Leonardo Ferreira

Leonardo Ferreira is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina with a focus on developing engineered immune cell therapies for autoimmune diseases, cancer, and aging.

His research has centered on cell-based gene therapies and overcoming immune rejection challenges in transplantation therapies, particularly for autoimmune disorders.

During his PhD at Harvard University, he delved into transcriptional regulation in human pregnancy, genome editing in human T cells and stem cells, and creating universally compatible human pluripotent stem cells.

As a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco, Ferreira utilized CRISPR/Cas9 technology to engineer CAR Tregs for targeted immune therapy.

He envisions leveraging genome engineering to manipulate the immune system for treating currently incurable diseases.

Leonardo Ferreira holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, an A.M. in Biology, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from renowned institutions like Harvard University and the University of Coimbra.