Jaap Jan Boelens | Chief, Transplantation and Cellular Therapies
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Jaap Jan Boelens is a distinguished leader in the field of transplantation and cellular therapies, currently serving as the Chief of Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. With a strong background in pediatric hematology-oncology and stem cell transplantation, Dr. Boelens is renowned for his expertise in developing innovative treatment strategies for patients with complex hematologic disorders. His research focuses on developing advanced therapiesfrom cord blood to target blood disorders at the cellular level, including dendritic cell vaccines (anti-acute myeloid leukemia [AML], anti-neuroblastoma). We are also creating mathematical models that can help us predict how a young person’s immune system will respond to receiving such treatments. Additionally, he is interested in designing a predictable low-toxicity conditioning regimen using pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD)-models (eg, anti-thymocyte globuline [ATG], fludarabine, clofarabine) to better predict immune reconstitution, which is necessary for the optimal effect of vaccines. At MSK, he also serve as Director of the Immune Discovery & Modeling Service (IDMS) core facility (7FTE, 3 Fellows). This latter role will be instrumental to the analyses conducted in the proposed project. Furthermore he is the current Regional Vice President of the ISCT (International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy; 2024-2026), a co-chair for the annual ISCT meeting in Dublin 2026. He has over 300 publications listed on Pubmed.