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AACI Cellular Therapy Initiative Welcomes New Steering Committee Members

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Pictured, top right: Dr. Natalie Grover; bottom, left to right: Dr. Siddhartha Ganguly, Tania Jain, Dr. Marcos de Lima, and Dr. Richard Maziarz

The AACI Cellular Therapy Initiative (CTI) Steering Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Natalie Grover, MD, as its next chair, effective January 1, 2026. Dr. Grover serves as an associate professor of medicine, Cellular Therapy Program Clinical Director, and Cell Therapy POD Leader at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

We also extend our sincere gratitude to Peter Riedell, MD, our immediate past chair and associate professor of medicine at The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, for his leadership and for guiding the development of the CAR T Working group into the Cellular Therapy Initiative.

Also on on January 1, CTI will welcome four newly elected steering committee members:

  • Siddhartha Ganguly, MD, FACP, section chief of hematology, Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center

  • Tania Jain, MBBS, director, Immune Effector Cell Therapy Program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University

  • Marcos de Lima, MD, director, Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James

  • Richard Maziarz, MD, medical director, Bone Marrow Transplant Program, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute


We look forward to the expertise these new members will bring as CTI continues its mission to help AACI members expand access to cellular therapies for patients.

Finally, we acknowledge and thank our outgoing steering committee members for their dedication and service to CTI:

  • Peter Riedell, MD, The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • Lihua Elizabeth Budde, MD, PhD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • Premal Lulla, MD, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine

  • David L. Porter, MD, Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania