Cristina Puig-Saus, PhD

Cristina Puig-Saus completed her undergraduate degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and received her MS and PhD in Biomedicine by the University of Barcelona working with oncolytic adenoviruses. 

Following the completion of her PhD, Puig-Saus moved to the U.S. to join Dr. Antoni Ribas’s team at UCLA as a postdoctoral researcher. During her postdoctoral experience, she focused on developing new adoptive cell therapy strategies using hematopoietic stem cells. She led the preclinical effort that culminated in the opening of a clinical trial at UCLA to co-administer stem cells and T-cells genetically modified to express a NY-ESO TCR for the treatment of melanoma, multiple myeloma and sarcoma. She is now an Associate Project Scientist in the same lab and her efforts are focused on designing novel T-cell therapies. This includes leading a multicenter effort to understand the natural neoepitope-specific T-cell responses induced after immune checkpoint blockade therapy and use this knowledge to improve the design of personalized T-cell therapies. Her interests are also focused on developing novel CAR-based adoptive T-cell therapies for solid tumors and on the improvement of T-cell gene editing strategies.

• 2008: Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, BS, Biotechnology
• 2009: University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, MS, Biomedicine
• 2013: University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, PhD, Biomedicine
• 2018: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Postdoctoral training

• 2020: Senior Parker Fellow Award, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
• 2020: NextGen Star Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
• 2013: Cum Laude PhD, University of Barcelona.
• 2009: MS Extraordinary Award, University of Barcelona.
• 2009: Carlos III Institute of Health (Spanish government), PhD Fellowship.
• 2009: “La Caixa” foundation, MS Scholarship.
• 2008: Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Research Fellowship.