Rate My Professor Stanley Riddell

Stanley Riddell, MD, is a professor in the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and holds the Burke O'Reilly Family Endowed Chair in Immunotherapy. He serves as a professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, at the University of Washington School of Medicine, with appointments including Full Member in the Program in Immunology at Fred Hutch since 1999, Professor in Medical Oncology since 2000, and Adjunct Professor in Immunology since 2015. Riddell earned his MD from the University of Manitoba in 1979, completed residency in Internal Medicine in 1983 and fellowship in Hematology in 1985 there, and is board-certified in Medical Oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. As a physician-scientist and oncologist, he specializes in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for leukemias, lymphomas, and graft-versus-host disease, while pioneering T cell-based immunotherapies.

Riddell's research centers on the biology of T cells and adoptive immunotherapy, developing genetically reprogrammed T cells using chimeric antigen receptors or T cell receptors to target cancer and pathogen antigens. His lab has advanced techniques for isolating, expanding, modifying, and monitoring therapeutic T cells, identifying optimal naive and memory T cell subsets for superior persistence and antitumor activity. Early work demonstrated antigen-specific T cells preventing cytomegalovirus infections post-transplant, leading to first-in-human trials of leukemia-reactive T cells and CAR T cells of defined composition. Clinical trials under his leadership achieved 93% remission rates in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients. Key publications include "Immunotherapy of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a defined ratio of CD8+ and CD4+ CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells" (Science Translational Medicine, 2016), "CD19 CAR-T cells of defined CD4+:CD8+ composition in adult B cell ALL patients" (Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2016), and "Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells derived from defined CD8+ and CD4+ subsets confer superior antitumor reactivity in vivo" (Leukemia, 2016). Honors include the American Cancer Society Research Professorship (2016) and the Burke O'Reilly Family Endowed Chair in Immunotherapy (2020). His innovations have transformed cancer treatment paradigms.