Welcome to the Leadership Course

Priscila Badia, MD

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center - Pediatric

Dr. Priscila Badia is a physician specializing in pediatric and young adult hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). She cares for patients with high-risk leukemias, lymphomas, and neuroblastoma, particularly those undergoing complex or repeat transplants. Her expertise includes the management of severe post-transplant complications such as veno-occlusive disease, thrombotic microangiopathy, and graft-versus-host disease. Dr. Badia’s research focuses on improving outcomes and quality of life for transplant patients through infection prevention and quality improvement initiatives. She also leads patient and caregiver engagement efforts within collaborative transplant networks; she is the head of the patient and caregiver committee for the Engraft learning network. She is committed to advancing equitable, patient-centered care.

Christen Ebens, MD, MPH

University of Minnesota - Pediatric

Dr. Christen Ebens is an associate professor in the division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at the University of Minnesota (UMN), having joined the faculty in 2015. Her expertise is in cellular and gene therapy delivery in non-malignant diseases, including bone marrow failure syndromes (BMF), inborn errors of immunity (IEI), and epidermolysis bullosa (EB). She serves in many leadership positions, including locally as medical director for the inpatient and outpatient clinical services and director of the University of Minnesota Telomere Biology Disorder Comprehensive Care Center. At a national level, Dr. Ebens serves as co-PI of a Core Clinical Center in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (UMN), co-chair of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Infection and Immune Reconstitution Working Committee, and steering committee chair of the North American Immunohematology Clinical, Education, and Research consortium.

In addition to investigator-initiated interventional trials for BMF, IEI, and EB, Dr. Ebens serves as site PI for industry-sponsored and consortia trials of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant, gene therapy, and mesenchymal stromal cell infusions for these disorders. A substantial portion of her research is conducted as site PI of consortia for these rare diseases, including the Clinical Care Consortium for Telomere Associated Ailments (CCCTAA through the NIH) and the Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC). Partnering with colleagues at UMN in Infectious Disease and Rheumatology & Immunology, Dr. Ebens formed a Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Newborn Screen Triage Team, providing rapid response to primary care physicians and families with newborns with low or no T-cells on their newborn screen. In that vein, she was appointed to the Minnesota Department of Public Health Newborn Screen Advisory Committee.

Zhubin Gahvari, MD, MS

University of Wisconsin - Adult

Dr. Zhubin Gahvari is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He serves as Medical Director of the Processing Facility and Medical Director of Marrow and Tissue Collections for the UW Health Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program. He is the Malignant Hematology and Cellular Therapy Lead for the Early Phase Oncology Therapeutics Program at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. He is also a volunteer FACT inspector. Dr. Gahvari grew up in Virginia and Illinois. He completed medical school at the University of Virginia School of Medicine followed by residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Wisconsin. Subsequently, he worked as a physician in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, CA where he was a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant program. Dr. Gahvari’s clinical interests include treatment of plasma cell disorders as well as leukemias and myeloid disorders, and he has helped develop UW’s program for cellular therapies for solid tumors. Outside of work he enjoys running, reading science fiction/fantasy, and spending time with family and friends.

Nicholas Gloude, MD

Rady Children's Hospital San Diego / University of California San Diego - Pediatric

Dr. Nicholas Gloude grew up in Chicago and attended Rush Medical College before completing his pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. He went on to pursue subspecialty training in pediatric hematology/oncology at UC San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, followed by an additional fellowship in pediatric bone marrow transplantation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He returned to San Diego to join the UCSD faculty, where he is now an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and the founding Director of the Bone Marrow Failure Program at Rady Children’s Hospital.

His clinical and research work focuses on pediatric acquired and congenital bone marrow failure syndromes and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, spanning patient care, program development, and collaborative research aimed at improving diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes. Nationally, he plays active leadership roles in key consortia, including serving on the steering committee of the North American Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Consortium where he Co‑Chairs the Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome Working Group and on the Executive Committee of the Clinical Care Consortium for Telomere Associated Ailments..

