June 1, 2026 – The International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) is delighted to announce the appointment of Jaap Jan Boelens, MD, PhD, as the inaugural ISCT Chief Medical Officer, effective June 1st, 2026 through December 31, 2028.
Dr. Boelens is a renowned clinical leader specializing in bone marrow and cord blood transplantation to treat blood diseases in children and young adults. Currently, Dr. Boelens serves as Chief of the Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Service (TCT) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and was previously the key leader in developing the largest umbilical cord blood transplant program in Europe during his time with the University Medical Centre Utrecht.
Bringing over 20 years of expertise in clinical leadership, as well as a continuing focus on advancing the intersection of transplantation with new cellular therapies, Dr. Boelens is a proven and driven leader in the clinical space.
As a longstanding ISCT leader, Dr. Boelens has volunteered his expert perspective to many key ISCT initiatives, most recently as co-chair of the inaugural CGT Applications Program for Fellows, the initial flagship program for the ISCT Clinical Pillar. Prior to this, he was elected Regional Vice President of the North America Regional Executive Committee, as co-chair of the ISCT Stem Cell Engineering and as a member of the ISCT Immuno-Gene Therapy scientific committees, as a meeting co-chair of ISCT 2026 Dublin and ISCT 2021 New Orleans Virtual, and member of the editorial board of Cytotherapy®, Official Journal of ISCT.
As the Inaugural Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Boelens will lead the Society to strategically engage clinicians working with rapidly advancing cell and gene therapies. Part of this mandate will include developing key initiatives to solidify the ISCT clinician membership, as well as to create and spearhead programs that meet the needs of CGT expert clinicians as they advance alongside the field.
"I have been delighted to call Dr. Boelens an ISCT colleague for many years, and further delighted to see him appointed to this instrumental leadership position in the Society. He is globally recognized as a driving force within transplantation and cellular medicine. We could not ask for a better fit for our inaugural Chief Medical Officer. ISCT proudly welcomes Dr. Boelens to the leadership team," said Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD, ISCT President.
ISCT looks forward to the leadership of Dr. Boelens as the inaugural Chief Medical Officer, and to his contributions as the Society looks to solidify its longstanding global engagements with clinicians in the sector.