Marie Bleakley

Dr. Marie Bleakley, MD, PhD, MMSC is a Professor in the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She serves as Director of Cellular Therapy and Transplantation for Pediatric Leukemia at Fred Hutch, Member of the Immunotherapy Integrated Research Center (IIRC), and holds the Gerdin Family Endowed Chair for Leukemia Research. Additionally, she is an Affiliate Investigator in the Clinical Research Division, Attending Physician at Fred Hutch and Seattle Children's Hospital, and Co-Director of the Integrated High Risk Leukemia Clinic at Seattle Children's Hospital.

Dr. Bleakley earned her Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery/MD from Flinders University of South Australia in 1994, followed by a Pediatrics Residency at The Children's Hospital at Westmead (1996-1999). She completed an MMSC in Clinical Epidemiology from The University of Newcastle in 2000, a Pediatric Oncology Fellowship at The Children's Hospital at Westmead (1999-2001), a Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Seattle Children's Hospital (2002-2005), and a PhD from The University of Sydney in 2010.

Her research focuses on developing novel therapies to optimize the cancer-fighting power of immune T cells while reducing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). She pioneered a transplantation approach that selectively removes donor T cells that might cause GVHD and genetically engineers T cell therapies targeting unique markers to kill cancer cells more effectively. Her laboratory has isolated and expanded minor H antigen-specific T cells for discovering novel hematopoietic-restricted minor H antigens that can be exploited as targets for vaccination and adoptive immunotherapy. She conducts clinical trials using these approaches to treat recurrent leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Analysis of Dr. Bleakley's 15 most recent publications reveals a consistent focus on T cell immunology and its application to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Her work spans basic immunology research, translational development, and clinical trials, with particular emphasis on separating the beneficial graft-versus-leukemia effect from harmful graft-versus-host disease. The publications demonstrate progression from fundamental antigen discovery through to clinical implementation of novel cellular therapies, with increasing focus on neoantigens and precision targeting in recent years.

• Gerdin Family Endowed Chair for Leukemia Research

Dr. Bleakley serves as Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials, including an ongoing trial and two recently completed trials evaluating depletion of naïve T cells from allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell grafts to prevent GVHD. She is the sponsor of successful Investigational New Drug applications to the FDA and leads an adoptive T cell immunotherapy trial involving genetic modification of donor T cells using a lentiviral vector to express a T cell receptor specific for the minor histocompatibility antigen, HA-1. Her research has been supported by significant funding, including a recent $7M award from the Kuni Foundation.

Dr. Bleakley leads the Bleakley Lab, which is part of the Program in Immunology at Fred Hutch. Her team focuses on developing new therapies and transplantation strategies to separate the beneficial Graft-versus-Leukemia Effect (GVL) from potentially dangerous Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GVHD). The laboratory has established techniques for isolating and expanding minor H antigen-specific T cells and has identified and characterized several novel human minor H antigens. Current research includes clinical translation of these discoveries into novel cellular therapies for patients with high-risk leukemia.