Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD

  • Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine

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Overview

Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, is the director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy. He joined Columbia University from Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he was the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair and director of the Center for Cell Engineering. Sadelain completed his MD at the University of Paris, conducted his PhD research at the University of Alberta; and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Sadelain has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society for Clinical Investigation, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine of France.

Dr. Sadelain has won the Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences, Canada Gairdner International Award, Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Outstanding Achievement Award, Leopold Griffuel Award, INSERM International Prize, Jacob and Louise Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine, Passano Laureate, Pasteur Weizmann/Servier Prize at the Academy of Sciences in Paris, Cancer Research Institute Coley Award, Merkin Prize, King Faisal Prize, Broermann Medical Innovation Award, and more.

Academic Appointments

  • Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine

Administrative Titles

  • Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy (CICET)
  • Director of the Cancer Cell Therapy Initiative in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MD, 1984 University of Paris, France
  • PhD, 1989 University of Alberta, Canada
  • Fellowship: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
  • American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)
  • American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT)
  • American Society of Hematology (ASH)
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences
  • National Academy of Medicine of France

Honors & Awards

Research

Dr. Sadelain is a globally recognized pioneer of chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy, a groundbreaking approach to cancer treatment. CAR-T therapy uses genetic engineering on a sample of a patient’s own T cells to transform them into “living drugs” for the treatment of their disease.

Dr. Sadelain led the development of CAR-T cells targeting CD19 —unique markers found on the surface of blood cancer cells—and established genetic engineering and cell manufacturing capabilities to translate this research. This critical groundwork enabled him and his team to start treating patients with refractory leukemias in 2007.

In 2017, the FDA approved the first CAR-T therapies — the first genetically engineered cell therapy of any kind — for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and certain lymphomas. This ushered in a new class of drugs based on T cell engineering. Since then, CAR-T therapies have been approved for additional types of lymphoma and to multiple myeloma.

Dr. Sadelain and his team are continuing to explore ways to make CAR-T therapies safer, more effective, and broaden their use to different types of cancers. The Sadelain Lab will also explore how CAR-T engineering may be applied to a broad range of diseases and conditions beyond cancer, along with sustainable approaches to increase access to cell therapies.

Research Interests

  • Autoimmunity
  • Cancer
  • Human Cell Engineering
  • Immunotherapy
  • Monogenic Blood Disorders
  • T Cells

