Engineered T cell Immunity: A World of Opportunities and Challenges
Stivala Lectures in Chemistry
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Location: UCC, TechFlex Auditorium
Speaker: Michael Milone '93 MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology | University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have transformed over the last two decades from an idea on the fringe of clinical medicine to a cornerstone of therapy for multiple B-cell malignancies including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Despite its success, many challenges remain to this highly bespoke engineered T cell therapy especially to its applications to solid tumors. This presentation will discuss some of these challenges and novel receptor and cell engineering approaches for improving effectiveness. We will also discuss opportunities for applying engineered T cell therapy to diseases beyond cancer such as autoimmunity.
Biography
Dr. Milone’s research is focused on the development of genetically engineered T cell immunotherapies for the treatment of disease. He is a co-inventor of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), 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. He is a scientific co-founder of Cabaletta Bio (NASDAQ: CABA) and Verismo Therapeutics.
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The Stivala Lectures in Chemistry invites an outstanding scientist for a day of lecture and discussion on timely topics in chemistry. Dr. James Cooper established this lecture series in memory of his father Charles Cooper, who was a close friend of Prof. Salvatore Stivala. Prof. Stivala served the Stevens community as a faculty member from 1953 to 1994.