Chelsea Honstain, MS, FNP-C

University of Michigan - Pediatric

Chelsea Honstain is the inpatient Advanced Practice Provider Team Lead on the Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy and Oncology teams at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Chelsea received her master's degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Michigan.

In addition to her clinical role, she is the Chair of the ASTCT APP Special Interest Group and Chair of the ASTCT APP Education Subcommittee. Additionally, she participates in several hospital committees responsible for the education and professional development of Advanced Practice Providers.

Her clinical interests include chimeric antigen T-cell receptor therapies, transplant related infection, and education development for patients and their caregivers. Chelsea has presented several times at the Tandem Meetings and the ASTCT Clinical Education Conference as well as state and local conferences. 

Brad Hunter, MD, MPH

Intermountain Health - Adult

Dr. Brad Hunter is the director of immune effector cell therapy, medical director of oncology research, and an associate professor at Intermountain Health, where he is a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant team. He is a native of Salt Lake City and completed medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism in Medicine Societies. He completed internal medicine residency at UCSF, and a fellowship in medical oncology at the combined Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Massachusetts General Hospital program. He was recruited to Intermountain Health to launch their immune effector cell therapy program. In 2023, he launched Intermountain Health’s dedicated Phase I Clinic and remains involved as a co-director.

Beyond significant clinical trial involvement, Dr. Hunter’s research has focused on the optimization of care delivery of stem cell and immune effector cell therapies. He worked to launch a remote apheresis location 4 hours from Salt Lake City for collection of peripheral blood stem cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells for CAR T-cell manufacturing. He hopes to launch additional sites in the next year to serve Intermountain Health’s 7 state footprint.

Dr. Hunter’s favorite aspect of his career is the ability to form and work as a part of multidisciplinary teams – be that on the BMT inpatient floor, in healthcare administration, or within the research clinic. He is the proud father of 4 rambunctious children, and spends his free time getting into the mountains and dragging his family along on adventures as often as possible.

Jacob (Jake) Keller, MHA

Duke University Health System - Adult & Pediatric

Jacob (Jake) Keller currently serves as Director of Oncology Operations and Director of Cell and Gene Therapy at Duke University Health System. In these roles, Jake is administratively responsible for Duke’s Cell and Gene Therapy enterprise across both adult and pediatric service lines, and directs operations for Duke’s flagship Cancer Centers, community oncology clinic sites, and inpatient oncology services.

Jake became interested in the field of healthcare administration starting with his first job at Operation Smile, where he was administratively responsible for coordinating short-term cleft-lip and cleft-palate surgical programs. He has worked with hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Ghana, the Philippines, China, Nicaragua, and the United States Navy (USNS Comfort). After completing his Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) at the George Washington University, Jake began his career at Duke University Hospital as an Administrative Fellow, spending his 2^nd fellowship year working exclusively with the Oncology service line. Upon finishing his fellowship, Jake transitioned into the Administrative Director role working with the Hematologic Malignancy and Cellular Therapy disease group for the Duke Cancer Institute, where he got his first introduction into cellular therapy. Today, Jake is the administrative leader for Duke’s Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, an umbrella organization within the Duke Health System responsible for the entire CGT enterprise. Additionally, he is responsible for Duke’s flagship cancer centers, the Duke Cancer Center and the Duke Blood Cancer Center, as well as several community cancer clinics within the Duke Health System and the Oncology Hospital Medicine program at Duke University Hospital.  

LeAnne Kennedy, PharmD, BCOP, CPP, FHOPA, FASTCT

Atrium Health - Adult

LeAnne Kennedy is the Director of Clinical Oncology for the Southeast Region of Atrium Health after two years as the Oncology Clinical Manager at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston Salem, NC. Prior to that time, she was a clinical specialist for Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy for almost 30 years. She graduated from Campbell University School of Pharmacy in 1993 and went on to complete a pharmacy practice residency at North Carolina Baptist Hospital. She also started the PGY2 oncology residency at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist 20 years ago and remains the residency director today. She received board certification in oncology in 2002 and her Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner license in 2013. LeAnne is involved in many organizations and has founded the North Carolina Oncology Pharmacist Association in 2001. In 2005, LeAnne received the first Award of Excellence from the Hematology and Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA). In 2016, LeAnne was recognized in the first class of HOPA Fellows. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pharmacy SIG of American Society of Transplant and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and was one of two pharmacists first recognized as a Fellow of ASTCT. She served as President of HOPA from 2023 to 2024. On a personal note, LeAnne is married to Gary and has two sons, Jeffrey, a physical therapist and Andrew, a sophomore at NC State University. She is the proud grandma to Aubrey Jane and Tucker!   

Tae Kon Kim, MD, PhD

Vanderbilt University Medical Center - Adult

Since graduating from medical school, Dr. Tae Kon Kim has been studying leukemia biology and human T cell immunology in the context of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. In 2013, he published the first proof-of concept study to show selective inhibition of graft-versus-host disease with limited virus-specific protective immunity; he went on to show that this effect was based on differential expression of the MAP Kinase pathway in T cell memory subsets (Shindo & Kim et al. Plenary Paper, Blood, 2013). Subsequent publications by his colleagues demonstrated that MEK inhibition does not suppress the graft-versus-tumor effect (Itamura et al. JCI Insight, 2016) and a clinical trial based on his paper is currently being designed (PI: Krishna V. Komanduri, MD., University of Miami). After completing clinical training for hematology/oncology, he began working on immune evasion of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) under the mentorship of Dr. Lieping Chen, which he became interested in.

Dr. Kim has been awarded five research grants related to cancer immunotherapy and immune evasion, the 2015 Seery Clinical Investigator Award, the 2017 American Society of Hematology Scholar Award, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Career Development Grant, EvansMDS Young Investigator Award, the 2018 American Cancer Society Clinician Scientist Development Grant to support separate research projects, the V Foundation V scholar award 2024, and the VA merit award 2025. Dr. Kim and his fellow authors previously published several papers about VISTA/PD-1H (Kim et al, Am J of Respir Cell Mol Biol, 2023; Han et al, Sci Transl Med, 2019; Kim et al, J Clin Invest, 2024; Zhang et al, Exp Mol Med 2024). He recently published a paper about targeting LAIR1 in AML (Lovewell et al, J Clin Invest, 2023). Now, he is an independent principal investigator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a clinician scientist in stem cell transplant and cellular therapy. He is running a lab where he continues to study tumor immunology, immune checkpoint molecules and GVHD biology. 

Catherine J. Lee, MD, MS

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - Adult

Dr. Catherine Lee is an Associate Professor and Clinician-Scholar in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, at the University of Washington. Dr. Lee is an integral clinical attending of the Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic for patients who have received hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), and she specializes in the management of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and other complications of HCT that negatively affect survivors’ health. She is involved in clinical research that aims to improve the management of chronic GVHD and the survivorship experience for all patients who receive HCT.   

Premal Lulla, MBBS, MS

Baylor College of Medicine - Adult

Dr. Premal Lulla is a clinical trialist at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine. They completed their medical training in Mumbai, India, before moving to Houston for residency, hematology/oncology fellowship and a chief year, followed by a T32 research year. They were then recruited as tenure-track faculty as a physician-scientist at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy.

Dr. Lulla’s research mission is to improve cancer outcomes through cellular therapy. To this end, Dr. Lulla develops and initiates multiple “first-in-human” cellular therapy trials on multiple INDs. A few examples include tumor-antigen specific T cell therapy, CD30 CAR-T cells etc. Results from these studies have been published in major academic journals. Dr. Lulla has secured funding from a variety of sources to support their research program including the NIH, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), ASH, ASTCT, Evans MDS and industry. Additionally, Dr. Lulla cares for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and within the CAGT BMT program, Dr. Lulla is the Chief Quality Director. Outside of their institutional roles, Dr. Lulla serves on study sections for ASH, ASTCT among others and participates in several national or international cell therapy committees.

