Figures & data
About Dr. Levine. Bruce L. Levine, Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy, is the Founding Director of the Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility (CVPF) in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from the Johns Hopkins University. The CVPF develops and tests novel cell and gene therapies in clinical trials in patients with hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, HIV infection, and genetic disease. First-in-human trials include the first use of a lentiviral vector, the first infusions of gene edited cells, and the first use of lentivirally-modified cells to treat cancer. Dr. Levine has overseen the production, testing and release of 2800 cellular products administered to >1000 patients in clinical trials since 1996.
Through these technologies, personalized and enhanced immunity has been engineered. T lymphocytes from HIV+ subjects have been rendered resistant to HIV infection and reinfused. T lymphocytes from cancer patients have been redirected with chimeric antigen receptors to hunt and destroy their malignancies. This work has been recognized in Discover Magazine's Top 100 Stories of 2011 (#2 Designer Cells Block HIV, #10 Leukemia Cure), as the Science Translational Medicine Top Downloaded paper for 2011, “T cells with chimerical antigen receptors have potent antitumor effects and can establish memory in patients with advanced leukemia”, with the Dr. Audrey E. Evans Award of Excellence, and the Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum for Gene editing of CCR5 in autologous CD4 T cells of persons infected with HIV. Dr. Levine is co-inventor on 23 issued US patents, co-author of >130 publications, and a Co-Founder of Tmunity Therapeutics which is developing next generation T cell immunotherapies. Twitter: @BLLPHD
