Advancing Cancer Immunotherapy: The Emerging Role of Engineered NK Cells

Dr. Rafet Başar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Rafet Başar earned his medical degree in Turkey in 2009 and completed his internal medicine residency at Istanbul Medical Faculty in 2015. Throughout his postdoctoral career at MD Anderson, Dr. Başar has been dedicated to enhancing the therapeutic potential of natural killer (NK) cells through state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques. His work aims to improve the efficacy of NK cell-based therapies for leukemia and lymphoma. In addition to NK cell therapy, he has also played a key role in engineering cytotoxic T cells to treat post-transplant viral infections.

His research focuses on the genetic engineering of immune cells particularly NK cells to develop advanced cellular therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and other cancers. Through his work, he continues to develop innovative approaches that enhance the efficacy and precision of cellular therapies.