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Dr. Alice Bertaina

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS (STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION) AT THE LUCILE SALTER PACKARD CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Pediatrics - Stem Cell Transplantation

Bio

Dr. Alice Bertaina completed her MD degree at the University of Pavia in Italy, her fellowship in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome, and her PhD degree in Immunology and Biotechnology at Tor Vergata University in Rome. Until joining Stanford University in 2017, she was Head of the Stem Cell Transplant Unit in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome (this institution currently has the largest number of children transplanted with hematopoietic progenitors/stem cells in Europe).

Dr. Bertaina is an expert in the field of allogeneic HSCT in pediatric patients affected by hematological malignancies or nonmalignant disorders. In particular, she has pioneered the novel approach of graft manipulation based on the physical elimination of alfa/beta T cells and B cells. Dr. Bertaina has excellent clinical and biological expertise, as demonstrated by her publications in the field of pediatric hematology and oncology. Moreover, she is expert in different aspects of immunological reconstitution of children given an allograft of hematopoietic stem cell, paying particular attention to innate immunity.

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Clinical Focus

  • Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

Academic Appointments

Administrative Appointments

  • Head of Stem Cell Transplant Unit, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital Rome, Italy (2013 - 2017)

  • Physician Assistant and Researcher, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Rome, Italy (2010 - 2013)

  • Residency in Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy (2008 - 2010)

  • Medical and Research Fellowship, Department of Pediatrics, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy (2004 - 2008)

  • Medical Assistant, Ergonometric Service, Division of Cardiology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia (2002 - 2003)

Honors & Awards

  • Press release 'alfa/beta T-cell depleted haplo-transplant in children with acute leukemia', 55th ASH Meeting, Engineering Cell Therapies Press Program, New Orleans (December 2013)

  • Abstract Travel Award 'Identification of deregulated microRNAs in JMML', 2016 International JMML Symposium, San Diego (December 2016)

  • Invited to participate in the Annual National Ceremony for Cancer Research, Palazzo del Quirinale, By Invitation from the President of the Italian Republic (October 2015)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member, Child Health Research Institute Stanford (CHRI) (2017 - Present)

  • Peer Reviewed Journal Reviewer, Frontiers in Immunology Bone Marrow Transplantation (2016 - Present)

  • Member, American Society of Hematology (2013 - Present)

  • Member, European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (2010 - Present)

  • Member, Comitato per il Controllo delle Infezioni Ospedalerie (CCIO) at the OPBG, Rome (2011 - 2017)

  • Board Member, EBMT PDWP (European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Pediatric Disease Working Party) (2014 - 2017)

  • Peer Reviewed Journal Reviewer, Bone Marrow Transplantation (2015 - Present)

  • Member, Associazione Italiana di Ematologia ed Oncaologia Pediatrics (2010 - Present)

  • Head, HSCT Working Party Group of AIEOP (Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology) (2015 - 2017)

  • Member, Inborn Errors Working Group, EBMT. (2016 - Present)

  • Chair, Paediatric transplantation Session, EBMT 43 rd Annual Meeting, Marseille, France, March 26-29, 2017 (2017 - 2017)

  • Member, GITMO project entitled ‘3 Steps’, aiming at defining strategies of prophylaxis and treatment of veno-occlusive disease in transplant recipients (2016 - Present)

  • Member, Italian Group for Bone Marrow Transplantation (2017 - Present)

     

Professional Education

  • Board Certification: Medicine, Provincial Association of Surgeons and Dentists of Turin (2006)

  • Fellowship:Ospedale Bambino Gesu' (2013) Italy

  • Residency:University of Pavia (2010) Italy

  • Medical Education:University of Pavia (2005) Italy

  • PhD, Tor Vergata University, Immunology and Biotechnology (2013)

  • Residency in Pediatrics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, Thesis title: “NK-alloreactivity and outcome of pediatric patients with acute leukemia given an HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation” under Prof. Franco Locatelli supervision (2010)

  • Post-graduate fellowship, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Rome, Italy, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (basic and applied research) (2010)

  • Medical Degree, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, Thesis title: “Human Metapneumovirus II in acute pediatric respiratory infection: epidemiology, clinical picture and diagnosis” (2005)

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Dr. Bertaina is a highly experienced clinician and will play a key role in supporting Section Chief Dr. Rajni Agarwal and Clinical Staff in the Stem Cell Transplant Unit at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. She will also continue her research on immune recovery and miRNA, understanding the mechanisms underlying immune reconstitution, Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD), and leukemia relapse after allogeneic HSCT in pediatric patients affected by hematological malignant and non-malignant disorders.

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Clinical Trials

KIR Favorable Mismatched Haplo Transplant and KIR Polymorphism in ALL/AML/MDS Allo-HCT ChildrenRecruitingMore

  • This is a phase II, open-label, non-randomized, prospective study of haploidentical transplantation using KIR-favorable donors for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The relationship of KIR2DL1 polymorphisms to survival in children with these diseases undergoing any approach to allogeneic HCT during the study time frame will also be determined.

    Lead Sponsor

    • Michael Pulsipher, MD

    Collaborators

    • University of California, San Francisco

    • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

    • Medical College of Wisconsin

    • Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

    • New York Medical College

    • Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland

    • Vanderbilt University

    • Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

     View full details

 

Safety Study of Gene Modified Donor T-cells Following TCR Alpha Beta Depleted Stem Cell TransplantNot RecruitingMore

  • This study will evaluate pediatric patients with malignant or non-malignant blood cell disorders who are having a blood stem cell transplant depleted of T cell receptor (TCR) alfa and beta cells that comes from a partially matched family donor. The study will assess whether immune cells, called T cells, from the family donor, that are specially grown in the laboratory and given back to the patient along with the stem cell transplant can help the immune system recover faster after transplant. As a safety measure these T cells have been programmed with a self-destruct switch so that they can be destroyed if they start to react against tissues (Graft versus host disease).

Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial. For more information, please contact Cancer Clinical Trials Office (CCTO), 650-498-7061.

Lead Sponsor

  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals

 View full details

Contact

Academic

aliceb1@stanford.edu

University - Faculty

Department: Pediatrics - Ped Stem Cell TransplantationPosition: Assoc Prof - Med Ctr Line

 

Administrative Associate

Beatrice Ochoa

beatrice.ochoa@stanford.edu

650-498-1054 (office)

 

Clinical

300 Pasteur Dr Rm H320 Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 497-2447 (office)

(650) 724-1164 (fax)

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