I am the principal investigator of a laboratory focused on the development of adoptive T cell therapies of cancer. Specifically, in my lab, we generate novel approaches to adoptive therapy of cancer using T cells genetically modified to express laboratory-generated artificial T cell receptors, termed chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), redirecting T cells to recognize and eliminate tumor cells expressing tumor-associated antigens. We have made key contributions to advance the clinically relevant approaches to redirect T cell specificity and function, especially in the realm of “chimeric antigen receptors” (CARs). Recently, this work led to being awarded the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in 2024 along with Drs Sadelain, June, and Esshar. In 2021, I was appointed as the Deputy Director, Chair of Medicine, Professor of Oncology, and Katherine Anne Gioia Endowed Chair in Cancer Medicine at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (RPCCC). To date, I have trained or am training nine graduate students (three current, six Ph.D. graduates), seven post-doctoral fellows (three current, four previous), and nine fellows from the Memorial Hospital fellowship training programs. I have mentored over 90 high school and college students. Trainees under my mentorship undergo significant and rigorous training, including my oversight in designing clinical and laboratory studies, presenting data, and writing grants, manuscripts, and clinical protocols. >90% of post-docs and fellows in my lab have successfully applied for and obtained outside and internal funding support. Lab alumni have continued onto academia (Emory University School of Medicine, University of Manchester, University of California San Francisco), industry ( Eli Lilly and Company, Kite Pharma Inc, Fate Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim ), and other diverse biomedical careers I am committed to mentoring young laboratory investigators interested in becoming the next generation of scientists focused on immune-based adoptive cell therapies for cancer.