Full Name
Dr John F. DiPersio MD, PhD
Job Title
Director, Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy
Company/Affiliation
Washington University
Speaker Bio
John Fauster DiPersio was born in Boston Massachusetts on July 4, 1951. He received his undergraduate B.A. degree from Williams College and MD/PhD degrees from the University of Rochester in 1980. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the UT Southwestern in Dallas Texas followed by a hematology-oncology and post-doctoral research fellowships at UCLA. Following faculty appointments at UCLA and the University of Rochester he was recruited to Washington University (WUSM) where he served as Chief, Division of Oncology and Deputy Director Siteman Cancer from 1994-2022. Currently Dr. DiPersio is the Virginia E and Sam J Golman Professor of Medicine and Pathology & Immunology and Director, Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy and Assoc. Director of the Bursky Center for Human Immunology.
Dr. DiPersio’s research focuses on fundamental and translational aspects of leukemia, stem cell biology and novel cellular therapies. These studies include identification of genetic abnormalities in human leukemias, understanding processes involving stem cell and leukemia cell trafficking and translational programs in both leukemia/MDS, lymphoma/myeloma and cellular therapies including stem cell transplantation. These studies include the development of novel conditioning regimens, prevention of GvHD and CRS and the discovery of novel targets and approaches for more effective immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies including BiTEs and CARTs resulting in FDA approvals and multiple practice changing clinical trials. He is developing chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies for the treatment of AML, myeloma, T-ALL and T/B-NHLs. To minimize the on-target/off-tumor toxicities of CAR-T, Dr DiPersio is engineering epitopes on CAR-T and/or stem cells used in transplantation to provide selective resistance to CAR-T therapies and targeted approaches to limit CRS.
An author of 500 papers, Dr. DiPersio is the recipient of many awards including election to ASCI and AAP, President of ASTCT (2019) and SOHO (2025), NCI Board of Scientific Counselors (2013-19), ASH Mentor Award (2014), AACR J Burchenal Award (2014), ACP Harriet P. Dusten Award (2023), Am Ital. Found. Cancer Prize (2022), ASTCT E. Donnall Thomas Prize/Lecture (2024), NCI R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (2017-2024) and founder of two companies focused on cellular therapies (Magenta and WuGEN).
Dr. DiPersio’s research focuses on fundamental and translational aspects of leukemia, stem cell biology and novel cellular therapies. These studies include identification of genetic abnormalities in human leukemias, understanding processes involving stem cell and leukemia cell trafficking and translational programs in both leukemia/MDS, lymphoma/myeloma and cellular therapies including stem cell transplantation. These studies include the development of novel conditioning regimens, prevention of GvHD and CRS and the discovery of novel targets and approaches for more effective immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies including BiTEs and CARTs resulting in FDA approvals and multiple practice changing clinical trials. He is developing chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies for the treatment of AML, myeloma, T-ALL and T/B-NHLs. To minimize the on-target/off-tumor toxicities of CAR-T, Dr DiPersio is engineering epitopes on CAR-T and/or stem cells used in transplantation to provide selective resistance to CAR-T therapies and targeted approaches to limit CRS.
An author of 500 papers, Dr. DiPersio is the recipient of many awards including election to ASCI and AAP, President of ASTCT (2019) and SOHO (2025), NCI Board of Scientific Counselors (2013-19), ASH Mentor Award (2014), AACR J Burchenal Award (2014), ACP Harriet P. Dusten Award (2023), Am Ital. Found. Cancer Prize (2022), ASTCT E. Donnall Thomas Prize/Lecture (2024), NCI R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (2017-2024) and founder of two companies focused on cellular therapies (Magenta and WuGEN).
Speaking At
