The Department of Laboratory Medicine at UCSF offers a Cellular Therapy and Transfusion Medicine Fellowship designed to train future scientific and clinical leaders in the field. Trainees fulfill the ACGME requirements for the American Board of Pathology eligibility in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. The fellowship is structured as a two-year program, a translational research-oriented non-ACGME cellular therapy (CT) fellowship, and an ACGME-accredited one-year transfusion medicine (TM) fellowship. The CT training is integrated with the Clinical Pathology residency as a fast-track option for qualified internal applicants. The fellowships are structured in 4-week blocks and integrated with the resident and medical student rotations in Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapy. Only MDs are accepted into the program.
The ACGME-approved training in clinical transfusion medicine takes place at UCSF Health hospitals (UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights, UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, Mt. Zion, St. Francis, and St. Mary) and affiliated hospitals (Benioff Children’s Hospital of Oakland and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital). Fellows rotate at the Vitalant Donor Center and Reference Lab and the UCSF Immunogenetics and Transplantation Lab. Intensive clinical apheresis training occurs via structured didactics and rotations at UCSF or UC Davis Medical Center. Fellows receive practical training in standard of care hematopoietic progenitor cell therapies and advanced cell therapies, tissue banking, coagulation testing, laboratory management, and quality systems.
During the Cellular Therapy training, fellows participate in existing projects, develop their own projects under the supervision of a mentor, and attend the core lectures and grand rounds. The fellow’s primary mentor is selected according to fellow’s interests from UCSF Investigational Cell Therapy (ICT) Lab, other UCSF labs, the Vitalant Research Institute (VRI), an internationally renowned hub for transfusion medicine research, the Innovative Genomic Institute (IGI) led by Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, and/or from the Center of Research in Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapies (CTMCT), a newly established interdisciplinary center at UCSF, comprising more than 35 faculty members and partners, aiming to accelerate translational research in Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapies. The fellow’s project may be basic research, translational, or clinical. Fellows must attend the cellular therapy core lectures developed at UCSF Investigational Cell Therapy, the Fellowship Grand Rounds, and the Grand Rounds organized by the CTMCT.
Participating faculty include leaders in cell therapy, genetic engineering of T cells, and T cell therapies for cancer. Fellows learn how cellular therapies are developed and manufactured and actively participate in developing investigational new drug (IND) applications. Examples of projects include the development of genetically modified Treg cell products and TCR and CAR T cells for cancer therapy. Fellows will participate in clinical trial design for cellular therapies, writing of submissions to the FDA, cGMP manufacturing operations, and quality assurance of cell therapy programs.
Graduate placements are as follows:
- 2019-2021 Assistant Professor
Medical Director of Investigational Cell Therapy Lab - 2020-2022 Scientist, Cell Therapy Lab
- 2021-2023 Assistant Professor
Assistant Medical Director of Transfusion Service
Director of Cellular Therapy Elective - 2023-2025 Assistant Professor
Assistant Medical Director of Transfusion Service - 2024-2025 Assistant Professor
Associate Medical Director of Investigational Cell Therapy Lab
Requirements
Applicants must have an M.D. or M.D./Ph.D degrees and demonstrated interest in academic research, must be eligible for California medical licensure and board certified or eligible in Anatomic Pathology(AP)/Clinical Pathology (CP), CP only, or adult or pediatric Hematology or Hematology-Oncology. Trainees in other specialties such as Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, or surgical specialties will be considered on a case by case basis.
If you are an International Medical Graduate, please use the link below to navigate to the UCSF Housestaff Information Booklet. You must complete the steps provided on their web page prior to applying to any of our fellowship training programs. The fellow will need a post-graduate medical license issued by the Medical Board of California (MBCA). For further details about the licensing process, please refer to the MBCA website California Medical Board.
Additional information regarding UCSF Fellowship you can find at UCSF Housestaff Information Booklet
Duration
The program is two years (one year of Cellular Therapy and one year of ACGME-accredited Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine). For UCSF residents only, there is an option to integrate the one-year Cellular Therapy training within the CP residency training followed by one-year ACGME subspecialty training in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. Residency applicants interested in this fast track option should contact Kristie White MD, CP Residency Program Director.
Stipend
Support is commensurate with the candidate's level of training.
Application
Currently receiving applications for 2027-2028. Please use the link below to apply.
The program does not discriminate with regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, gender transition status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services, including protected veterans.