Immunotherapy Researcher Honored for 50 Years of Service at the NCI

Steven Rosenberg, MD, PhD, received a milestone award for 50 years of service at the Center for Cancer Research National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. Since 1974, he has served as Chief of the Surgery Branch at the NCI after completing a residency training in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He also serves as a Senior Investigator and Head of the Tumor Immunology Section at the NCI.

Dr. Rosenberg’s areas of expertise include immunology and immunotherapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, T-cell receptors, and gene therapy. He is credited with pioneering the development of gene therapy and successfully inserting foreign genes into humans for the first time, according to the NCI.

He was also the first to determine that genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells are effective in treating B-cell malignancies. His studies on the adoptive transfer of genetically modified lymphocytes, utilizing CARs or conventional T-cell receptors, has also led to the regression of metastatic cancer in patients with lymphomas and solid cancers.

In addition to his roles at the NCI, Dr. Rosenberg serves as Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC, and a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.