Selected Publications

  • T Cell Engineering and CAR Therapy
    • Human T lymphocyte cytotoxicity and proliferation directed by a single chimeric TCR ζ/CD28 receptor. Maher J, Brentjens RJ, Gunset G, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature Biotechnology 2002; 20(1):70-5
    • Eradication of systemic B cell tumors by genetically targeted human T lymphocytes co-stimulated by CD80 and interleukin-15. Brentjens R, Latouche JB, Santos E, Marti F, Gong M, Lyddane C, King P, Larson S, Weiss M, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature Medicine 2003; 9(3):279-286
    • CD19-targeted T cells rapidly induce molecular remissions in adults with chemotherapy-refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Brentjens RJ, Davila ML, Rivière I, Park J, Wang X, Cowell LG, Bartido S, Stefanski J, Taylor C, Olszewska M, Borquez-Ojeda O, Qu J, Wasielewska T, He Q, Bernal Y, Rijo IV, Hedvat C, Kobos R, Curran K, Steinherz P, Jurcic J, Rosenblat T, Maslak P, Frattini M, Sadelain M. Science Transl Med 2013; 5(177):177ra38
    • Generation of functional tumor-targeted T lymphocytes from human chimeric antigen receptor-engineered induced pluripotent stem cells. Themeli M, Kloss C, Ciriello G, Fedorov VD, Perna F, Gonen M, Sadelain M. Nature Biotechnology 2013; 31(10):928-33
    • Targeting a CAR to the TRAC locus with CRISPR/Cas9 enhances tumour rejection. Eyquem J, Mansilla-Soto J, Giavridis T, van der Stegen SJ, Hamieh M, Cunanan KM, Odak A, Gonen M, Sadelain M. Nature 2017; 543(7643):113-117
    • Long-Term Follow-up of CD19 CAR Therapy in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Park JH, Rivière I, Gonen M, Wang X, Sénéchal B, Curran K, Sauter C, Wang Y, Santomasso B, Mead E, Roshal M, Maslak P, Davila M, Brentjens RJ, Sadelain M. New Engl J Med 2018; 378(5):449-459
    • CAR T cell trogocytosis and cooperative killing regulate tumour antigen escape. Hamieh M, Dobrin A, Cabriolu A, van der Stegen S, Giavridis T, Mansilla-Soto J, Eyquem J, Zhao Z, Whitlock B, Miele MW, Li Z, Cunanan K, Huse M, Hendrickson RC, Wang X, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature 2019; 568(7750):112-116
    • CAR T cell-induced cytokine release syndrome is mediated by macrophages and abated by IL-1 blockade. Giavridis T, van der Stegen SJC, Eyquem J, Hamieh M, Piersigilli A, Sadelain M. Nature Medicine 2018; 24(6):731-738
    • Calibration of CAR activation potential directs alternative T cell fates and therapeutic potency. Feucht J, Sun J, Eyquem J, Ho YJ, Zhao Z, Leibold J, Cabriolu A, Hamieh H, Sadelain M. Nature Medicine 2019; 25(1):82-88
    • Senolytic CAR T Cells Reverse Senescence-Associated Pathologies. Amor C, Feucht J, Leibold J, Ho YJ, Zhu C, Alonso-Curbelo D, Mansilla-Soto J, Boyer JA, Li X, Giavridis T, Kulick A, Houlihan S, Peerschke E, Friedman SL, Ponomarev V, Piersigilli A, Sadelain M, Lowe SW. Nature 2020; 583(7814):127-132
    • HLA-independent T cell receptors for targeting tumors with low antigen density. Mansilla-Soto J, Eyquem J, Haubner S, Hamieh M, Feucht J, Paillon N, Zucchetti AE, Li Z, Sjöstrand M, Lindenbergh PL, Saetersmoen M, Dobrin A, Maurin M, Iyer A, Garcia Angus A, Miele MM, Zhao Z, Giavridis T, van der Stegen SJC, Tamzalit F, Rivière I, Huse M, Hendrickson RC, Hivroz C, Sadelain M. Nature Medicine 2022; 28(2):345-352
    • Synthetic dual costimulation increases the potency of HIT and TCR targeted cell therapies. Dobrin A, Lindenbergh PL, Shi Y, Perica K, Xie H, Jain N, Chow A, Wolchok JD, Merghoub T, Sadelain M, Hamieh M. Nature Cancer 2024; 5(5):760-773
    • Generation of T cell receptor-negative CD8αβ-positive CAR T cells from T-cell-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. Van der Stegen S, Lindenbergh PL, Petrovic RM, Xie H, Diop MP, Alexeeva V, Shi Y, Mansilla-Soto J, Hamieh M, Eyquem J, Cabriolu A, Wang X, Abujarour R, Lee T, Clarke R, Valamehr B, Themeli M, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature Biomed Eng 2022; 6(11):1284-1297
    • CD19 CAR antigen engagement mechanisms and affinity tuning. He C, Mansilla-Soto J, Khanra N, Hamieh M, Bustos V, Paquette AJ, Garcia Angus A, Shore DM, Rice WJ, Khelashvili G, Sadelain M, Meyerson JR. Science Immunology 2023; 8(81):eadf1426
    • TET2 guards against unchecked BATF3-induced CAR T cell expansion. Jain N, Zhao Z, Feucht J, Koche R, Iyer A, Dobrin A, Mansilla-Soto J, Yang J, Zhan Y, Lopez M, Gunset G, Sadelain M. Nature 2023; 615(7951):315-322
    • Prophylactic and long-lasting efficacy of senolytic CAR T cells against age-related metabolic dysfunction. Amor C, Fernández-Maestre I, Chowdhury S, Ho YJ, Nadella S, Graham C, Carrasco SE, Nnuji-John E, Feucht J, Hinterleitner C, Barthet VJA, Boyer JA, Mezzadra R, Wereski MG, Tuveson DA, Levine RL, Jones LW, Sadelain M, Lowe SW. Nature Aging 2024; 4(3):336-349
    • HIV immune evasion Nef enhances allogeneic CAR T cell potency. Perica K, Kotchetkov I, Mansilla-Soto J, Ehrich F, Herrera K, Shi Y, Dobrin A, Gonen M, Sadelain M. Nature 2025; 640(8059):793-801
    • Results from first-in-human Phase I Study of a novel CD19-1XX CAR with calibrated signaling in Adult Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Park JH, Palomba ML, Devlin SM, Shah G, Dahi PB, Lin RJ, Salles G, Scordo M, Nath K, Perica K, Valtis YK, Lynch A, Cathcart E, Zhang H, Schoder H, Leithner D, Liotta K, Yu A, Stocker K, Li J, Dey A, Sellner L, Singh R, Sundaresan V, Zhao F, Tong E, Mansilla-Soto J, Hosszu K, McAvoy D, Sikder D, Senechal B, Wang X, Rivière S, Sadelain M. J Clin Oncol 2025; 43(21):2418-2428
    • pTα chimeric antigen receptors enhance mRNA translation and solid tumor eradication. Shi Y, Lopes M, Kotchetkov I, Jain N, Zhao Z, Halim L, Dobrin A, Prica K, Hanina S, Rajasekhar VK, Kharas M, Sadelain M. Cell, in press
  • Selected Reviews
    • Chimeric Antigen Receptor Therapy. June CH and Sadelain M. New Engl J Med 2018; 379(1):64-73
    • Programming CAR T Cell Tumor Recognition: Tuned Antigen Sensing and Logic Gating. Hamieh M, Mansilla-Soto J, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Cancer Discovery 2023; 13(4):829-843
    • Cytokine release syndrome and associated neurotoxicity in cancer immunotherapy. Morris EC, Neelapu SS, Giavridis T, Sadelain M. Nature Rev Immunol 2022; 22(92):85-96
  • Globin Gene Therapy
    • Therapeutic haemoglobin synthesis in β-thalassemic mice expressing lentivirus-encoded human β-globin. May C, Rivella S, Callegari J, Heller G, Gaensler KML, Luzzatto L, Sadelain M. Nature 2000; 406:82-86
    • A genetic strategy to treat sickle cell anemia by coregulating globin transgene expression and RNA interference. Samakoglu S, Lisowski L, Budak-Alpdogan T, Usachenko, Acuto S, DiMarzo R, Maggio A, Zhu P, Tisdale JF, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature Biotechnology 2006; 24(1):89-94
    • Lentiviral globin gene therapy with reduced-intensity conditioning in adults with β-thalassemia: a phase 1 trial. Boulad F, Maggio A, Wang X, Moi P, Acuto S, Kogel F, Takpradit C, Prockop S, Mansilla-Soto J, Cabriolu A, Odak A, Qu J, Thummar K, Du F, Shen L, Raso S, Barone R, Di Maggio R, Pitrolo L, Giambona A, Mingoia M, Everett JK, Hokama P, Roche AM, Cantu VA, Adhikari H, Reddy S, Bouhassira E, Mohandas N, Bushman FD, Rivière I, Sadelain M. Nature Medicine 2022; 28(1):63-70

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov