical social worker. She received her Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University in 2017. Prior to coming to CHOP, Kelly worked as a medical social worker in Tallahassee, Florida where she supported the Pediatric, Pediatric Intensive Care, Neonatal Intensive Care, and Labor and Delivery units. Kelly is an active member of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers, and she facilitates a caregiver support group for inpatient families on the Oncology unit at CHOP.
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Read More about Elizabeth O. Hexner, MD, MSTR
Elizabeth O. Hexner, MD, MSTR
Elizabeth O. Hexner, MD, MSTR Website
Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology Oncology)
Medical Director, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Hexner is an Associate Professor of Medicine and has two major clinical and research interests: novel cellular therapies and innovation in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). She serves as the Medical Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and as Director of the Penn MPN program. She is also an Associate Director for the Masters in Translational Research program and co-directs a course in Cell and Gene Therapy at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
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Read More about Katherine A. High, MD
Katherine A. High, MD
Katherine A. High, MD Website
Visiting Professor, Rockefeller University
Emerita Professor of Pediatrics
Founding Director, Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia / Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Co-founder, Former President and Chief Scientific Officer, Spark Therapeutics
New York, NY / Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Katherine High has enjoyed a 30+ year career in internal medicine, hematology, molecular genetics, and gene therapy. She served as the inaugural director of a Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) devoted to development of cell and gene therapies for diseases that affect the pediatric population. At CHOP she was also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. High served a 5-year term on the U.S. FDA Advisory Committee on Cell, Tissue and Gene Therapies and is a past president of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. In 2013, she co-founded Spark Therapeutics where she served as President, CSO, and member of the Board of Directors until Dec 2019 when Spark was acquired by Roche. Subsequently Dr. High left the organization, and in January 2021 joined AskBio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer as President of Therapeutics and member of the Board of Directors. In December 2022, she left AskBio to become a Visiting Professor at Rockefeller University. Dr. High received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University, an MD from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, a business certification from the University of North Carolina Business School’s Management Institute for Hospital Administrators and a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians (London), and the National Academy of Sciences.
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Read More about Wendy Hobbie, MSN, CRNP, FAAN
Wendy Hobbie, MSN, CRNP, FAAN
Wendy Hobbie, MSN, CRNP, FAAN Website
Associate Director, Cancer Survivorship Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAWendy Hobbie, MSN, CRNP, FAAN is the Associate Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the first comprehensive follow-up clinic in the United States. She has co-authored/edited three editions of Childhood Cancer Survivors, and Survivors of Childhood Cancer: Assessment and Management (now in its third edition). She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as the late effects of treatment for childhood cancer, the role of the nurse practitioner in follow-up care, and risk taking and decision making by survivors of childhood cancer. For 40 years, she has empowered survivors with the knowledge to advocate for themselves in the healthcare system and society.
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Read More about Mitchell E. Hughes, PharmD, BCOP
Mitchell E. Hughes, PharmD, BCOP
Mitchell E. Hughes, PharmD, BCOP Website
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (Hematology/Oncology/Cellular Therapy)
Lymphoma Program and Lymphoma Translational Research
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA USAMitchell E. Hughes, PharmD, BCOP is a hematology/oncology clinical pharmacy specialist with the Lymphoma Program at the Abramson Cancer Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his pharmacy education at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and then PGY-1 residency and PGY-2 hematology/oncology residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During his time at Penn Medicine, he works in an interdisciplinary environment in both clinical and research capacity. He has a number of publications and presentations in malignant and non-malignant diseases, including lymphoma, myeloma, CAR T-cell therapies, amyloidosis, PTLD, as well as oncology pharmacy practice topics. He is an active member of ASH, ACCP, ASHP and HOPA, a preceptor for PGY1 and PGY2 residents as well as local schools of pharmacy. Mitchell’s areas of interest include hematologic malignancies, cellular therapeutics, personalized diagnostics, and oral oncolytics.
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Read More about Tiffany Ivers, BSN, RN
Tiffany Ivers, BSN, RN
Tiffany Ivers, BSN, RN Website
Clinical Supervisor
Orientation Coordinator
Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USATiffany Ivers graduated with her BSN from Thomas Jefferson University in 2005 and shortly after, began her nursing career at CHOP. She started working on the inpatient Oncology Bone Marrow Transplant unit in 2012. After being involved in unit leadership positions such as charge nurse, resource nurse, orientation coordinator, and flow facilitator she then transitioned to the Clinical Supervisor role in 2018. Through coordinating orientation for new to practice nurses and in supporting growth among nurses on the unit, Tiffany ensures patients and families receive the highest quality care. She is passionate about her career and always eager to support advancements in Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy.
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Read More about John L. Jackson, Jr., PhD
John L. Jackson, Jr., PhD
John L. Jackson, Jr., PhD Website
Provost-Designate
Dean, Walter H. Annenberg School of Communications
Richard Perry University Professor
University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAJohn L. Jackson, Jr., is the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Richard Perry University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is the author of Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America (University of Chicago Press, 2001); Real Black: Adventures in Racial Sincerity (University of Chicago Press, 2005); Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness (Basic Civitas, 2008); Thin Description: Ethnography and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (Harvard University Press, 2013); Impolite Conversations: On Race, Politics, Sex, Money, and Religion, co-written with Cora Daniels (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2014), and Televised Redemption: Black Religious Media and Racial Empowerment (NYU Press, 2016), co-written with Carolyn Rouse and Marla Frederick. He is also editor of Social Policy and Social Justice (2016), distributed by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
An urban researcher, media ethnographer, anthropologist of religion, and theorist of race/ethnicity, Jackson’s work also critically explores how film and other non-traditional or multi-modal formats can be most effectively utilized in specifically scholarly research projects.
He is currently a faculty member at Penn’s new Center for Experimental Ethnography, and he has affiliations with Penn’s Departments of Africana Studies and Anthropology, as well as with the Graduate School of Education and the School of Social Policy & Practice. On June 1st 2023, he will become Penn’s 31st Provost.
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Read More about J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD
J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD
J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD Website
Executive Vice President, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System
Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAJ. Larry Jameson, M.D., Ph.D., became Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine on July 1, 2011. Together, the two entities make up Penn Medicine, an $9 billion enterprise dedicated to excellence in the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and patient care.
Founded in 1765 as the Colonies’ first medical school, the Perelman School of Medicine is now home to over 2,800 full-time faculty members and more than 4,000 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The School receives $900 million in sponsored program research. The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes multiple nationally ranked hospitals, a faculty practice plan, a primary care network, and advanced care clinical service lines.
Dr. Jameson received his medical degree with honors and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1981. He completed clinical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where he rose through the ranks at Harvard Medical School to become an associate professor of medicine and chief of the Thyroid Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined Northwestern University Medical School in 1993 as chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, a position he held for seven years. In 2000, he was named Irving S. Cutter Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine. In 2007, Dr. Jameson was appointed as Dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Northwestern University, serving until he joined Penn Medicine.
A prolific physician-scientist and writer, Dr. Jameson has been a pioneer in molecular biology in the field of endocrinology. His research has focused on the genetic basis of hormonal disorders, and he is the author of more than 350 scientific articles and chapters. His work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Genetics, Science, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He is an Editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, the most widely used medical text worldwide, and previously served as co-editor of Jameson and DeGroot’s Endocrinology.
