Clinical Advisory Board

Robert J Soiffer

Robert J. Soiffer, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Brigham and Women's Hospital. His laboratory has validated clinical strategies to reduce the occurrence and severity of complications associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation, such as graft-versus-host-disease, as well as relapse. As an oncologist and a research director, Dr Soiffer has revealed fundamental mechanisms underlying the modulation of the immune system and successfully designed novel cellular approaches to improve the treatment of patients with cancer. His pioneering work on allo-immunity and tumor immunity will make him an outstanding guide for Smart Immune’s clinical teams.

John F DiPersio

Chief of the Division of Oncology, Director of the Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy, and Deputy Director of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, at Washington University School of Medicine

John F DiPersio, MD, PhD, is Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Professor in Medicine, Chief of the Division of Oncology, Director of the Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy, and Deputy Director of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, at Washington University School of Medicine. He is a leading specialist in stem cell biology and transplantation, as well as fundamental and translational aspects of acute myeloid leukemia. For more than 40 years, he has deepened the understanding of the genetics of leukemia and studied the mechanisms of innovative therapeutics to treat this disease before and after stem cell transplantation. Dr DiPersio has also focused his research and clinical practice on allogeneic and haploidentical stem cell transplantation, which are of particular interest to Smart Immune.

Robert S Negrin

Professor of Medicine (blood and marrow transplantation and cellular therapy) and the former Chief of the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Stanford University

Robert S Negrin MD, is a Professor of Medicine (blood and marrow transplantation and cellular therapy) and the former Chief of the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Stanford University. A leading specialist in cellular immunology, his research has been focused on developing a more fundamental understanding of complex biological reactions such as graft versus host and graft vs tumor reactions in preclinical models and in the clinic. He has received numerous awards including the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award and is a member of the Association of American Physicians. He was previously the President of the International Society of Cellular Therapy and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. His contribution to strategies minimizing graft vs host disease and transplantation complications is highly relevant to Smart Immune.

Sarah Nikiforow

Technical Director of the Immune Effector Cell Therapy Program and the Medical Director of the Connell and O'Reilly Families Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Sarah Nikiforow, MD, PhD, is the Technical Director of the Immune Effector Cell Therapy Program and the Medical Director of the Connell and O'Reilly Families Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr Nikiforow trained as a hematologist at Yale University, where she also obtained her PhD in immunology. Her research interests include post stem cell transplant immune reconstitution and novel cell therapies. She performs allogeneic stem cell transplants for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, and supervises the production of innovative cellular therapies. Dr Nikiforow is the principal investigator of several clinical trials and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her large field of expertise overlaps with many of Smart Immune’s translational challenges.

Vanderson Rocha

Professor of Hematology at the University of Sao Paulo and Director of the Hematology, Hemotherapy and Cell Therapy Service of the ICHC Medical Clinic Division

Vanderson Rocha, MD, PhD, is Professor of Hematology at the University of Sao Paulo and Director of the Hematology, Hemotherapy and Cell Therapy Service of the ICHC Medical Clinic Division I. He is also Medical Coordinator of the Hematologic Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit of the Rede D'or São Luiz Hospitals and President of the Pró-Sangue Foundation. Dr Rocha actually is consultant professor at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, UK and is scientific consultant of the Eurocord Registry at Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, France. His research group investigates cell and gene therapies such as CAR-T cells to cure hematological malignancies and genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia. One of their main interests is gene delivery with viral vectors and non-viral vectors in immune cells including lymphocytes, natural killer cells and macrophages – areas that will be closely aligned to Smart Immune’s platform development.