Joanne Kurtzberg

Joanne Kurtzberg is an internationally renowned expert in pediatric hematology–oncology, pediatric blood and marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, and the novel application of cord blood in the emerging fields of cellular therapy and regenerative medicine. Dr. Kurtzberg was also the first to use umbilical cord blood as an alternative to bone marrow in an unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), in 1993.

Over the last two decades, Dr. Kurtzberg has established an internationally known pediatric transplant program at Duke, which treats children with cancer, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and inherited metabolic diseases. In 2010, Kurtzberg established the Julian Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program (CT2) at Duke. CT2 focuses on translational studies from bench to bedside with a focus on bringing cellular therapies in regenerative medicine to the clinic. Recent areas of investigation in CT2, which are funded by the Marcus Foundation, include the use of autologous cord blood in children with neonatal brain injury, cerebral palsy, and autism as well as preclinical and clinical studies manufacturing microglial oligodendrocyte-like cells from cord blood to treat patients with acquired and genetic brain diseases. Studies of donor cord blood cells and donor cord tissue mesenchymal stem cells in adults with stroke and children with cerebral palsy or autism are also underway. In 2018, Dr. Kurtzberg established and became director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Cures (MC3) at Duke.