Guest Speakers

flores Catherine Flores Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

University of Florida College of Medicine

Flores’ research interests are primarily in determining biological interactions between various cellular compartments involved in adoptive immunotherapy.

HeHe Huang Ph.D.

Professor and Associate Dean

Zhejiang University School of Medicine

Hangzhou, China

Huang specializes in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and hematology in clinic. He also focuses on hematological molecular biology, cellular immunotherapy and stem cell biology research.

luznikLeo Luznik M.D.

Professor of Oncology, Department of Oncology Hematologic Malignancies,

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

The major research focus in the Luznik lab is the immunobiology of graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) responses and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

negrinRobert S Negrin M.D.

Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Stanford University School of Medicine

Negrin’s research work has focused on cellular immunology in particular developing a more fundamental understanding of complex biological reactions such as graft versus host and graft vs tumor reactions in animal models and in the clinic.


Nataliya P. Buxbaum, M.D.

Assistant Clinical Investigator, Experimental Transplantation and Immunotherapy Branch

National Cancer Institute

Buxbaum’s  research efforts are focused on understanding the biology of cGVHD through the use of pre-clinical models and evaluating pediatric patients on the Natural History of cGVHD study at the NCI.


Armin Rashidi, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation

University of Minnesota, Masonic Cancer Center

Rashidi’s research focuses on the microbiome and dysbiosis and acute graft-versus-host disease.


Kirk Schultz, M.D.

Director, Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program, BC Children’s Hospital

Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

Schultz’s research group is attempting to harness the immune system to cure child leukemia and to use blood-derived stem cells to cure other life threatening childhood diseases. They focus on harnessing the immune forces unleashed by BMT to improve immune therapy for childhood leukemia.


Jun Chen, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine

Duke University, Duke Cancer Institute

Chen Lab | medicine.duke.edu

Reseach in the Chen lab focuses on experimental stem cell transplantation: GVHD/GVL, stem cell engraftment, induction of immune tolerance, novel applications.


Tessa Andermann, M.D., MPH

Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases

Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Dr. Andermann’s research focus on how intestinal microbiome-host interactions impact infectious complications and other outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies. Her goal is to develop microbiome-targeted therapies for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in these and other immunocompromised patient populations


Stefanie Sarantopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine

Associate Professor of Immunology

Duke University, Duke Cancer Institute

A major goal of Dr. Sarantopoulos’ research is to develop effective and safe bone marrow transplant (also known as allogeneic stem cell transplantation, HCT) so that we can cure patients with refractory hematological malignancies. A major hindrance to long-term success of HCT is chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD).


Robert Jenq, M.D.

Deputy Department Chair, Department of Genomic Medicine

Assistant Professor, Department of Genomic Medicine

Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

The Jenq Laboratory examines the impact of the microbiome on cancer treatment, focusing in particular on bone marrow transplantation and cancer immunotherapies.


Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D.

Associate Professor,Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Associate Chair of the Cancer Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee

City of Hope

Nakamura’s research focuses on immunological interventions for hematological malignancies. Nakamura’s research broadly encompasses studies to augment immune responses against leukemia and infection while minimizing immune-related toxicities, such as GVHD.


Saar Gill, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Gill’s research expertise lies in tumor immunology, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, mouse models of human leukemia, murine xenografts, adoptive cellular therapy, genetic engineering of T cells and flow cytometry.


Jonathan Serody, M.D.

Elizabeth Thomas Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology

Director, Immunotherapy Program

Co-leader, Immunology Program,

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Serody’s laboratory is interested in the mechanism by which T cells and antigen presenting cells migrate into tissues to mediate their function.


Rizwan Romee, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Romee’s long-term goals as a translational and academic researcher are to translate novel aspects of immunology to improve treatments for patients with hematologic malignancies.


Sophie Paczesny, M.D., Ph.D.

Nora Letzter Professor of Pediatrics

Indiana University School of Medicine

Paczesny leads biomarker discovery and validation research for complications of hematopoietic cell transplantation including for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).


Gerhard Hildebrandt, M.D.

Division Chief, Hematology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation

Professor of Medicine

University of Kentucky, Markey Cancer Center

Hildebrandt focuses on patients with cancers of the blood and lymph system, patients before and after blood or marrow stem cell transplantation and on patients suffering from acute and chronic graft versus host disease.

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