Eric Smith

Dr. Eric Smith serves as Director of Research Translation for Immune Effector Cell Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he leads the Smith Lab for Synthetic Biology and Cellular Engineering. His research bridges basic science and clinical translation in cancer immunotherapy, with significant contributions to CAR T-cell therapy development. He maintains additional affiliations with the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Mass General Brigham, and the i3 Center at the Wyss Institute.

Dr. Smith's research focuses on overcoming key challenges in CAR T-cell therapy, including extending applications to solid tumors, enhancing therapeutic persistence, developing direct in vivo delivery approaches, and studying CAR T-cell interactions with disease microenvironments. His lab identified GPRC5D as a novel target for multiple myeloma immunotherapy and developed innovative BCMA-targeted CAR approaches. This work has translated into clinical trials with remarkable efficacy, including the arlocabtagene autoleucel (arlo-cel) targeting GPRC5D and orvacabtagene autoleucel (orva-cel) targeting BCMA.

His publications reveal a consistent focus on dual-targeted CAR strategies to prevent antigen escape in multiple myeloma, novel vector engineering to overcome immune responses against CAR constructs, and the development of bispecific antibody therapies. The research demonstrates strong translational impact, with multiple therapies stemming from his lab advancing to clinical trials showing approximately 90% efficacy in heavily pre-treated patients.

• ASGCT Outstanding New Investigator Award (2025)
• i3 Immuno-engineering to Improve Immunotherapy grant from Moonshot initiative
• Sanofi licensing of GPRC5D binders for recombinant antibody-based therapies
• Wellcome/LEAP funding for mRNA therapies in cancer immunotherapy

Dr. Smith actively mentors the next generation of scientists, with numerous technicians from his lab successfully entering top MD and PhD programs. His lab collaborates extensively across institutions including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with clinical trials of his CAR constructs now active at multiple centers. The Smith Lab operates within the Connell O'Reilly GMP Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber, enabling rapid translation of discoveries to the clinic. His work exemplifies the power of team science in advancing cellular immunotherapy, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for cancer patients with the greatest need.