Among his many professional distinctions and honors, Dr. Jameson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies in academia, and the National Academy of Medicine, established to recognize professional achievement in the health sciences. He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and as a Master of the American College of Physicians. He has served as a member of the medical advisory board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chair of the Biomedical Research Council for Cambridge University, and as a Director of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has served as president of the Endocrine Society and the Association of American Physicians. He currently serves as immediate past chair of the Board of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Jameson has received many distinguished awards, including the Van Meter Award from the American Thyroid Association and the Sheen Award from the American College of Surgeons. The Endocrine Society has bestowed the Ernst Oppenheimer Award, presented to an outstanding young investigator and the Fred Conrad Koch Award, considered the highest honor bestowed by the Society. From the American College of Physicians, Dr. Jameson received the Award for Outstanding Science and John Phillips Award for outstanding work in clinical medicine. As a visiting professor, he has been invited to leading institutions around the world.
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Read More about Danielle Land, MSN, CRNP
Danielle Land, MSN, CRNP
Danielle Land, MSN, CRNP Website
Nurse Practitioner (Hematology Oncology)
Abramson Cancer Center
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USA -
Read More about Brooke Leibfreid, BSN, RN
Brooke Leibfreid, BSN, RN
Brooke Leibfreid, BSN, RN Website
Nurse Navigator, Cancer Immunotherapy Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USABrooke Leibfreid, BSN, RN, is an Oncology Nurse Navigator for the CAR T-cell therapy program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. To date she has navigated over 300 oncology patients in the immunotherapy program, specifically CAR T-cell therapy from referral, infusion, to follow up. The entirety of her nursing career has been spent in oncology. Brooke began her nursing career in pediatric oncology, transitioned to adult oncology nurse navigation, and returned to CHOP as the CAR T-cell therapy nurse navigator. Brooke has worked one on one with patients, educated the public, created public programs for cancer screening, and collaborated with physicians to navigate oncology patients and their families. She received her B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Delaware and her BSN from Villanova University.
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Read More about Wendell Lim, PhD
Wendell Lim, PhD
Wendell Lim, PhD Website
Wendell Lim, PhD
Byers Distinguished Professor
Dept of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology
Director, UCSF Cell Design Institute
Director, UCSF Center for Synthetic Immunology (NIH IOTN-i3 Center)
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA, USAWendell Lim, PhD is the Byers Distinguished Professor of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California San Francisco, and the Director of the UCSF Cell Design Institute. He received his A.B. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Harvard College, his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his postdoctoral training at Yale University. His research focuses on the design principles of molecular circuits that govern cell decision-making and responses. His lab has made contributions in understanding the molecular machinery of cell signaling and how molecular modules have been used in evolution to build novel new behaviors. Most recently he has been a pioneer in the emerging field of synthetic biology, exploring how these design principles can be harnessed to engineer cells with customized therapeutic response programs. He is an author of the textbook, Cell Signaling (Garland Science 2014) and the founder of the cell therapy biotech startup, Cell Design Labs, which was acquired by Gilead Biosciences in 2017.
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Read More about David R. Liu, PhD
David R. Liu, PhD
David R. Liu, PhD Website
Richard Merkin Professor and Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare
Director of the Chemical Biology and Therapeutic Sciences Program
Core Institute Member and Vice-Chair of the Faculty, Broad Institute
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences and Professor of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA, USADavid R. Liu, PhD is the Richard Merkin Professor and director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, vice-chair of the faculty at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator. Liu’s research integrates chemistry and evolution to illuminate biology and enable next-generation therapeutics. His major research interests include the engineering, evolution, and in vivo delivery of genome editing proteins such as base editors and prime editors to study and treat genetic diseases; the evolution of proteins with novel therapeutic potential using phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE); and the discovery of bioactive synthetic small molecules and synthetic polymers using DNA-templated organic synthesis and DNA-encoded libraries. Base editing—the first general method to perform precision gene editing without double-stranded breaks, and a Science 2017 Breakthrough of the Year finalist—as well as prime editing, PACE, and DNA-templated synthesis are four examples of technologies pioneered in his laboratory. These technologies are used by thousands of labs around the world and have enabled the study and potential treatment of many genetic diseases. Three base editing clinical trials are already underway to treat leukemia, hypercholesterolemia, and sickle-cell disease.
Liu graduated first in his class at Harvard College in 1994. During his doctoral research at UC Berkeley, Liu initiated the first general effort to expand the genetic code in living cells. He earned his PhD in 1999 and became assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University in the same year. He was promoted to associate professor in 2003 and to full professor in 2005. Liu became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2005 and joined the JASONs, academic science advisors to the U.S. government, in 2009. In 2016 he became a Core Institute Member and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Director of the Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program.
Liu has published more than 230 papers and is the inventor on more than 90 issued U.S. patents. Liu has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the 2022 King Faisal Prize Laureate in Medicine. He has earned several University-wide distinctions for teaching at Harvard, including the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize, the Roslyn Abramson Award, and a Harvard College Professorship. His research accomplishments have earned distinctions including the Ronald Breslow Award for Biomimetic Chemistry, the American Chemical Society David Perlman Award, ACS Chemical Biology Award, the American Chemical Society Pure Chemistry Award, the Arthur Cope Young Scholar Award, the NIH Marshall Nirenberg Lecturer, and awards from the Sloan Foundation, Beckman Foundation, NSF CAREER Program, and Searle Scholars Program. In 2016, 2019, and 2020 he was named one of the Top 20 Translational Researchers in the world by Nature Biotechnology, and was named one of Nature’s 10 researchers in world and to the Foreign Policy Leading Global Thinkers in 2017. Liu is the founder or co-founder of several public and private biotechnology and therapeutics companies, including Beam Therapeutics, Prime Medicine, Editas Medicine, Pairwise Plants, Exo Therapeutics, Chroma Medicine, Resonance Medicine, and Nvelop Therapeutics.
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Read More about Frederick Locke, MD
Frederick Locke, MD
Frederick Locke, MD Website
Program Co-Leader, Immuno-Oncology
Chair, Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Tampa, FL, USADr. Frederick L. Locke is a medical oncologist, cellular therapist, and translational investigator dedicated to discovering and implementing ways to use the immune system against lymphoid malignancies. He is Chair of the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Immunotherapy and Co-Leader of the Immuno-Oncology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center. As Program Leader for Cellular Immunotherapy at Moffitt, Dr. Locke assembled the team of faculty and staff focused on Cellular Immunotherapy, from Moffitt’s first CAR-T patient in 2015 to the current pace of treating ~300 CAR-T patients per year.
Dr. Locke serves as Vice-Chair of the Cellular Therapies Committee, and Co-Chair of the 80/20 Subcommittee, of the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. He is also a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program Committee, the American Society of Hematology Subcommittee on Emerging Gene and Cell Therapies, and a member of the American Association of American Cancer Institute’s CAR T Working Group Steering Committee.
