Jose Cancelas, MD, PhD

Connell and O'Reilly Families Cell Manipulation Core Facility, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School
Headshot, Jose Cancelas, MD, PhD, Executive Committee, Principal Faculty
jose_cancelas-perez@dfci.harvard.edu
https://labs.dana-farber.org/cancelaslab/

Jose Cancelas is a MD, PhD, hematologist with a broad background in transfusion medicine, cell therapies, hematology, and stem cell biology. He is the executive director of the Connell and O’Reilly Cell Manipulations Core Facility at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is responsible for managing a research portfolio on translational and clinical studies involving stem cell therapies and immune-effector therapies for the treatment of a spectrum of diseases that benefit or may benefit from the application of modified blood derived therapeutics. His research program focuses on understanding how the bone marrow microenvironment and intracellular signaling networks regulate hematopoietic stem cell and progenitor function, immune responses, and leukemic transformation, with the goal of translating these mechanisms into novel cell and gene therapies. His laboratory work integrates stem cell biology, immunology, metabolism, and gene engineering to understand how cellular communication, cytoskeletal dynamics, and metabolic pathways control hematopoietic stem cell fate and immune cell function. These discoveries are applied to improve transplantation, develop cellular and gene therapies, and target leukemic stem cell survival within the bone marrow niche. 

Core Conceptual Themes in His Research include:

  1. Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology

    • Mechanisms regulating HSC self-renewal, regeneration, and differentiation.

  2. Bone Marrow Niche and Microenvironment

    • Crosstalk between hematopoietic cells and stromal cells (endothelial cells, adipocytes, macrophages).

  3. Cellular Communication Networks

    • Role of connexins (especially Cx43), cytoskeleton, and intercellular signaling in hematopoiesis and leukemia.

  4. Metabolism and Organelle Dynamics

    • Mitochondrial trafficking, ROS regulation, and metabolic adaptation in stem cells and leukemic cells.

  5. Translational Cell and Gene Therapy

    • Engineering blood cells, immune cells and stem cells for cancer therapy and regenerative hematology.