UCSF Investigational Cellular Therapy Team

The UCSF Investigational Cellular Therapy (ICT) team is a highly collaborative group with diverse expertise across cell and gene therapy development, manufacturing, and delivery. 

Headshot ImgBrian Shy
Director

Brian Shy, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine, Director of the Human Islet and Cellular Transplantation Facility (HICTF), Processing Facility Director for the Pediatric Cell Therapy Lab (PCTL), Director of Development and Manufacturing for the UCSF Living Therapeutics Initiative (LTI). Dr. Shy is also a member of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology. His work integrates the research, manufacturing, and clinical teams necessary to bring promising cell therapy products rapidly to patients.

Dr. Shy’s lab employs cutting-edge genome and epigenome engineering tools to enhance the safety and potency of cellular therapies, improve manufacturing methods, and develop new products targeting cancer, inherited immune disorders, and infectious diseases.

Dvorak headshotChristopher C. Dvorak, MD
Co-Director

Christopher Dvorak, MD is Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, & Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and Director of the FACT-Accredited Pediatric Cellular Therapy Laboratory for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.  

He is a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Cancer Center and the UCSF Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). Dr. Dvorak is the national Co-PI of the Primary Immunodeficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC) and Chair of the Cancer Control and Supportive Care Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). He is a past Chair of the Supportive Care Strategy Group of the Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC) and past Co-Chair of the Non-Malignant Diseases Working Committee in the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant (CIBMTR).

Dr. Dvorak has served as the national Principal Investigator for several multi-center clinical trials in the COG, PTCTC, and PIDTC. His expertise is in designing clinical trials aimed at decreasing transplant-related morbidity/mortality, as well as optimizing approaches to transplant for very young children, especially those with immunodeficiencies.

UCSF Manufacturing Steering Committee

The UCSF Manufacturing Steering Committee advises on activities of the Investigational Cell Therapy (ICT) program and for global cell therapy development and manufacturing efforts at UCSF.  

  • Alan Ashworth, PhD, E. Dixon Heise Distinguished Professor in Oncology, President of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Alexander Marson, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Director of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology
  • Brian Shy, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Director of ICT Program
  • Christopher Dvorak, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Co-Director of ICT Program
  • Cammie Edwards, PhD, LTI Director of Scientific Programs
  • Julia Carnevale, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
  • Mark Walters, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director of UCSF Alpha Stem Cell Clinic
  • Michelle Hermiston, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Clinical Director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program