Dr. Locke has extensive experience in the design and conduct of CAR-T trials and correlative analyses. Dr. Locke is a first or senior author on numerous high impact publications, including articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, and Blood. His translational research laboratory is focused on bedside to bench science seeking to better understand why CAR-T does not always work, and ways to increase efficacy. He also passionately seeks ways to universally increase availability and access to Cellular Immunotherapies.
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Read More about Alison W. Loren, MD, MSCE
Alison W. Loren, MD, MSCE
Alison W. Loren, MD, MSCE Website
C. Willard Robinson Professor of Hematology-Oncology
Chief, Division of Hematology Oncology
Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Vice Chair, Faculty Development, Department of Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Alison Loren is Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the C. Willard Robinson Professor of Hematology-Oncology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of Blood & Marrow Transplant in the Cell Therapy & Transplant Program at the Abramson Cancer Center.
Dr. Loren specializes in hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Her clinical and research interests focus on outcomes in HCT, fertility preservation and pregnancy, and long-term survivorship. She has formal training in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and clinical trial design and implementation, having earned a Master’s degree during her clinical fellowship in hematology/oncology.
Dr. Loren has extensive experience in collaborative clinical research. She has served as At-Large Member of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Registry’s (CIBMTR) Advisory Board, Chair of the Fertility Working Group of the Late Effects Committee for the CIBMTR, Program Committee Member of the inaugural ASCO/ACP/AAFP Cancer Survivorship Symposium, and co-Chair of the CIBMTR’s Regimen-Related Toxicity Working Committee. She was the Co-Chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Education Program for the 2021 annual meeting and serves as ASH Councilor (2019-2023). She has co-chaired ASCO’s Fertility Preservation Guideline committee and serves as Chair of the NCCN’s Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Guideline committee.
Dr. Loren earned her A.B from Harvard University (Biology), her M.D. from Washington University, and her M.S.C.E. from the University of Pennsylvania (Clinical Epidemiology).
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Read More about Rachel K. Lundberg, PA-C
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Read More about Kaitlyn Lyons
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Read More about Román Macaya Hayes, PhD
Román Macaya Hayes, PhD
Román Macaya Hayes, PhD Website
Former Executive President
Costa Rican Social Security System
San Jose, Costa RicaRoman Macaya was a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow (Fall 2022) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He recently concluded his term as Executive President and Chairman of the Board of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, the institution that provides all public healthcare services in Costa Rica. He led the country´s health care response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, Roman served as Costa Rica´s Ambassador to the United States under both Democrat and Republican Administrations.
Roman has developed a multidisciplinary career as a biomedical scientist, businessman, diplomat, advocate, and public servant. Roman has led R&D teams in biomedical research and has held leadership roles in the fields of clinical research, private equity, health care consulting, and agribusiness. He has a strong understanding of regulatory matters in both the pharmaceutical and crop protection industries. Roman is first author on numerous scientific publications and lead inventor on several patent applications.
Roman holds an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UCLA, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Middlebury College.
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Read More about René Machietto, MS, MLS (ASCP)CM
René Machietto, MS, MLS (ASCP)CM
René Machietto, MS, MLS (ASCP)CM Website
Supervisor of the Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAMs. Rene Machietto is an American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) certified cellular therapy specialist with comprehensive knowledge of cell and gene therapies for immunological malignancies and disorders. She specializes in processing cellular therapy products, promoting collaboration with internal and external groups, and implementing novel therapies. Her current role as supervisor of the Cell and Gene Therapy Laboratory (CGTL) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which is a cGMP facility processing a wide variety of cellular and gene therapy products, has her overseeing the daily operations of the CGTL, including onboarding new staff and technologies while maintaining regulatory compliance. In her role, she partners extensively with clinical teams from product collection to infusion, and works closely with investigators both internal and from industry, to launch and implement numerous clinical trials in a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment. Prior to joining CHOP, she worked as a technologist and then supervisor at Moffitt Cancer Center in the Cellular Therapy Laboratory.
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Read More about Crystal Mackall, MD
Crystal Mackall, MD
Crystal Mackall, MD Website
Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford University
Director, Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy
Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Stanford
Associate Director, Stanford Cancer Institute
Stanford, California, USACrystal Mackall, MD is the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Stanford University. She serves as Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy, Associate Director of Stanford Cancer Institute and Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Stanford. She leads an internationally recognized translational research program with a major focus on engineered cell therapies. Her work has advanced understanding of fundamental immunology and has translated this understanding for the treatment of human disease. She is the co-inventor on dozens of patents filed and pending and has founded three biotechnology companies focused on cellular immunotherapies (Lyell Immunopharma, CARGO Therapeutics and Link Cell Therapies). She serves in numerous national leadership positions, including co-Leader of the NCI U54 Pediatric Immunotherapy Discovery and Development Network, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Richard V Smalley Award from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer and the AACR-St. Baldrick’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and is a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research and is Board Certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Internal Medicine.
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Read More about Kevin B. Mahoney, DBA
Kevin B. Mahoney, DBA
Kevin B. Mahoney, DBA Website
CEO, University of Pennsylvania Health System,
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAKevin B. Mahoney, DBA is Chief Executive Officer for the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS). He assumed this role on July 1, 2019.
Beginning in 1996, Kevin's leadership posts at Penn Medicine have included serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of UPHS, Executive Vice Dean of the Perelman School Medicine, and Senior Vice President of UPHS. He also served as Executive Director of Phoenixville Hospital, as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for Clinical Care Associates, and as Director of Network Development.
Kevin's operational portfolio at Penn Medicine has included information technology, strategic planning, the primary care network, human resources and capital planning. He has led several transformative construction projects which have expanded and enhanced Penn Medicine's clinical care, teaching and research missions, including the Smilow Center for Translational Research and the Henry A. Jordan M'62 Medical Education Center. He oversaw the implementation of a common electronic health record platform across five hospitals, numerous outpatient clinics, and home care – the only comprehensive system of its kind in the Philadelphia region.
He directs the development and construction of a new $1.5 billion hospital, The Pavilion, on Penn Medicine's West Philadelphia campus, which will house inpatient care for the Abramson Cancer Center, heart and vascular medicine and surgery, neurology and neurosurgery and a new emergency department. The Pavilion, which will be the largest capital project in Penn's history, is expected to be completed in 2021.
Prior to joining UPHS, Kevin served as Vice President for Johnson & Higgins, where he provided leadership to the Health Group, including risk transfer and alternative risk management strategies. He also served as Vice President for Administration for nine years at Bryn Mawr Hospital, and as Director of Administrative Services for Episcopal Hospital for three years.
He is a graduate of Millersville State College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Economics, and he holds an MBA and a doctorate from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.
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Read More about Carrie Marvill, MSN, RN, AOCNS, NE-BC
Carrie Marvill, MSN, RN, AOCNS, NE-BC
Carrie Marvill, MSN, RN, AOCNS, NE-BC Website
Cellular Therapy and Transplant (CTT) Program Manager
Abramson Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital
University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USACarrie Marvill is the Program Manager of the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Program at the Abramson Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital. She has previously held roles in management, education, and bedside nursing, caring for some of the first adult patients to receive CAR T-cell therapy. She is a member and past-president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. Her professional interests include patient-centered care, healthcare innovation, and providing quality care to people in the Transfusion-Free medicine program.
