Researcher Profile Form First National Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Meeting March 9, 2025 - Jerusalem
Researcher: Prof. Cyrille Cohen
Current Role & Affiliation
Title/Position: Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences; Head of the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy
Institution: Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Email: cohency@biu.ac.il
Prof. Cohen is one of the leaders in the field of immunotherapy and CAR T cell construction. Multiple Myeloma CAR T cells constructed based on his studies are currently in a clinical trials and his team is working on immunotherapeutic methods for pediatric glioma.
Research Focus
● Genetic engineering of TCRs and CARs
● T-cell co-stimulatory and metabolic pathway manipulation
● Isolation of neo-antigen-specific TILs and peripheral T-cells
● Development of CAR/TCR therapies
Current Projects Related to Pediatric Brain Tumors
● Designing enhanced CAR/TCR therapies with broad tumor specificity
● Translational studies for clinical trials
Laboratory/Research Resources
● Platforms for genetic engineering of immune cells
● Tools for co-stimulatory and metabolic pathway studies
Collaboration Interests
● Immunotherapy advancements for pediatric brain tumors
● Translational research for cell-based therapies
What You Can Offer Potential Collaborators
● Expertise in T-cell engineering
● Regulatory insights for clinical trials
Professional Contributions
● Former President of the Israel Society for Cancer Research (ISCR)
● Head of biological and medical fields at the Israel Science Foundation (ISF)
● Member of regulatory committees at the Israel Ministry of Health
Selected Publications
1. Lebel E, et.al. Efficacy and Safety of Anti-B-Cell Maturation Antigen Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell for the Treatment of Relapsed and Refractory AL Amyloidosis. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Dec 9:JCO2402252.
2. Matikhina T, et.al. Targeting TGFβ with chimeric switch receptor and secreted trap to improve T cells anti-tumor activity.Front Immunol. 2024 Oct 24;15:1460266.
3. Harush O, et.al. Preclinical evaluation and structural optimization of anti-BCMA CAR to target multiple myeloma. Haematologica. 2022 Oct 1;107(10):2395-2407.
Keywords
Immunotherapy, CAR-T Cells, TCR Engineering, Tumor Immunology
Brief Bio
Born in Marseille (France), Prof. Cyrille Cohen is the Head of the laboratory of tumor immunology and immunotherapy at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. He made Alyah from France at the age of 17 and completed all his advanced studies in the Technion. He then trained at the National Cancer Institute (NIH, USA) for 4 years. In 2007, he established his independent lab at the Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences in Bar-Ilan University. Prof. Cohen's research aims at manipulation of human T cells to generate a “custom-made” immune response against different types of cancer. He is a member of the national committee for approval of clinical trials in Israel and was awarded several prizes for excellence in research and teaching (Knesset award, Rothschild and Alon Fellowship, NIH's Innovation award).
