Welcome to the Eric Smith Lab for Synthetic Biology and Cellular Engineering

CELLS AS DRUGS The dual scientific missions of our pre-clinical lab group is (1) to design and evaluate novel approaches to advance the field of adoptive cellular therapy, and (2) to rapidly get these therapies into the hands of clinicians to treat cancer patients with the greatest need. The ability to isolate, expand, and in particular genetically manipulate cells for therapeutic purposes endows the field of adoptive cellular therapy unlimited potential. CAR T cell vectors stemming from our research are in phase I and II clinical studies for the treatment of multiple myeloma. While the current breed of cell therapies are a huge leap forward for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, they mark only the earliest stages of the evolution of cellular immunotherapy. The Smith Lab for Synthetic Biology and Cellular Engineering uses the latest advances in gene engineering and cellular manipulation to design and screen novel strategies and, in close partnership with the Connell O’Reilly GMP Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber, translate these advances to the clinic.

Our core values include, first and foremost, conducting science that will improve the lives of patients. To achieve this goal we foster an environment that values trust, diversity, mentorship, and team science. Trust: we strive to be a place of respect (and fun) and one where everyone feels safe to challenge each other to elevate our science. Diversity: of people and ideas will strengthen our science and enrich our experience. Mentorship: to bring out the best of every person who joins our team. Team science: as a member of Dana-Farber, Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Mass Brigham, the i3 (Immune-Engineering to Improve Immunotherapy) Center at the Wyss Institute and situated in Boston, the greatest city in the world for academic and biotech innovation; the rich collaborations and resources in our community shape our work.