Dr. Lulla is eternally grateful to ASTCT for supporting his early career when the ASTCT New Investigator Award funding and participation at the ASTCT CRTC was crucial to getting his first clinical trial off the ground. He now turns to ASTCT again to support the transition into more leadership-type roles in his mid-career.   

Jennifer Saultz, D.O.

Oregon Health & Science University - Adult

Jennifer Saultz is an Associate Professor of Medicine and physician-scientist at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. She is a member of the Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) and Cellular Therapy team. Her clinical expertise focuses on the intersection between innate immunology (NK cells), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and transplantation/cellular therapy with a specific emphasis on identifying new immune therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat AML relapse. She enjoys designing and leading Phase I clinical trials as well as performing translational science investigating novel therapies. She is a past participant of ASTCT and ASH CRTI courses, ASH trainee council president, ASH scholar award recipient and Page scholar program recipient. Current and past grants include NIH T32, Knight Cancer pilot award, ASH award, KUNI Imagination award, collaborative R01 and U54 grants to examine the role of the immune microenvironment in AML and treatment resistance. Current leadership roles include serving as the Inpatient Medical Director and Core Faculty Member for the fellowship program. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and running.   

Michael Scordo, MD, MS

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - Adult

Dr. Michael Scordo is an Associate Attending on the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and an academic clinical investigator specializing in the care of patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular immunotherapies. Through leadership of investigator-initiated clinical trials, participation in multicenter collaborations, partnerships with industry across early- and late-phase studies, and engagement in national and international research initiatives, Dr. Scordo has established a clinical-translational research program focused on improving the safety, efficacy, and broader clinical applicability of these therapies.

A central focus of his work is the development of precision conditioning strategies and personalized drug dosing approaches to reduce regimen-related toxicities, enhance immune recovery following HCT and cellular therapies, and optimize therapeutic exposures to improve treatment safety, disease control, and overall tolerability. He is developing next-generation cellular therapies to reduce post-HCT relapse risk and achieve disease control in refractory hematologic malignancies, enabling more patients to proceed to allogeneic HCT. He also focuses on optimizing high-dose therapy and cellular immunotherapy for patients with central nervous system lymphoma.

In parallel with his research efforts, Dr. Scordo holds institutional leadership roles, including serving as Care Partners Disease Management Team Director for the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, where he helps lead clinical and academic partnerships within the MSK–Hartford Healthcare network. He has led operational and quality improvement initiatives through MSK’s Operational Excellence program and has contributed to institutional governance through elected service on the Medical Staff Advisory Council. He also participates in institutional and national initiatives in HCT and cellular therapy and mentors fellows and junior faculty pursuing careers in clinical and translational research.

Linh E. Sellers, CCRP

UCHealth - Adult

Linh E. Sellers is a distinguished clinical quality leader brings seventeen years of specialized experience in oncology, cancer care, and cellular therapy, with deep expertise in healthcare informatics, regulatory compliance, and evidence-based decision-making. They excel at fostering continuous improvement cultures, establishing strategic alignment across departments, and building centralized quality frameworks that strengthen organizational coordination.

Their core competencies include architecting robust informatics infrastructure for EPIC optimization, managing complex regulatory requirements (TJC, FACT, CIBMTR compliance), and operationalizing end-to-end payer processes that drive business growth. They demonstrate exceptional impact through collaborative leadership, successfully onboarding cellular therapy products, facilitating multi-disciplinary problem-solving meetings, and overseeing critical data validation audits.

Most compelling is their demonstrated ability to build and scale high-performing teams: they championed a strategic data analyst training program that reduced CIBMTR critical error rates to 1% while substantially elevating team proficiency, exemplifying their capacity to drive transformational operational excellence and measurable compliance outcomes.   

