Academic history
Catherine Bollard, MD, MBChB, is Director of both the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research and the Program for Cell Enhancement and Technologies for Immunotherapy at the Children’s National Research Institute in Washington D.C., as well as being a member of the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Prof. Bollard is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at George Washington University in Washington D.C.
Prof. Bollard received her MBChB in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Otago in Dunelin, New Zealand after which she completed a residency in general medicine at the Auckland University Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, and a residency in pediatric hematology and oncology at Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, UK. Prof. Bollard then completed fellowships in pediatric hematology and oncology and pediatric bone marrow transplantation at Auckland University Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX, respectively. Following this she worked as a tenured professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
Prof. Bollard is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and sits on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, as well as chairing the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma committee of the Children’s Oncology Group. She is an associate editor for the journals Blood and Cytotherapy.
Speaking on immunology, lymphoma and infectious complications
Prof. Bollard is a leading investigator with a primary a research focus which centers on stem cell and cord blood transplantation, as well as improving patient outcomes by decreasing infectious complications and preventing relapse. In particular, she studies viral infections in the immune suppressed population, such as those with human immunodeficiency virus.
Prof. Bollard’s research has involved using cytotoxic T-cells (CTL) for the treatment of viral and malignant disease. Prof. Bollard has been the principal investigator of two clinical trials assessing the safety of adoptively transferred donor-derived virus-specific CTL for the prophylaxis and treatment of CMV and adenoviral infection post allogeneic stem cell transplant.
