Welcoming Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD
Dear VP&S colleagues,
Please join Interim President Katrina Armstrong and me in extending a warm welcome to Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, who is joining our community as the inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy (CICET) and the Director of the Medical Center’s Cancer Cell Therapy Initiative in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC). We are tremendously excited that Dr. Sadelain is bringing his scientific vision, unparalleled expertise, and inspirational leadership to work closely with the already world-class team at VP&S.
I would like to thank the many people across VP&S who were part of the journey to bring Michel and his lab to our institution, including the cell therapy advisory committee led by Markus Mapara, MD; the scientists at the HICCC, Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, the Vagelos Institute, and across VP&S who met with Michel and his team to convey Columbia’s dynamic research environment; and the experts who are helping to create new and enhanced research infrastructure that will enable CICET’s work. This moment is a testament to our team’s extraordinary dedication and exemplary science and education.
We will organize many occasions over the coming months for members of the VP&S community to meet Michel and to learn more about his science, ideas, and ambitions for his work with us. Until then, again, we welcome Michel to our wonderful community.
James McKiernan, MD
Interim Dean, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
CEO of ColumbiaDoctors
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Michel Sadelain Appointed Inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy
September 30, 2024
Dear members of the Columbia community:
I am immensely pleased to announce the appointment of Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, as the inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy (CICET). This new University-wide initiative builds on our existing research into cell and gene therapies and aims to drive greater progress in fundamental and translational science at Columbia. Dr. Sadelain will also serve as the Director of the Medical Center’s Cancer Cell Therapy Initiative in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Sadelain is globally recognized for pioneering chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy. CAR-T is a revolutionary therapeutic approach that employs genetic engineering to transform a sample of a patient’s own T cells into “living drugs.” He comes to us from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) where he led the development of CAR-T cells targeting CD19, a unique marker found in certain blood cancer cells. After conceiving CAR molecules and identifying this target, he and his team established cell manufacturing capabilities to translate their research into clinical applications, starting with refractory leukemias in 2007. The first CAR-T therapies were approved by the FDA in 2017, ushering in a new class of drugs based on T cell engineering.
Dr. Sadelain’s work foreshadows a range of therapeutic innovations in biomedical science and is already providing therapeutic options for patients with certain lymphomas, leukemias, and multiple myeloma. At Columbia, Dr. Sadelain and his team will further explore cell engineering for the treatment of additional cancers and other illnesses, including monogenic blood disorders, neurological diseases, and autoimmune and transplant-related conditions. CICET will strive to devise sustainable cell and gene therapies for patients with unmet medical needs and to ensure equitable access to these treatments.
The launch of CICET is expected to create significant synergies with several promising research initiatives underway at Columbia. We anticipate that this initiative will attract a new cadre of leading scientists, enhance our research infrastructure, and integrate trailblazing work in disease modeling, bioengineering, genome editing, systems biology, synthetic biology, and machine-learning/AI, among other areas.
Today’s announcement and our conception of CICET underscore a determination to transcend disciplinary and departmental boundaries to speed discoveries beneficial to society. This approach is exemplified at the Medical Center by the Roy and Diana Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science, which will be a critical partner for Dr. Sadelain and his recruits, and a direct beneficiary of their presence. We also envision expanded opportunities for the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S), the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and our Faculty of Arts and Sciences, among others, each finding expanded opportunities to express their scholarship and research through partnerships with CICET. This rich scientific ecosystem, which includes our foundational partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian, and collaborations with the New York Genome Center, New York Structural Biology Center, and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York, creates a virtually boundless research environment for Dr. Sadelain and his laboratory. Interdisciplinary collaborations will also be facilitated by the opening of VP&S’s new Vagelos Innovation Laboratories building, now under construction.
Dr. Sadelain previously held the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in the Sloan Kettering Institute, where he founded the Center for Cell Engineering at MSK. He was recently awarded Harvard’s Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, the Canada Gairdner International Award, and the Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine of France. Dr. Sadelain received his MD from the University of Paris, conducted his PhD research at the University of Alberta, and completed postdoctoral work at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. You can find his biography and complete lists of his awards and society memberships here.
It is useful to note, in the context of this announcement, the speed at which this scientific field is advancing. There are nearly 2,000 cell and gene therapy clinical trials underway globally and, we estimate, 17 decisions on proposed cell and gene therapies pending before U.S. and European regulatory bodies. I have no doubt that Dr. Sadelain and the creation of the CICET under his leadership will accelerate this trajectory, ensuring that the transformative power of living medicines has the greatest possible impact on our ability to treat disease and relieve suffering. We could not be happier that Dr. Sadelain will be leading our efforts in this multidisciplinary endeavor for years to come. Please join me in welcoming him to Columbia.
All my best,
Katrina Armstrong
Interim President
Columbia University in the City of New Yor