Aimee C. Talleur, MD

St Jude Children's Research Hospital - Pediatric

Dr. Aimee Talleur is currently an Associate member in the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (BMTCT) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on the Clinician Scientist Track, specializing in the clinical investigation of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of high-risk malignant disorders. She completed her BA at Union College, MD at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center. She then joined St. Jude in 2012 as a Clinical Fellow in the Department of Oncology, where she completed Peds Heme/Onc fellowship, followed by additional training in the Physician Scientist Training Program and as a fellow in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Fellowship program. Dr Talleur then became a faculty member at St Jude in 2017. Her clinical practice and research program focuses on the development of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of high-risk pediatric malignancies, including translating novel autologous and allogeneic CAR T-cell therapeutics into the clinic, as well as investigation into the short and long-term toxicities of these therapies. She led the effort to develop a clinical CAR T-cell therapy research program at St. Jude, including successfully developing and implementing the institution’s first CAR T-cell trial. Dr Talleur is also engaged in several collaborative research efforts, including multi-site initiatives. For her work she has been awarded several grants and has authored numerous manuscripts. Furthermore, she is committed to training the next generation of physicians and serves as the BMTCT Fellowship Director, as well as a member of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Advisory Council at St Jude.  

Mike Capaldi, MEd

Versatile Collaboration LLC; Institute for Gene Therapies

Mike Capaldi is the Owner of Versatile Collaboration LLC, a strategic consulting firm and executive coaching practice (Leading Edge) focused primarily in the life sciences sector. He also serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Gene Therapies, a nonprofit advocacy coalition. Prior to these roles, Mike spent 22 years at Sanofi (Genzyme), most recently as Head of U.S. Public Affairs & Patient Advocacy across Oncology, Transplant, and Consumer Health Care. His experience spans public affairs, government relations, policy, corporate social responsibility, and commercial functions including sales and training, where he led professional development efforts for more than 10,000 employees.

Mike has worked extensively with a broad range of healthcare stakeholders, including patient advocacy organizations, trade associations, and scientific societies. He holds a degree from The Ohio State University and a master’s in education focused on corporate training and knowledge management, along with a certification in Leadership Coaching from American University and an Associate Coaching Certificate from the International Coaching Federation. He has also served as President of the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers (now L-TEN) and currently sits on the boards of HealthyWomen and the Certified Medical Representative Institute.

Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, MD, FASTCT

University of Oklahoma

Dr. Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty is a tenured, Presidential Professor of Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplant(BMT)/Cellular Therapy(CT) and the Gary McKinney Chair of Bone Marrow Diseases at the NCI Designated Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma. With 20 years of experience in BMT/CT, she has co-authored seminal guidelines in Hematology/BMT/CT with the American Society of Hematology(ASH)/American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy(ASTCT). Her NIH-funded research studies graft failure and imaging of marrow transplant/repopulation as well as complications such as GVHD.

Currently, she serves on the board of ASTCT as well as co-chair of the Leadership Course Planning Committee, co-chair of the ASTCT-NMDP ACCESS Initiative Awareness committee, and member of the content, government relations and payor committees. Her former service to ASTCT includes co-chair of the Leadership Course Meeting (2025), member of the Guidelines for Toxicity of Cellular Therapies Writing Committee (2019- 2025), Chair of the Membership Committee (2025), Board Liaison to the Content Committee (2021-2023), Faculty Leader of the Leadership Conference (2022, 2024), Board of Directors Director At-large (2019-2022), and Board Liaison to the Committee on Cellular Therapy (2020-2021).

In addition to her extensive service to ASTCT, she is heavily involved in service to the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) as a member of the nomination committee. Dr. Holter Chakrabarty is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to ASTCT through active engagement in advocacy initiatives, mentorship for early-career members, guidance and support in research endeavors, and dedicated outreach to members based in the central United States.

