Mayo Clinic

Saad S. Kenderian

M.B., Ch.B.
Director, CAR-T Cell Therapy Program
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center · Rochester, Minnesota

Developing, optimizing, and translating next-generation CAR-T cell therapies to treat cancers — with reduced side effects, improved durability, and expanded access including on-site manufacturing.

Research Impact
0
Citations
0
Publications
0
Papers in 2026
Board Certifications
Internal Medicine
Hematology
Medical Oncology
Affiliations
Hematologist-Oncologist
Director, CAR-T Cell Therapy Program
T Cell Engineering Lab

Four Pillars of CAR-T Innovation

From bench to bedside — engineering T cells to defeat cancer with greater precision, durability, and reach.

Program 01
🩸

CAR-T for Hematologic Malignancies

Advancing chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy for B cell malignancies, CLL, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Includes clinical translation, real-world outcomes, and next-generation CAR designs with improved safety profiles.

Clinical Stage
Pre
Ph I
Ph II
Ph III
Appr
Program 02
🔬

Solid Tumor Immunotherapy

Expanding CAR-T beyond blood cancers into solid tumors. Lead programs include TSHR-targeted CAR-T for metastatic thyroid cancer (approaching first-in-human trials) and targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts in multiple myeloma.

Clinical Stage
Pre
IND
FiH
Ph II
Appr
Program 03
🧬

T Cell Biology & Exhaustion

Investigating how CAR-T cell "aging" and exhaustion drive cancer relapse. Identifying molecular targets to engineer more durable, less exhausted T cells — directly applicable to both blood cancers and solid tumors.

Research Stage
Basic
Target
Model
Trans
Trial
Program 04
🏥

On-Site Manufacturing & Access

Developing on-site CAR-T biomanufacturing infrastructure at Mayo Clinic to dramatically reduce cost, turnaround time, and access barriers. Studying outpatient CAR-T delivery and remote monitoring to bring therapy to more patients.

Implementation Stage
Infra
GMP
Pilot
Scale
Outpt

Recent Work

Peer-reviewed research, reviews, and preprints from the T Cell Engineering Lab.

View all on PubMed
Blood Cancer Journal 2026
Central nervous system involvement in patients with Richter transformation of CLL: the Mayo Clinic experience
PMID: 41501021
J ImmunoTherapy Cancer 2025 Review
Functional genomics for improving adoptive T-cell transfer therapies
PMID: 41365534
bioRxiv 2025 Preprint
Optimized CAR-T Cell Therapy for Metastatic Aggressive Thyroid Cancer
PMID: 41332751
Leukemia 2025
Progressive T cell defects correlate with disease outcome in high-count monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis
PMID: 40836016
Blood 2025
Inflammasome-resistant iPSC-derived myeloid-derived suppressor cells ameliorate xenogeneic graft-versus-host disease
PMID: 40700578
Br J Haematology 2025
The role of imaging studies in predicting time to first treatment and overall survival in high-count MBL
PMID: 40664436

Awards & Honors

Recognizing contributions to cancer research, innovation, and translational medicine.

🏆
NCCN Young Investigator Award
🎗️
Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Award in Cancer Research
💡
Mayo Clinic Innovation Award

Join the T Cell Engineering Lab

The T Cell Engineering Lab welcomes applications from postdoctoral fellows, clinical research fellows, and graduate students with a passion for cancer immunotherapy and T cell biology.

We are a collaborative, multidisciplinary team operating at the intersection of fundamental T cell science, translational oncology, and clinical medicine within one of the world's leading academic medical centers.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Clinical Research Fellows
Graduate Students (PhD)
Contact & Lab Information
🏛️
Institution
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center
Rochester, Minnesota
🔬
Lab
T Cell Engineering Lab
📚
📄