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Read More about Marcela V. Maus, MD, PhD
Marcela V. Maus, MD, PhD
Marcela V. Maus, MD, PhD Website
Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director of Cellular Immunotherapy, Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA, USAMarcela Maus, M.D., Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, the Paula O’Keefe Chair in Oncology and Director of Cellular Immunotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, an Attending Physician in the Hematopoietic Cell Transplant and Cell Therapy division of Oncology at MGH. She is an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard.
Dr. Maus is internationally known for her work as a translational physician-scientist in the field of immunology, particularly as it relates to T-cell immunotherapies and cellular therapies in the treatment of cancer. Her laboratory focuses on the biology of human T cell activation, costimulation, and memory, and on the application of human T cell therapies to human disease, including forward and reverse translation of engineered T cell therapies in early-phase clinical trials. She has authored over 100 papers indexed in Pubmed and holds multiple NIH R01 grants and several Investigational New Drug Applications (IND’s).
Dr. Maus completed undergraduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and holds graduate degrees (M.D., Ph.D.) from University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Maus trained in internal medicine at University of Pennsylvania and in hematology and medical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She also serves on several scientific and clinical advisory boards for the biotechnology industry as well as external academic medical centers.
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Read More about Elizabeth A. McBride, BA, CCRC
Elizabeth A. McBride, BA, CCRC
Elizabeth A. McBride, BA, CCRC Website
Clinical Research Program Manager, Cancer Immunotherapy Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAElizabeth McBride is a Clinical Research Program Manager with the Cell Therapy and Transplant Section at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2015, she joined the growing Cell Therapy team after having been a part of CHOP’s Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine research team for four years. Originally working as a Clinical Research Coordinator on several cell therapy trials, her role now focuses on managing internal research organization processes and infrastructure. Elizabeth has a special interest in growing and developing staff with a focus on quality performance.
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Read More about Barbara McGlynn, BSN, RN
Barbara McGlynn, BSN, RN
Barbara McGlynn, BSN, RN Website
Research Nurse Coordinator, Neuroblastoma Developmental Therapeutics Program
Research Coordinator, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USABarbara McGlynn is the Supervisor of BMT Research Operations at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she currently coordinates all of the BMT study activities. She started her career in nursing in the Oncology/BMT department at CHOP in 1989. She worked as an inpatient nurse for 15 years and incorporated research activities into her practice. She transferred to a research coordinator role with the Children’s Oncology Group, and then the Neuroblastoma Developmental Therapeutics team. After 10 years, she transitioned to her role with the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section o and the Transplant team within CHOP.
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Read More about Harry Miao
Harry Miao
Harry Miao Website
Vice President, Clinical Development
Kite Pharma
Santa Monica, CA, USAOver two decades experience in biopharmaceutical drug development. Clinical development experience has covered small molecule, monoclonal antibody, antibody drug conjugate, and cell therapy. In late-stage clinical development, he led teams successfully obtained global registrations for a few major lymphoma indications such as Hodgkin lymphoma, T-cell lymphoma, and non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. At Kite, he is responsible for clinical development of axicabtagene ciloleucel and brexucabtagene autolucel in relevant B-cell malignancies. The goal is to enable access of the effective novel therapy to as many patients as possible around the globe with diversified ethnic background.
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Read More about Joline A. Miceli-Mullen, Esq.
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Read More about David Miklos, MD, PhD
David Miklos, MD, PhD
David Miklos, MD, PhD Website
Chief, Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
Professor of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA, USADr. David Miklos is the Chief of Stanford BMT and Cell Therapy Division of Medicine leading a multi-modality research group that fosters the development of both laboratory immunologists, and clinical translational researchers. The Miklos lab first pioneered protein microarray technologies to discover clinically relevant allogeneic antibodies. Their discovery that allogeneic HY antibodies develop in association with chronic GVHD revealed a critical B cell role in cGVHD pathogenesis and our clinical trials established cGVHD therapeutic benefits using anti-B cell drugs rituximab and FDA approval of Ibrutinib in 2017.
Dr. Miklos led chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) trials supporting the FDA approval of second and third line axicabtagene ciloleucel for patients with rel/ref aggressive large B cell lymphoma and brexucabtagene autoleucel for mantle cell lymphoma. His research identified antigen loss and CAR-Tregs as mechanisms of CAR-T treatment failure following CAR19 therapy for lymphoma. His clinical translational CAR-T research lab quantifies tumor antigen density, characterizes blood and tumor CAR-T expansion (CAR-FACS), and pioneered lymphoma circulating tumor DNA for lymphoma MRD assessment.
Dr. David Miklos was an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his MD and a PhD in Genetics at Yale Medical School before training as a hematologist – oncologist and bone marrow transplant clinician at Brigham and Woman’s hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University. Dr. Miklos Joined Stanford University in 2004 and became Chief of BMT & Cell Therapy Program in 2020.
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Read More about Michael C. Milone, MD, PhD
Michael C. Milone, MD, PhD
Michael C. Milone, MD, PhD Website
Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Milone is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. His research is focused on the development of engineered T cell immunotherapies. Cancer is a major focus of Dr. Milone’s research with an emphasis on B- cell malignancies especially multiple myeloma. He has also been a pioneer in exploring applications of engineered T cells to non-malignant disease, most notably antibody-mediated autoimmune disease. A co-inventor of tisagenlecleucel (CTL019, KymriahÒ), the first US FDA-approved gene therapy that employs T cells genetically modified with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting CD19 for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, Dr. Milone’s research has led to over 200 pending and granted patents filed in the area of CAR technology and engineered T cell therapy, placing him consistently in the top 10 inventors in the area (Lyu L et al Nat Biotech 2020, PMID: 33273733). Dr. Milone is also a scientific co-founder and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Boards for Cabaletta Bio (NASDAQ: CABA) and Verismo Therapeutics that are developing technologies developed in his laboratory.
Dr. Milone received his M.D. and Ph.D. in experimental pathology in 1999 from New Jersey Medical School and UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He has completed post-graduate medical training in internal medicine, clinical pathology, transfusion medicine and clinical chemistry/toxicology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his active translational research program in T cell-based immunotherapy, Dr. Milone is also a practicing clinical pathologist and Associate Director of the Toxicology Laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Read More about Lauren Murdza, Esq.
Lauren Murdza, Esq.
Lauren Murdza, Esq. Website
Life Science & Corporate Transactional Partner
DLA Piper
Philadelphia, PA, USALauren Murdza is a corporate attorney who advises life sciences, healthcare, biotech, medical device and technology companies and universities, in connection with technology transactions and general corporate matters. She represents clients in a broad range of commercial and corporate activities, including early-stage licensing and development agreements, global collaboration and promotional agreements, product acquisitions and divestitures, merger and acquisitions and private company financings.
Lauren's clients range from emerging growth companies to Fortune 500 companies in the US and Europe, specifically in the life sciences and technology sectors.
In addition, Lauren advises clients on day-to-day commercial agreements, such as research and development agreements, clinical trial agreements, joint development agreements, licenses, manufacturing and distribution agreements, promotional agreements, joint ventures and corporate partnering arrangements. She has a depth of experience in commercial contracts and management of large commercial contract portfolios for global clients.