Rachel J. Cook, MD, MSHPR

Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Rachel Cook is the Director of the Northwest Marrow Transplant Program and the Medical Director of BMT and Cellular Therapy at Oregon Health & Science University. A Professor of Medicine with over 15 years of experience in hematologic malignancies, Dr. Cook oversees clinical operations and quality initiatives at OHSU, with a focus on advancing the field of AML and stem cell transplantation through both innovative clinical research and systemic process improvements. Dr. Cook co-chairs the ASTCT Leadership Course and serves as a Site Principal Investigator for multiple NIH and industry-sponsored Phase II and III clinical trials. Beyond her administrative and research roles, she is a decorated clinician, having received multiple "Clinical Star" awards and the inaugural Department of Medicine Mentorship Award in 2025. She completed her medical residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, her hematology/oncology fellowship at University of Pennsylvania and her Masters in Health Policy Research at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

Steven Devine, MD

NMDP; CIBMTR®

Before joining NMDP in March 2018, Dr. Steven Devine was the director of the Bone Marrow Transplant/Cell Therapy program at The Ohio State University (OSU). He served for 8 years as chair of the National Cancer Institute-funded Alliance Transplant Committee and two terms as chair of the NIH-funded Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) Steering Committee. He’s currently one of the principal investigators (PI) for the BMT CTN Data Coordinating Center. He was previously the PI of The Ohio State Consortium, one of the 20 core members within the BMT CTN. A current board-certified medical oncologist, Dr. Devine practiced for 25 years in the field.

His major research interest is in the application of stem cell transplantation for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and has served as chair of two multicenter NIH-supported clinical transplantation trials in AML. He’s currently leading clinical research efforts within CIBMTR to improve outcomes in recipients of mismatched unrelated donor (MMUD) transplants. He has authored more than 270 peer-reviewed papers and more than 400 abstracts as well as several reviews and book chapters in the field of stem cell transplantation, leukemia and hematology. He’s a former associate editor for Journal of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Blood Advances, and he has served as a reviewer for several journals, including Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Nature Medicine, Lancet, Haematologica and Bone Marrow Transplantation. He’s dedicated to improving patient outcomes and helping advance the next generation of leaders in stem cell transplantation and cell therapy.

Dianna Howard, MD

Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFB-CCC)

Dr. Dianna Howard is the director of the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFB-CCC) Stem Cell Transplant and Cell Therapy Program and a senior investigator in the Leukemia Program. She has focused her career on the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and those for who transplant and cellular therapy are modalities of care.

Dr. Howard’s experience includes oversight for multiple cooperative group clinical trials in hematologic malignancies and stem cell transplant; pharmaceutical sponsored trials including novel agents in GVHD; and, investigator initiated translational projects focused on defning unique targets on leukemia stem cells. She has been in administrative and leadership roles at the University of Kentucky and subsequently, at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist where she is an Executive Director of Oncology Service Line. Current career interests are focused on quality outcomes in transplant and cell therapy, reimbursement mechanisms, patient access to care, advocacy and healthcare policy.

Dr. Howard serves on the ASTCT Board of Directors, ASTCT Quality Outcomes Committee and is a member and former chair of the ASTCT Government Relations Committee. She is currently the ASTCT representative to ASH Committee on Practice and serves on ASH Government Affairs Committee.

Krishna Komanduri, MD

University of California - San Francisco

Dr. Krishna Komanduri holds the Julius R. Krevans Distinguished Professorship and is Physician-in-Chief of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UCSF Health. Prior to his current role at UCSF he served as a faculty member at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (1999-2008) and the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center (2008-2022).

Dr. Komanduri has held a number of national leadership positions including service as the President of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (2017).  Among his honors, he was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2009), the Henry Kunkel Society (2021) and as an honorary Fellow of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (2021).