News


2023-01: Congratulations to Erin Rosenberg for getting into med school! We will miss you next year, but so happy for you!
2022-12: Two exciting ASH presentations of clinical results stemming from our pre-clinical work – multi-center GPRC5D targeted CARs and the BCMA Orva-Cel construct used with Nex T rapid manufacturing.
2022-10: Excited for Landmark Bio on their ribbon cutting ceremony! Will be making virus, cells, and mRNA for Dana-Farber, Harvard Medical School, and MIT, right around the corner. Link here
2022-10: Loved walking for The Jimmy Fund to support Dana-Farber. What a special event and a great time with the lab team! Link here
2022-09: First in human data of GPRC5D targeted CAR stemming from our lab work published in NEJM! Article Link here and Lab Team with NEJM Photocake here
2022-09: Updated story of a patient who received the BCMA-targeted CAR T, and upon progression, the GPRC5D-targeted CAR T, both stemming from our lab work. This is why we can't wait to get into lab in the morning! Link here
2022-09: DFCI becomes full member of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy! Link here
2022-09: With Cathy Wu and Caron Jacobson, happy to host DFCI’s first Immune Effector Cell Retreat! Great science, great people!
2022-08: Our paper exploring dual-targeted approaches to CAR T cell therapy and impact on biology was a “top five cited article” in Blood Cancer Discovery.
2022-08: Welcome Ed Briercheck, excited to have you join the team from Fred Hutch!
2021-11-04: Congrats to our large team that takes our lab work and turns it into a reality for our patients: First-in-class report of GPRC5D CAR T cells for patients including post-BCMA relapse. Link here
2021-10-27: Honored and excited that our lab is part of the enormous Wellcome/LEAP efforts to advance and develop mRNA therapies (in our case for the immunotherapy of cancer). Can’t wait to see these make their way to the clinic in the years to come. Link here
2021-07-06: Excited and honored that Sanofi has licensed our GPRC5D binders for recombinant antibody-based therapies. Link here
2021-07-06: The Smith lab welcomes two medical oncology fellows joining our team: excited to have Elliot Brea and Elizabeth (Liz) Carstens start in the lab this week!
2021-07-05: Congrats to Leila Peraro, David Scheinberg and all our co-authors and collaborators on the publication of our novel CAR vector engineering strategy to prevent host antibody mediated anti-CAR immunity. Link here
2021-06-30: Story of patient who received two different CAR T products, both stemming from our lab work. First targeting BCMA, response lasting 2.5 years; now second targeting GPRC5D. So honored to hear how our work is changing patients’ lives. Link here
2021-06-16: Smith Lab is excited to announce our new relationship with Harbour BioMed on antibody and nanobody discovery efforts. Link here
2021-06-04: Bispecific antibody (BsAb) therapy is emerging as a critical tool for the immunotherapy of cancer. Drs. Louvet, Nadeem, and Smith share their thoughts in Blood Cancer Discovery on rational therapeutic partenrs for BsAb combination therapy. Link here
2021-05-17: Dr. Smith is honored to present alongside Glenn Dranoff, Chris Love, Susan Thomas, and John Wherry at the Wyss Institute Symposium: Engineering Caner Immunotherapy. Link here
2021-04-27: Dr. Smith presents at AACR Myeloma meeting: Discovery to Therapy . Link here.
2021-04-26: Clinical trial (Omar Nadeem PI) of GPRC5D-targeted CAR (CC-95266) for relapsed/refractory myeloma stemming from our lab work opens at DFCI!!!
2021-04-01: The Cancer Journal Issue on CAR T cell therapies (Dr. Smith Guest Editor) is published – Thank you to all contributors for a great overview of current issues in the field. Link here.
2021-02-08: Dr. Smith’s TCT talk focuses on the future of Cell Therapy for MM beyond BCMA. Link here
2021-01-20: Announced to coincide with President Biden’s inauguration, honored to be awarded the i3 Immuno-engineering to Improve Immunotherapy grant stemming from Moonshot initiative funding. Link here.
2020-12-06: ASH 2020 Annual meeting: Dr. Smith lectures and participates in live Q&A panel session on the Future of Immunotherapy for MM.
2020-11-17: Dr. Smith featured in DFCI’s “Inside the Institute” Link here.
2020-11-04: Kudos to Vishal Khairnar, PhD for his role in the Nature paper: IFITM3 functions as a PIP3 scaffold to amplify PI3K signaling in B cells. We are excited to have you as part of our group.
2020-10-26: Congrats to Dr. Kartika Venugopal for successfully defending her PhD thesis at Univ Florida! Next stop: Smith lab. Looking forward to you joining our lab team.
2020-09-18: CAR T cell trial targeting GPRC5D stemming from Dr. Smith’s pre-clinical work is open at MSKCC. This is the first cell therapy trial targeting GPRC5D. Congrats to Sham Mailankody (PI) and the MSKCC cell engineering and regulatory team, as well as our BMS collaborators for this accomplishment. Link here.
2020-08-21: Welcome DFCI Heme/Onc first-year fellows! Dr. Smith teaches new fellows about CAR T cell therapies in the clinic and advances coming out of the lab.
2020-07-06: Congratulations Carlos Fernandez and all our collaborators for the impressive work leading to "Defining an Optimal Dual-Targeted CAR T Cell Therapy Approach Simultaneously Targeting BCMA and GPRC5D to Prevent BCMA-Escape Driven Relapse in Multiple Myeloma" in Blood Cancer Discovery!! Carlos' work elucidates important lessons for how dual-targeted CAR design impacts function in settings of varying antigen expression and uncovers some interesting biology underpinning the differences. Link here.
2020-07-01: The SITC consensus statement on immunotherapy for myeloma is published (Dr. Smith co-author). Provides guidelines on all aspects of treatment with and management of toxicities of immunotherapy for MM. Link here.
2020-06-01: Congrats to Sham Mailankody and the Orva-Cel (formerly JCARH125) team for an outstanding oral presentation at ASCO 2020 reporting an exciting update on clinical outcomes with BCMA-targeted CAR T cells stemming from our lab work --- >90% response rate in heavily pre-treated patients.
2020-05-11: Dr. Smith presents at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting (virtual) on BCMA targeted CAR T cells and beyond.
2019-12-09: Congrats to Andrew Cowan (Fred Hutch) on the oral presentation of his clinical investigation "Efficacy and Safety of Fully Human Bcma CAR T Cells in Combination with a Gamma Secretase Inhibitor to Increase BCMA Surface Expression in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma" using a vector stemming from the work of our group
2019-12-08: Congrats to Carlos Fernandez on an outstanding oral presentation of our pre-clinical work: Optimal dual-targeted CAR construct simultaneously targeting BCMA and GPRC5D prevents BCMA-escape driven relapse in MM which was additionally featured in the Best of ASH CAR T cells; and the MM immunotherapy educational sessions