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Read More about Vivek K. Narayan, MD, MSCE
Vivek K. Narayan, MD, MSCE
Vivek K. Narayan, MD, MSCE Website
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Vivek Narayan, MD, MSCE is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center. His clinical and research interests are specifically focused on the care of patients with advanced prostate cancer and kidney cancer. He serves as principal investigator on several therapeutic oncology clinical trials, including multiple investigator-initiated studies and immune and cellular therapies for advanced prostate cancer. He additionally seeks to improve survivorship care for patients with cancer, including the evaluation and management of cardiac toxicities of cancer therapies for prostate and kidney cancers. Dr Narayan’s early career achievements have been nationally recognized, with selection as the 2018 AUA Urology Care Foundation Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award, as well as a recipient of the 2018 Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award. He has received research funding from the American Cancer Society, American Urological Association, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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Read More about Donald M. O'Rourke, MD
Donald M. O'Rourke, MD
Donald M. O'Rourke, MD Website
John Templeton, Jr., M.D. Professor in Neurosurgery
Director, Glioblastoma Translational Center of Excellence (TCE), Abramson Cancer Center
Director, Human Brain Tumor Tissue Bank
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADonald M. O’Rourke, MD is the inaugural holder of the John Templeton, Jr., MD Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery, and is Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Neurosurgery and The Abramson Cancer Center at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. O’Rourke is the Director of the Glioblastoma Translational Center of Excellence (TCE) in the Abramson Cancer Center as well as the Director of the Human Brain Tumor Tissue Bank, that allows for national and international collaborations in glioblastoma research. He is also a founding member of the Philadelphia Coalition for a Cure PC4C. Dr. O’Rourke’s laboratory studies EGFR targeted therapies and immunotherapies for brain cancer, including the application of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CART) immunotherapy to glioblastoma. Dr. O’Rourke has led the Penn group in first-in-man clinical trials using CART cells for treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma, with the first bivalent CART trial approach for glioblastoma now accruing patients. Dr. O’Rourke has several patents related to EGFR inhibition and CART therapy in human cancers and has been active in licensing laboratory technologies for commercial development of new therapies. Dr. O’Rourke received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his residency in Neurosurgery and fellowship in Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the School of Medicine. He has been recognized annually in Philadelphia Magazine’s list of Top Doctors since 2005 and has also been named one of the Best Cancer Doctors in America and one of America’s Top Doctors annually since in 2006.
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Read More about Timothy S. Olson, MD, PhD
Timothy S. Olson, MD, PhD
Timothy S. Olson, MD, PhD Website
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Medical Director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA USADr. Olson is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He previously served as Interim Director of the Comprehensive Bone Marrow Failure Center at CHOP. His research activities focus on clinical and basic science studies testing methods to improve curative stem cell therapies for pediatric patients with bone marrow failure, myelodysplastic disorders, and hemoglobinopathies. He has served as Chair of the MDS Working Group for the North American Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Consortium, Medical Advisory Board for Team Telomere and Chair of the Scientific Executive Committee for the Sickle Cell Transplant and Advocacy for Research (STAR) consortium. He is Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials assessing novel approaches to conditioning and graft engineering for pediatric patients undergoing HSCT for malignant and non-malignant blood disorders. His basic and translational research encompasses use of patient-derived tissue samples and novel animal models to investigate disease pathogenesis, hematopoietic clonal evolution, and prognostic factors influencing therapy outcomes and MDS development in leukemia predisposition syndromes.
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Read More about Krina K. Patel, MD, MSc
Krina K. Patel, MD, MSc
Krina K. Patel, MD, MSc Website
Associate Professor, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX, USADr. Krina K. Patel is an associate professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma, Division of Cancer Medicine, and was previously in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (UT MDACC) in Houston Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas and completed a fellowship in hematology-oncology at UT MDACC where she served as Chief fellow for 2 years and completed her Master of Science in the lab of Laurence Cooper MD PHD evaluating the combination of NY-ESO-1 T-APC vaccine with TCR in Multiple Myeloma cell line and mouse models. She currently serves as the Center Medical Director and Service Line Leader for her department.
Dr. Patel’s research focus is on improving therapy and outcomes for patients with MM and other plasma cell dyscrasias. Her specific research interests include improving survival and quality of life for patients with MM, POEMS, and plasmablastic lymphoma, using cellular therapy such as chimeric antigen receptor T cells with or without transplant and combining immunotherapy in the induction, transplant, maintenance, and salvage settings. She has acted as principal investigator on several MM clinical trials with a focus on immunotherapies such as novel CAR T, monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, and vaccine studies. She is also currently co-PI for a translational study evaluating ctDNA and scRNAseq data for patients undergoing standard of care CAR T studies. Outside of her clinical and translational interests, Dr. Patel is dedicated to improving outcomes and access to these novel therapies for vulnerable patient populations such as minority patient groups and those with high risk disease.
Dr Patel is a member of ASH, ASCO, ASGCT, AACR, and ASTCT. Her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals.
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Read More about Linda M. Perry, MS, PA-C
Linda M. Perry, MS, PA-C
Linda M. Perry, MS, PA-C Website
Physician Assistant, Cellular Therapy and Transplant
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USALinda M. Perry, MS, PA-C, is a board-certified Physician Assistant in Cellular Therapy and Transplant at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. Her expertise lies in providing specialized care to patients following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Her primary clinical focus is on chronic graft-versus-host disease and long term complications of donor transplantation. She is the Advanced Practice Lead in the multidisciplinary Chronic GVHD Clinic as well as the Survivorship Clinic. Prior to joining the Cellular Therapy and Transplant team at Penn in 2017, she practiced as a Physician Assistant at the Fox Chase- Temple University Bone Marrow Transplant Program from 2006- 2016 and at City of Hope National Medical Center in the Division of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation from 2002- 2006.
Ms. Perry received a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Bucknell University and a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Read More about Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD
Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD
Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD Website
Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine
Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine
Stanford, CA, USAMatthew Porteus MD, PhD is the Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Maternal-Child Health Research Institute at Stanford. His primary research focus is on developing genome editing as an approach to cure disease, particularly those of the blood (most notably sickle cell disease) but also of other organ systems as well. He received his undergraduate degree at Harvard in History and Science where his honors thesis studied the recombinant DNA controversy of the 1970s. He then completed his MD and PhD training at Stanford, clinical training in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital, and post-doctoral research training with Noble Laureate David Baltimore at CalTech. He works as an attending physician on the Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant service at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital where he cares for children under going bone marrow transplantation for both malignant and non-malignant diseases. His goal is to combine his research and clinical interests to develop innovative curative therapies. He served on the 2017 National Academy Study Committee of Human Genome Editing and currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for WADA on Cell and Gene Doping and the NIH NexTRAC advisory committee evaluating the emergence of new technologies. He has been a scientific founder of CRISPR Tx and a founder of Graphite Bio and serves on several SAB’s. He is a strong advocate for assuring that the next generation of transformative medicines reaches the global community in partnership with those communities.