C. Fred LeMaistre, MD, FASTCT

Sarah Cannon Cancer Network

Dr. Frederick LeMaistre joined the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1984, where he launched the institution’s marrow transplant program. In 1988, he established the Section of  Experimental Therapy in the Hematology Division at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In 1993, he founded the Texas Transplant Institute (TTI) in San Antonio. TTI has since grown to encompass nationally recognized programs in kidney, liver and heart transplants, as well as adult and pediatric transplant and cell therapy. Under his leadership, TTI subsequently expanded to become the Texas Institute of Medicine and Surgery, a multi-specialty physician organization.

Dr. LeMaistre moved to Nashville in 2012 to assume the position of physician-in-chief of hematology at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Network (SCCN), the oncology service line for HCA Healthcare. In this role, he led the development of the Sarah Cannon Transplant and Cell Therapy Network (SCTCTN), dedicated to research and treatment for patients with blood cancers. SCTCTN provides transplant and cell therapies at seven sites in the United States and two in the United Kingdom, treating over 1,600 TCT patients and 1,000 patients with leukemia annually. In 2014, he was appointed senior vice president for SCCI, overseeing the development of the oncology service line for HCA Healthcare. SCCN offers integrated cancer services with convenient access for cancer patients in communities served by HCA. There are over 130 multidisciplinary tumor- specific programs with over 200 nurse navigators supporting the 120,000 newly diagnosed patients and over 1.6 million encounters for patients with cancer annually across HCA.

Throughout his career, Dr. LeMaistre has been actively involved in clinical research. He is a founding member and past president of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cell Therapy. He is also a founding member and past president of the ASTCT.

Alison Loren, MD, MSCE

University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Alison Loren is a Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as Division Chief in Hematology/Oncology and directs the Blood & Marrow Transplant Program within the Center for Cell Therapy & Transplant at the Abramson Cancer Center.

She specializes in the care of patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Her clinical and research interests focus on outcomes in allotransplant, fertility preservation, and long-term survivorship. She has held a wide variety of leadership roles, including 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 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, ASH Councilor (2019-2023), and is now the Vice President of ASH. She co-chaired ASCO’s Fertility Preservation Guideline committee for its recent update as well as the Cancer in Pregnancy inaugural guideline committee. She has just completed a term as Chair of the NCCN’s Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Guideline Committee.

Dr. Loren is proud of her work in mentorship and faculty development, having served as Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program Director at the University of Pennsylvania from 2007-2016, Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Medicine at Penn (2016-2022), and co-chair of ASH’s Mentorship Summit working group.

Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, FASCO

Translational Genomics Research Institute

Dr. Joseph Mikhael is a Professor in the Clinical Genomics and Therapeutics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the Director of Myeloma research at the HonorHealth Research Institute. Dr Mikhael specializes clinically in plasma cell disorders, namely multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. He is the PI of many clinical trials, primarily in relapsed multiple myeloma, and his other clinical research interests include pharmaco-economics, communication skills, and media relations. Dr. Mikhael also serves as the Treasurer on the executive of the American Society of Hematology.

Dr. Mikhael recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, and now serves the IMF as a Medical Advisor.

Dr Mikhael has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in these fields and lectures internationally on a regular basis.  Dr. Mikhael is deeply committed to health disparities in myeloma and participates in many efforts such as the M-Power project in the African American and Latino American communities.  He is also the chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council at TGen.  Dr. Mikhael is heavily involved in training future researchers and mentors junior faculty worldwide.  He also spends considerable time in the third world developing collaborations in myeloma and finding ways to enhance access to novel agents.

Mylove Mortel, MS, RN, OCN

University of Chicago Medicine

Mylove Mortel, MS, RN, OCN is the administrative director for the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at the University of Chicago Medicine and has a demonstrated history of working in stem cell transplant and cellular therapy covering both investigational and commercial products. She is principally involved in onboarding new and emerging therapies in the cell and gene therapy space at UChicago. She has a strong interest in program and staff development, strategic planning, data analytics, outcomes research, and quality. She has a Master of Science in Public Health (major in Epidemiology) and undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Mathematics. Mylove is also a member of the first class of graduates of the ASTCT Leadership Course.

