Navin Pinto, MD, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, has been named medical lead at Gates Institute. In this role, he’ll work in partnership with the Investigational New Drug and Device (IND/IDE) Office to oversee Gates Institute-supported clinical trials, providing expertise drawn from his extensive experience with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
Pinto recently joined the CU School of Medicine faculty from University of Washington. He specializes in the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed and refractory cancer.
“Engineered cellular therapies are an exciting new tool in our fight against cancer and other life-threatening diseases and delivering them safely is a unique and complex challenge,” says Pinto, CU Cancer Center member. “I am excited to join the team at the Gates Institute and expand our offering of ‘Made at Anschutz’ therapies to patients in need of novel strategies.”
Pinto, who is also an attending physician at Children's Hospital Colorado, earned his medical degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine and completed his residency at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He moved to Seattle in 2015, where he served as outpatient medical director for the division of Hematology/Oncology at Seattle Children’s Hospital and associate professor of Hematology/Oncology at University of Washington.
As a researcher, Pinto has established himself as an authority on CAR T-cell therapy, experience that makes him an invaluable addition to Gates Institute, says Executive Director Terry Fry, MD.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Pinto join us at Gates Institute and the Anschutz Medical Campus,” says Fry. “He brings a unique set of qualifications built on a foundation of extensive experience with cell therapy trials. I am confident that he will help us in our quest of advancing novel therapies to benefit patients with life-threatening disease.”
