Goals for the AACR
The AACR is the premier global research organization focused on cancer research. As a board member I will seek to sustain the AACR’s preeminent role in this ever-changing arena by ensuring that the AACR continues to identify and amplify the most impactful and cutting-edge research, spanning fundamental, translational, and clinical studies. I will seek to enhance access of novel cancer therapies to underserved populations, including children with cancer, and will work to ensure that the AACR’s educational programs and scholarships support the next generation of cancer researchers, particularly from underrepresented groups.
Research Interests
Translational research; immunology; pediatric oncology; T cell homeostasis and T cell exhaustion; cell-based therapies; mechanisms of resistance to CAR T cell therapies; engineering novel platforms to enhance T cell potency; diffuse midline gliomas; CAR T cell related toxicities; novel business models to improve access of cell and gene therapies for children.
Current Affiliations
Ernest and Amelia Gallo family professor of pediatrics and medicine; founding director, Stanford Center for Cell Therapy; director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Stanford University School of Medicine; associate director; and leader, Cancer Immunology Program, Standford Cancer Institute; member, Immunology Program, Standford University, Stanford, California; active staff, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Palo Alto, California.
Previous Positions
Co-executive director (2020-2022), Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, and endowed professor of pediatrics and medicine (2016-2018), Stanford University, Stanford, California; chief (2008-2015), acting branch chief (2005-2008), deputy branch chief (2005), tenured principal investigator and head, Immunology Section (2003-2015), principal investigator (tenure-track) (1998-2003), and investigator (1996-1998), Pediatric Oncology Branch; investigator, Experimental Immunology Branch (1992-1996), National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; captain 0-6, United States Public Health Service (1980-2010).
Education
MD, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio (1984); BS, natural sciences, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio (1980).
Postdoctoral Training
Fellow, pediatric hematology/oncology, Pediatric Branch, National Cancer Institute (1989-1992), Bethesda, Maryland; resident, combined pediatrics/internal medicine, Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron/Akron General Medical Center (1984-1988), Akron, Ohio.
Selected AACR Services, Honors, and Awards
Member, AACR IO Ad Hoc Committee (2023-present); elected Fellow, Fellows of the AACR Academy (2022); chair (2022-2023) and member (2013-2015), AACR Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology Award Selection Committee; member, AACR Precision Combination Therapy Task Force (2021-present); coleader, AACR Team Science Award (2021); recipient, AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research (2021); member, Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research Award Selection Committee (2021-2022); member, AACR Cancer Progress Report Steering Committee (2019); senior editor, AACR Journal, Cancer Immunology Research (2019-2022); conference cochair, AACR Special Conference: Advances in Pediatric Cancer (2019); conference cochair, AACR Special Conference: Immune Cell Therapies for Cancer—Successes and Challenges of CAR T Cells and Other Forms of Adoptive Therapy (2019); member, Program Committee, Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Immunotherapy Conference (2018); member, Science Education and Career Advancement Committee (2018-2021); chair, Pediatric Cancer Working Group Steering Committee (2017-2019); cochair (2016-2017, 2018-2019), Annual Meeting Program Committee; member, Cancer Immunology Working Group Steering Committee (2012-2014); member, Editorial Board, AACR Journal, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (2007-2012).
Selected Non-AACR Services, Honors, and Awards
Recipient, R. Lois Murphy Award, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2024); honoree, Almanac of Women Leaders in Pediatric Oncology, International Society of Pediatric Oncology (2024); fellow, Academy of Immunooncology (2023); honoree, Top 20 Most Influential Women in Biopharma (2023); honoree, Till and McCulloch Award Lecture, Cell Therapy Transplant Canada (2023); honoree, George Stamatoyannopoulos Award Lecture, American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (2023); recipient, Edward Netter Leadership Award, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (2023); member, Board of Directors (2022-present) and scientific founder (2021-present), Link Cell Therapies; elected member, National Academy of Medicine (2022); recipient, Nobility in Science Award, Sarcoma Foundation of America (2022); honoree, American Society for Clinical Oncology Pediatric Oncology Award and Lecture (2021); honoree, Richard V. Smalley Award and Lectureship, the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer’s “most prestigious award to a clinician/scientist and luminary in the field who has significantly contributed to the advancement of cancer immunotherapy research” (2021); member, Board of Directors (2021-present) and scientific founder (2020-present), CARGO Therapeutics; member, Editorial Board, Cell (2020-present); scientific founder, Lyell Immunopharma (2017-present); recipient, Best Postdoctoral Mentor Award, Stanford Graduate Program in Immunology (2019); honoree, FDA Distinguished Lecturer (2019); recipient, Lila and Murray Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award and Lectureship, American Academy of Dermatology (2019); recipient, Top 10 Clinical Research Award for New CAR-T Cell Therapy for Relapsed Leukemia (2018); keynote lecturer, BJ Kennedy Keynote Lecturer, Masonic Cancer Center (2018); honoree, Warren Sutow Distinguished Lecture, MD Anderson Cancer Center (2017); recipient, William Hathaway Visiting Professor Award, University of Colorado (2015); elected member, Association of American Physicians (2015); recipient, NIH Director’s Award (2013); recipient, Great Teacher Lecture Awardee, National Institutes of Health (2012); founding editor-in-chief, Frontiers in Pediatric Oncology (2011-2015); recipient, NCI Director’s Award (2003, 2010).