David Porter, MD

University of Pennsylvania

Dr. David Porter is the Jodi Fisher-Horowitz Professor of Leukemia Care Excellence at the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center, and Executive Director of the Center for Cell Therapy and Transplant at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is a graduate of the University of Rochester, earned a medical degree at Brown University, completed internship and residency at Boston University Hospital, and fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. 

He has chaired or served on numerous local, national and international committees focused on hematologic malignancies, stem cell transplantation and cell therapy.  He is a past Chair of the Board of Directors of the NMDP and currently serve as Immediate past President of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.  Additionally, he is the Deputy Editor of the Society’s journal Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Hematology.  He has served on various 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 has been the recipient of several prestigious awards from local and national organizations that include recognition for Service, Professionalism and Mentorship.

Research interests include the development of novel approaches to cellular therapy and stem cell transplantation with a publication record that includes over 250 research and review articles.  Along with his group at the University of Pennsylvania, he helped pioneer 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. 

Denise Roosendaal, FASAE, CAE

Smithbucklin

Denise Roosendaal is a thirty-seven-year veteran of association management. She has served as Executive Director for the Institute for Credentialing Excellence for fourteen years, overseeing the accrediting function administered by the NCCA. Her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree is from the University of Virginia. Her Master of Arts in Public Administration is from Syracuse University. She is a regular speaker for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and has collaborated with dozens of boards of directors on the topic of good governance. Denise co-authored the chapter on the topic of credentialing in the ASAE Handbook of Professional Practices in Association Management. She is the 2018 recipient of the Ben Shimberg Public Service Award given annually by the Citizen’s Advocacy Center.

Rayne Rouce, MD

Texas Children's Cancer Center

Dr. Rayne Rouce is a pediatric oncologist and physician-scientist at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine whose research and clinical interests focus on refractory hematologic malignancies, specifically on harnessing the immune system to recognize and attack cancers. She is a member of the Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplant Teams, and is a Clinical Member of the Cancer Cell and Gene Therapy Program within the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center (DLDCCC) at Baylor College of Medicine. 

Since, 2014, Dr. Rouce has worked in the translational research laboratories of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy (CAGT) at Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), leading a translational and clinical research program creating novel early-phase cell and gene therapy products and translating them to first-in-human immunotherapy trials. She has significant experience in every aspect of translation and clinical trial development, from study conception to preclinical laboratory-based validation and, ultimately, clinical practice. 

She leads numerous clinical trials of innovative cell therapies at Texas Children's Hospital—the majority of which are investigator-initiated. She served as Project Leader on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Lymphoma Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE), Leukemia & Lymphoma (LLS) Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) Program, the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) T-Cell Dream Team, and received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. She has received continued research funding since 2014 and also serves as the Medical Director for the Commercial CAR T-Cell Program at Texas Children's Hospital.
 
To address health disparities, she leads task forces for health equity in clinical trials within Texas Children's Cancer Center and the Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and has presented on this important topic to Cancer Centers, patient advocacy groups, and scientific organizations nationwide, while also leading these efforts within the American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT), and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). 

Integrating her passion for science and advocacy, she is active in national multiple stakeholder working groups to enhance access to novel cell therapies and cancer clinical trials (ASGCT Policy Summit on Access Barriers to Cell Therapy and ASTCT/National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Access Policy Group), and has presented on cancer therapy access to Congress. 

Bronwen Shaw, MD, Ph D

CIBMTR®

Dr. Bronwen Shaw is the Chief Scientific Director of the CIBMTR on the Medical College of Wisconsin campus. I am also an adult BMT physician. For most of my career I have spilt my work between clinical service and research. I have a strong interest and background in research around hematopoietic cell donors, both in terms of determining factors which help to select the best donor for an individual patient, and of understanding the donor’s experience and harmonizing international practices. I am also interested in health-related quality of life and survivorship issues in patients who undergo HCT, with a particular focus on the use of patient reported outcomes (PRO) to predict patient experience and clinical outcomes.