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Read More about Robert (Robb) E. Richards, MS, MBA
Robert (Robb) E. Richards, MS, MBA
Robert (Robb) E. Richards, MS, MBA Website
Administrative Director, Cellular Therapy and Transplantation
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USARobb has been in oncology for 20 years, starting in private practice in IT with a charge of onboarding an EMR and a new interfaced PMS before EMRs were incentivized by the government. He learned about oncology, both clinical and financial aspects, from successfully integrating/operationalizing both systems. As part of the return on investment (ROI), he learned how to answer clinical/financial questions by developing a data warehouse that helped develop such practices as effective used of nurse practitioners, baselining physician productivity against their coding habits, accurate billing of drugs based on its billing units, etc.
After Penn acquired the practice, he split his time initially between the transitioning practice and Penn’s bone marrow transplant program. Robb officially joined the rebranded Cell Therapy and Transplant program in 2018 with an eye towards developing a cell therapy program within the Penn system. In 2022, and under the guidance of Robb, Penn expanded its cell therapy program to its first community hospital and is currently working on its second location.
Robb has his undergrad in IT from Drexel University and has an MS in business Intelligence and an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University.
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Read More about Houston Roberson, BA
Houston Roberson, BA
Houston Roberson, BA Website
BMT/Immunology Program Coordinator,
Division of Oncology/Immunology Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAHouston Roberson is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia. He is a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Communications. A 9 year Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia employee and a 5 year member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Team, Houston currently serves as Communications/Access Coordinator. Houston enjoys meeting, interacting and supporting families going through stem cell transplantation.
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Read More about Marco Ruella, MD
Marco Ruella, MD
Marco Ruella, MD Website
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Scientific Director of the Lymphoma Program
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Marco Ruella obtained his medical degree with high honors and completed his specialization in clinical hematology at the University of Torino, Italy. He was attending physician at the Hematology and Cell Therapy Division of the Mauriziano Hospital and was an Instructor at the Biotechnology School at the University of Torino. From late 2012, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow, and then an Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Center for Cellular immunotherapies (Drs. June and Gill). From 2017 to 2018 he served as Associate Director of Dr. Carl H. June’s laboratory. In 2018, Dr. Ruella was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and Scientific Director of the Lymphoma Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ruella was presented with many awards and honors, including the inaugural SITC EMD-Serono Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Fellowship (2014), the AACR-BMS Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Cancer Research (2015), the ASH Scholar Award (2016), a NIH K99-R00 award (2017), the “Paola Campese” Award Leukemia Research (2017), the Cancer Support Community Award (2018), the 2018 ASH Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement, the Gilead Sciences Research Scholar in Hematology/Oncology and the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation Award (2020), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Translational Research Program (2021), and the Alan Steinrberg Award (2022). Dr. Ruella is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications on targeted immunotherapies for hematological cancers, an inventor in several patents on CART therapy, and the Scientific Founder of viTToria biotherapeutics.
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Read More about Stephen J. Schuster, MD
Stephen J. Schuster, MD
Stephen J. Schuster, MD Website
Robert and Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Professor in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Lymphoma Clinical Care and Research
Director, Lymphoma Program and Lymphoma Translational Research
Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAStephen J. Schuster, MD is the Robert and Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Professor of CLL and Lymphoma and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Lymphoma Program and Director of Lymphoma Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center.
After graduating AOA from Jefferson Medical College and completing his residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, Dr. Schuster completed clinical and research fellowships at the Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research. In 1989, he became a member of the Cardeza Foundation at Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. Schuster joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. Since then, his research has focused on the development and application of novel immunotherapies for B-cell lymphomas and CLL, including autologous tumor-derived vaccines, autologous costimulated T-cells, radioimmunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, bispecific antibody therapy, and adoptive immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T cells)
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Read More about Mandy Shanahan, MSN, RN, LSSGB, CPHQMandy Shanahan, MSN, RN, LSSGB, CPHQ
Mandy Shanahan, MSN, RN, LSSGB, CPHQ
Safety Quality Manager – Apheresis
Nursing & Clinical Care Services
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USASafety and quality expert within the Nursing and Clinical Care Services Department at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with over 15 years of experience in quality, safety and regulatory preparedness in a number of clinical settings. As the Safety Quality Manager of the Apheresis Center at CHOP, responsible for developing and maintaining the quality management program and SOP manual, maintaining numerous accreditations, and a variety of safety and quality improvement initiatives. Works collaboratively with the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section (CTTS) at CHOP to ensure the best care across the continuum for patients requiring a cellular therapy collection.
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Read More about Neil C. Sheppard, DPhil
Neil C. Sheppard, DPhil
Neil C. Sheppard, DPhil Website
Adjunct Associate Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Head of the T Cell Engineering Lab (TCEL), Director for Research Technologies & Innovation
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USANeil C. Sheppard D.Phil (Oxon) leads a lab focused on novel and enhanced CAR-T and NK therapies for cancer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Cellular Immunotherapies (CCI), where he also oversees the combination strategy for a clinical stage CAR-T as part of Prof Carl June's team.
Educated in the UK at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford, Neil has 20 years' experience with immunotherapies and vaccines, advancing multiple CAR-T and TCR-T programs through successful INDs into Ph1 FTIH, or Ph1/2 I-O combination studies. His experience includes over 12 years in Big Pharma & Biotech, and time working in the UK, Australia, and USA.
Neil was commended by SITC in 2020 and Marquis Who's Who in 2022 for Innovation in Immunotherapy.
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Read More about Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD
Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD
Elizabeth J. Shpall, MD Website
Professor of Medicine
Howard and Lee Smith Chair in Cancer Research
Director, Cell Therapy Laboratories and Cord Blood Bank
Chair, ad interim, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX, USADr. Elizabeth J. Shpall is the Smith Professor of Cancer Research at the Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). She is Director of the GMP Cell Therapy Laboratory, Director of the Cord Blood Bank and Chair ad interim of the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Department. She is an internationally recognized expert and leader in the field of stem cell biology, hematology, and clinical hematopoietic transplantation for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Shpall pioneered development of strategies for ex-vivo expansion of stem cells and novel strategies addressing obstacles of successful cord blood transplantation, improving outcomes for patients. As the founding president of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cell Therapy (FACT), her visionary translational research has advanced the field and set international standards for stem cell and cord blood transplantation and more recently immune effector cell therapy. Dr. Shpall has authored more than 900 papers/chapters and is the Principal Investigator on numerous grants and trials. She was awarded the 2017 ASCO Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. Dr. Shpall was inducted into the Association of American Physicians (AAP) in 2018 and from 2018-2021 served on the Board of Scientific Advisors for the National Heart Lung and Blood Intramural Program. She also co-leads the burgeoning institutional CARTOX program providing critical oversight in the diagnosis management of patients at MD Anderson receiving CAR-T therapies. She is a current board member of FACT, and a past president of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT).
