Ending Disease Scientists

Professor Irving Weissman, MD.
Dr. Weissman, MD, is a professor of pathology and developmental biology at Stanford University. He is the Founding Director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research at Stanford, and the former Director of the Stanford Cancer Center. He is the first scientist to ever define and isolate mammalian stem cells, the blood-forming stem cells in mice (1988) and then humans (1992), Irv Weissman is known as the ‘father’ of stem cell biology. He pioneered the biological definition, prospective isolation and transplantation of stem cells and his methodology is considered the gold standard in this field of research. Following the isolation of blood-forming stem cells, his group has successfully defined the stages of development that occur between those stems cells and mature blood cells, and then went on to the isolation of stem cells of other tissues including brain stem cells, muscle stem cells, and skeletal stem cells that give rise to bone, cartilage and bone marrow cells that support the blood-forming stem cells. His research on blood formation and cancer has led to several discoveries and the development of new therapies. These include the discovery of CD47 as a ‘don’t eat me’ signal used by all human cancers to evade innate immunity. Weissman then led the clinical development of CD47 blockade as a new cancer immunotherapy, the first that’s based on macrophage checkpoint inhibition, in clinical trials conducted by Forty Seven Inc. In phase-I clinical trials significant therapeutic anti-cancer effects were achieved, remarkably complete remissions were observed with a combination therapy of anti CD47 and Rituximab in lymphoma patients who failed all other therapies.

Paula Cannon, PhD.
Paula Cannon, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on the use of gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 to modify genes in blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), with the goal of developing novel therapies against HIV. In 2010, her team was the first to show that gene editing could be used to mimic a natural mutation in the CCR5 gene that results in protection from HIV. By modifying CCR5 in human HSC using gene editing tools, she was able to demonstrate the creation of an HIV-resistant immune system that suppressed HIV in a mouse model system. This work was further supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), who funded a “Disease Team” collaboration that allowed Dr. Cannon to work with other scientists and clinicians to develop a clinical protocol to treat HIV-positive individuals. This has resulted in an ongoing clinical trial at City of Hope hospital in Los Angeles. Dr. Cannon retains a deep commitment to working with people living with HIV and currently serves on the Board of Directors of AIDS Project Los Angeles. She is a frequent speaker at both scientific and public meetings and is the organizer of the upcoming 2021 FASEB Scientific Conference on Genome Engineering.

John Zaia, M.D.
John Zaia, M.D., is a premier virologist and gene therapy pioneer who is internationally known for his breakthrough efforts to eradicate HIV. He has authored over 190 published papers in gene therapy and immunotherapy. Zaia is the Aaron D. Miller and Edith Miller Chair in Gene Therapy at City of Hope and director of its Center for Gene Therapy. Zaia has been at City of Hope for 40 years and has progressed in his goal of creating a cure for HIV. He directs City of Hope’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinic, which was created from funding through the state’s pioneering stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Zaia has tested and improved several innovative approaches, including using a gene-editing system known as zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) and employing a lentivirus in hopes that a virus will stop a virus. He is working on plans for what could become the first clinical trial to employ chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy to fight AIDS.

Professor Judith Shizuru, MD.
Dr. Shizuru is a member of the Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) faculty, the Stanford Immunology Program and the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. I have attended on the BMT clinical service since 1997, and I oversee a research laboratory. My current clinical efforts and basic research focus on improving the safety and efficacy of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) which is the most widely practiced and powerful form of cellular therapy. To achieve this goal we address two fundamental issues of HCT – the preparation of the recipient to accept a transplanted hematopoietic graft, and the impact of the graft cellular content on the success of the therapy. We have applied our expertise to develop novel ways to achieve engraftment of blood forming stem cells with the goal to replace chemotherapy and radiation. We have also developed the tools and methods that will allow us to transplant grafts of pure blood forming stem cells with the goal to eliminate potentially harmful passenger cells contained in a blood stem cell graft.

Henry Klassen, M.D., Ph.D.
Henry Klassen, MD, PhD, is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine. He has a longstanding interest in neural plasticity and regeneration that dates to his undergraduate days at UC Berkeley and continued during MD/PhD studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Klassen’s clinical training included internship at the Cambridge Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and residency in ophthalmology at Yale Eye Center, followed by a combined fellowship in medical retina and retinal research at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology in London. His research has shown that transplanted retinal progenitor cells improve the function of photoreceptors of the degenerating retina of RCS rats. He continues to pursue the goal of translating these findings into a cell-based therapy for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and other blinding diseases. This effort has included co-founding a startup company (jCyte) and completion of phase 1/2a and phase 2b clinical trials.

Behnam Badie, M.D
Behnam Badie, M.D., joined City of Hope in 2005 because he wanted to continue as a neurosurgeon, and focus on science and technology to find better treatments for his patients. Dr. Badie, an expert in the field of surgical neuro-oncology, is a University of California Los Angeles-trained surgeon, director of City of Hope’s Brain Tumor Program and chief of neurosurgery. He leads clinical trials that use chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy to treat brain tumors. Dr. Badie is leading groundbreaking research into nanotechnology as a tool for delivering cancer-fighting drugs directly into tumors in a minimally invasive manner. A recipient of a long list of awards and honors, Dr. Badie says his entire perspective on surgery changed when his father died of a brain tumor. “It has really helped me get closer to my patients,” he says.

Professor Steven Forman, MD
Stephen J. Forman, M.D., is an international expert in leukemia, Lymphoma and bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Forman is the co-editor of "Thomas’ Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation," a definitive textbook for clinicians, scientists and health care professionals. He is the director of the Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute and director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratories. In over 40 years at City of Hope, Dr. Forman has been instrumental in dramatically advancing research and therapy survival rates for patients with cancer of the blood and immune system. His research is focused on immunotherapy — using the body's own immune system to attack cancer. Much of his current work centers on genetic modification of T Cells to react against cancer such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

Professor Richard G. Fessler, MD, PhD.
Fessler's first area of interest in research is the development and refinement of minimally invasive spine surgical procedures. This involves studying the anatomy relevant to each specific operation and developing less destructive approaches to perform that operation. The second area of interest is both basic research and clinical trials involving stem cell transplantation to treat spinal cord injury and paralysis.
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Rush Medical College. MD, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Basic surgery residency, University of Chicago Medical Center. Neurosurgery residency, University of Chicago Medical Center. Postdoctoral research fellowship, Section of Neurological Surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center. Postdoctoral research fellowship, Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago Medical Center