Dr. Stephen J. Forman

Dr. Stephen J. Forman is the Founding Director of the T Cell Immunotherapy Research Laboratory and Chief of Hematologic Malignancies at City of Hope, roles that allow him to coordinate leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma services across main campus, community clinics, and nationwide telehealth hubs. Each dawn he convenes transplant physicians, immunotherapists, hematopathologists, radiation oncologists, infectious-disease experts, advanced-practice nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, and social-work navigators to review marrow biopsies, genomic panels, flow-cytometry data, and symptom-tracking dashboards before the first patient arrives. That single forum synchronizes donor‐search timelines, conditioning-regimen dosing, graft-versus-host prophylaxis, and psychosocial supports, turning a once fragmented path into one cohesive plan. Multilingual nurse coordinators then merge laboratory draws, virtual check-ins, and insurance clearances into a single call, sparing families multiple trips to Duarte. A secure portal posts infusion calendars, laboratory trends, and direct-message links so questions draw answers within hours rather than days. By uniting logistical precision with collective expertise, Dr. Forman transforms a daunting diagnosis into a transparent, step-by-step journey that inspires confidence from day one. 

 

Dr. Forman’s laboratory focuses on engineering chimeric-antigen-receptor (CAR) T cells and natural-killer cells that eradicate chemo-resistant hematologic cancers while minimizing cytokine-release toxicity. His flagship Phase I trial of CD19-directed CAR T therapy for relapsed B-cell lymphoma reported molecular remissions in high-risk patients who previously failed transplant, findings now expanded into multicenter cohorts that measure single-cell transcriptomic shifts during on-treatment response. Parallel work with dual-targeted CD19/22 constructs aims to prevent antigen escape; every leukapheresis sample, cytokine panel, and radiomic scan feeds a living biobank that links genomic signatures to outcomes, powering machine-learning tools clinicians can query chair-side. By shortening the distance between bench discovery and bedside benefit, Dr. Forman offers participants therapies that evolve with their tumor’s biology while shaping global immunotherapy standards.

 

Innovation extends far beyond cellular products. As Chair of City of Hope’s Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research site committee, Dr. Forman designed a cloud-based platform that lets community hematologists livestream marrow-board deliberations, access graft-source algorithms, and upload adverse-event dashboards in real time. He mentors fellows through a curriculum that pairs wet-lab rotations with narrative-medicine seminars, teaching future leaders to translate genomic data into language every family can grasp. Community outreach teams—fluent in Spanish, Mandarin, and Armenian—host marrow-donor registry drives at college campuses and faith centers, expanding the unrelated-donor pool for diverse patients who traditionally struggle to find matches. Policy advocacy within national societies secures insurance coverage for telehealth survivorship visits and at-home cytokine monitoring, proving that technological imagination, education, and equity can move forward together for the benefit of every patient.