Dr. Pinar Ataca Atilla joined the University of Miami’s Division of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy in 2024 as a Research Assistant Professor. She is a physician-scientist specializing in hematology, bone marrow transplantation, and cellular immunotherapy. Following her fellowship in hematology, she trained at the Baylor College of Medicine Center for Cell and Gene Therapy under the supervision of Dr. Malcolm Brenner and at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center under the supervision of Dr. Damian Green, focusing on adoptive cellular immunotherapies.
Her current research investigates mechanisms of relapse and resistance following chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. She explores strategies to enhance CAR T-cell persistence, prevent antigen escape, and reduce treatment-related toxicity through genetic and immunologic engineering approaches. Her overarching goal is to translate mechanistic insights into safer, more durable, and broadly applicable cellular therapies for patients with hematologic malignancies.