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Read More about John Simpkins, MBA
John Simpkins, MBA
John Simpkins, MBA Website
Chief Administrative Officer, Cancer Center
Senior Director, Cancer Service Line and Administration
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA, USAJohn Simpkins, MBA is the Senior Director of Administration and Cancer Service Line and the Chief Administrative Officer of the Cancer Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). As an innovative healthcare leader and strategist, John brings over 25 years of experience advancing critical operations and strategic service lines for cancer treatment, while in parallel, advancing breakthrough research to ensure the greatest health impact on patients. John is widely sought after as a trusted healthcare executive partnering with physicians and senior leaders across multiple academia, private and public sectors with a proven track record of developing and optimizing self-sustaining clinical and research programs. As a transformational agent of change, John is a serial relationship builder and resolute leader of high-performing teams inculcating and promoting fresh thinking and continuous learning across organizations. John is the recipient of the inaugural Dr. Beverly J. Lange Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cancer Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and for his commitment and dedication to the greater Philadelphia community. John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Johns Hopkins University in Natural Sciences and a Master of Business Administration from Rosemont College in Finance where he earned and was bestowed the award of Thesis of the Year with academic distinction.
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Read More about Joseph W. St. Geme, III, MD
Joseph W. St. Geme, III, MD
Joseph W. St. Geme, III, MD Website
Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Endowed Chair in Pediatrics
Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Physician-in-Chief
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Chair of the Department of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA,Joseph W. St. Geme, III, MD is Physician-in-Chief, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and President of the Physician Practice Association at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, he is the Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. St. Geme received his bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed a pediatric residency and chief residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Subsequently, he pursued postdoctoral training in microbiology and infectious diseases at Stanford University, working in the laboratory of Stanley Falkow and receiving clinical training at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. In 1992 he joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis as a member of the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Molecular Microbiology. In 1998 he was named Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and in 2000 he was appointed Co-Leader of the Department of Pediatrics Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation Research Unit. In 2005 he was recruited to Duke University Medical Center to serve as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief Medical Officer of Duke’s Children’s Hospital. He was recruited to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2013.
Dr. St. Geme is an internationally recognized scientist and has focused his research efforts on understanding host-pathogen interactions involving pathogenic bacteria, aiming to facilitate vaccine development and to identify targets for novel antimicrobials. He is also an accomplished clinician and has been cited annually by Best Doctors in America for over 15 years. In addition, he is a passionate educator and has received teaching awards from medical students, residents, and graduate students.
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Read More about Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD
Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD
Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD Website
Roseman, Tarte, Harrow, and Shaffer Families' President's Distinguished Professor
Chief, Hematologic Malignancies Section
Division of Hematology Oncology
Co-Leader, Hematologic Malignancies Research Program
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USADr. Stadtmauer is Chief of the Hematologic Malignancies Section within the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine of the Perelman School of Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. He is also the Co-Leader of the NCI designated Abramson Cancer Center Hematologic Malignancies Research Program and the Penn Medicine Hematologic Malignancies Translational Center of Excellence. He has been associated with the University for over 30 years. He has been the principal investigator of the Penn Core Center for the last 20 years of the NIH sponsored Blood and Marrow Clinical Trials Network and is the Chair of the steering committee.
Dr. Stadtmauer is widely published on the subjects of multiple myeloma, acute and chronic leukemia, and bone marrow transplantation and CAR T cell therapy. He has been appointed to the editorial boards of the Leukemia, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation. His works have appeared in such premier peer-reviewed journals as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Science, JAMA, Nature Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Science Translational Medicine and Blood. His work has ranged from conducting the definitive study of autologous bone marrow transplant for breast cancer to pioneering clinical trials with cellular immunotherapy, CRISPR genetic engineering and vaccination for blood cancers.
Dr. Stadtmauer graduated with an AB degree with distinction in biochemistry from Cornell University and then completed his MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He served his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. He completed his Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-founded the Bone Marrow Transplant Program in 1987 and the Myeloma Program in 1999. He has been awarded the DuPont Guerry, IV, MD Award for Outstanding Mentorship, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
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Read More about Jakub Svoboda, MD
Jakub Svoboda, MD
Jakub Svoboda, MD Website
Associate Professor of Medicine (Division of Hematology-Oncology, Lymphoma Program)
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USAJakub Svoboda, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a member of the Lymphoma Program at the Abramson Cancer Center. He is involved in several clinical trials using novel immune-based therapies for patients with relapsed/refractory lymphomas. He received his MD from Yale School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Read More about John S. Swartley, MBA, PhD
John S. Swartley, MBA, PhD
John S. Swartley, MBA, PhD Website
Associate Vice Provost for Research
Managing Director, Penn Center for Innovation
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USAJohn S. Swartley, MBA, PhD is Associate Vice Provost for Research and the Managing Director of the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) where he leads a multi-faceted team that focuses on new product development, corporate partnerships, technology licensing and new venture creation based on faculty expertise and discoveries made at Penn. Prior to joining Penn in 2007, Dr. Swartley served as Senior Vice President and General Partner of BCM Technologies (BCMT), the venture capital investment subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Swartley joined BCMT in 2003 from the Yale University Office of Cooperative Research where he was Associate Director of the Medical Campus Office. Over the course of his career, Dr. Swartley has facilitated thousands of commercialization and research partnership agreements that have collectively generated nearly five billion dollars in licensing income and sponsored research funding, as well as participating in the formation and oversight of hundreds of university spin-out companies. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Bates College, an MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University, and a PhD in Microbial & Molecular Genetics from Emory University.
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Read More about David T. Teachey, MD
David T. Teachey, MD
David T. Teachey, MD Website
Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Director, Clinical Research, Center of Childhood Cancer Research
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USADavid T. Teachey, MD is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a physician-scientist with clinical and research expertise focused on developing novel therapies for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and rare autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). He studies new therapies in preclinical models in his research laboratory and then translates these therapies into clinical trials. He is the PI on multiple local, national, and international ALL clinical trials and often performs the correlative studies for those trials in his lab. He is the Vice Chair for ALL Biology for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), Director of Clinical Research for the Center of Childhood Cancer Research at CHOP, and Co-Leader of the Immune Dysregulation Frontier Program at CHOP. He is also a specialist in hematopoietic stem cell transplant and in the use of cellular and immunotherapies for the treatment of ALL.
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Read More about John F. Tisdale, MD
John F. Tisdale, MD
John F. Tisdale, MD Website
Senior Investigator and Director
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Bethesda, MD, USAJohn Tisdale received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston after obtaining his B.A. in Chemistry from the College of Charleston. He completed an internal medicine and chief residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and then trained in hematology in the Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), where he served as a postdoctoral fellow. He joined the Molecular and Clinical Hematology Branch of NHLBI in 1998 and is now the Chief of the Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics Branch. In 2020 the College of Charleston recognized Dr. Tisdale as one of their Top 25 History makers in honor of the schools 250-year anniversary and was Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalist. He was recently elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is a member of the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Tisdale’s research and clinical work center on sickle cell disease. His group focuses on developing curative strategies for sickle cell disease through transplantation of allogeneic or genetically modified autologous bone marrow stem cells. He has published over 200 first- and co-author publications.
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Read More about Mark Trusheim, MS
Mark Trusheim, MS
Mark Trusheim, MS Website
Strategic Director of NEWDIGS
Acton, Massachusetts, USAMark Trusheim, MS is Strategic Director, NEWDIGS at Tufts Medical Center where he also co-leads the Financing and reimbursement of Cures in the US (FoCUS) Project.
Mark’s research focuses on the economics of biomedical innovation, especially precision financing for patient access, precision medicine, adaptive pathways, platform trials, biosimilars, and digital health advances. Mark has served as a Special Government Employee for the FDA’s Office of the Commissioner.
Mark is also President of Co-Bio Consulting, LLC. His career has spanned policy as the President of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, diagnostics as founder of Cantata Labs, genomics as President of Cereon Genomics, eHealth as Vice President of Monsanto Health Solutions, managed care marketing at Searle Pharmaceuticals, and big data at Kenan Systems.
He holds degrees in Chemistry from Stanford University and Management from MIT.
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Read More about Fyodor D. Urnov, PhD
Fyodor D. Urnov, PhD
Fyodor D. Urnov, PhD Website
Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology
Director for Technology and Translation at the Innovative Genomics Institute
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, USAFyodor Urnov, PhD is a Professor of Molecular Therapeutics at UC Berkeley and a Scientific Director at its Innovative Genomics Institute. He co-developed the toolbox of human genome and epigenome editing and led the team that developed a strategy for genome editing in the hemoglobinopathies, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, that has yielded sustained clinical benefit for subjects in several ongoing clinical trials. At the IGI Fyodor directs efforts to develop scalable CRISPR-based approaches to treat diseases of the immune system, sickle cell disease, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation. His recent op-ed in the New York Times describes a major goal for the field of genome editing, and a key focus of Fyodor's work at the IGI - expanding access to CRISPR therapies for N=1 genetic disease.
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Read More about Denene M. Wambach, Esq.
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Read More about Elizabeth A Weber, RN, BSN
Elizabeth A Weber, RN, BSN
Elizabeth A Weber, RN, BSN Website
Cellular Therapy Coordinator
University of Pennsylvania / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USALizzie Weber is the Commercial Cellular Therapy Coordinator at Penn Medicine. She received her nursing degree from Widener University. In her current role, Lizzie collaborates with leadership to establish organizational systems to safely provide patient care for cellular therapy candidates. She coordinates complex care for cellular therapy recipients (actual or potential) as patients navigate through the evaluation of, preparation for and care post cellular therapy infusion. She provides ongoing patient/family education based on evaluation of the individual needs of patients/families. She also collaborates with manufacturers, professional organizations and other institutions to disseminate information regarding lessons learned while operationalizing a Commercial Cellular Therapy Program and creating the role of Cellular Therapy Coordinator.
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Read More about Claire M. White MSN, RN
Claire M. White MSN, RN
Claire M. White MSN, RN Website
Administrative Manager
Cell Therapy and Transplant Section
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAClaire White, MSN, RN is an Administrative Manager for the Cell Therapy and Transplant Section at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In this role, she oversees access operations for the CAR T program with a focus on equitable and timely patient access to cell & gene therapy treatments offered both commercially and on clinical trials. Claire joined The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a staff nurse in the Pediatric Oncology Clinic in 2012 and later joined the Cancer Immunotherapy Program as a Nurse Navigator in 2015. Claire serves on various access, health equity, and payor relations committees. She is passionate about health system innovation to support access to and sustainability of novel cellular and gene therapies.
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Read More about James M. Wilson, MD, PhD
James M. Wilson, MD, PhD
James M. Wilson, MD, PhD Website
Rose H. Weiss Professor and Director, Orphan Disease Center
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Director, Gene Therapy Program
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USAJames M. Wilson, MD, PhD, is a Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he has led an effort to develop the field of gene therapy. His research career spanning over 40 years has focused on rare diseases and ways to treat them by gene therapy. Dr. Wilson has published over 600 papers and is named on more than 1200 patents worldwide. The Wilson lab identified a new type of vector based on novel isolates of adeno-associated viruses which have become best in class for gene therapy. More recently Dr. Wilson’s laboratory has focused on improved vectors for gene therapy and clinical applications of genome editing and mRNA therapy.
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Read More about Anne Wohlschlaeger, MSN, CRNP
Anne Wohlschlaeger, MSN, CRNP
Anne Wohlschlaeger, MSN, CRNP Website
Nurse Practitioner, Blood and Marrow Transplant
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USAAnne Wohlschlaeger is a nurse practitioner with the Blood and Marrow Transplant team at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for the past 20 years. She specializes in immunological disorders requiring transplant as well as leukemias and lymphomas. Anne has a strong interest in immune reconstitution and revaccination post-transplant as she was instrumental in opening an NP run revaccination clinic for post-transplant patients. She is a faculty instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in the pediatric oncology concentration and is the medical director for the local Ronald McDonald Camp for patients and their siblings.
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Read More about Bethann Worster, MSN, CRNP
Bethann Worster, MSN, CRNP
Bethann Worster, MSN, CRNP Website
Advanced Practice Nurse
Division of Oncology; Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA, USABethann Worster, MSN, CRNP, is a nurse practitioner in the Cellular Therapy and Transplant Section of the Division of Oncology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Ms. Worster is the primary CRNP for CHOP’s hemoglobinopathy allogenic transplant recipients as well as the hemoglobinopathy gene therapy patient population. Additionally, she manages the neuroblastoma Auto PSCT patient population. Ms. Worster started her career as a nurse on the oncology/bone marrow transplant floor at CHOP in 2006 after graduating from Villanova University. She received her master’s degree from Villanova University in 2012 and joined the Cellular Therapy and Transplant section of Oncology at CHOP in 2017.
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Read More about Lindsey Zinck, RN, MSN, OCN, NEA-BC
Lindsey Zinck, RN, MSN, OCN, NEA-BC
Lindsey Zinck, RN, MSN, OCN, NEA-BC Website
Chief Nursing Officer - Abramson Cancer Center, Cancer Service Line
University of Pennsylvania Health System / Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA, USALindsey Zinck, MSN, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, is the inaugural Chief Nursing Officer for the Abramson Cancer Center and Cancer Service Line (CSL) at Penn Medicine. Prior to this role, Lindsey has served as the Associate Chief Administrative Officer for the CSL since 2019, leading innovations in oncology care delivery and spearheading the CSL and Infusion Services clinical response to COVID. Lindsey joined Penn Medicine more than 10 years ago and has been a regional leader of infusion services for HUP and UPHS. She is an integral partner with the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation and has been an influential leader nationally in her work with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). Lindsey earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Villanova and her Master of Science in nursing and healthcare administration from Penn. She is currently a PhD doctoral candidate at The Catholic University of America in DC. In her new role as ACC/CSL CNO, Lindsey is responsible for advancing in oncology nursing practice in the CSL Shared Services Clinics and Penn Medicine infusion services. As CNO, Lindsey is working to collaboratively lead the coordination of nursing care throughout the patient journey, from diagnosis, to treatment, to post-acute care, to survivorship – ensuring seamless nursing care across all sites of service, including virtual care. She is also focusing on key priorities in support of our clinical teams, providers and patients such as optimizing evidence-based practice, enhancing patient engagement and experience, and innovative operations in support of staff and provider efficiency. Lindsey also serves as an integral member of the CSL Triad Leadership team with Deputy Director of Clinical Services (Dr. David Dougherty) and Chief Administrative Officer (David Miller) to advance the development and implementation of our tripartite mission, strategic plans, patient care programs, resource allocations, and operational plans.
