The Cellular Therapy Laboratory team was saluted for its dedication. Standing, from left: quality assurance manager Sharon Tindle; medical technologists Yesmin Choudhury, Simon Ng, and Elvira Maliarova; and lab manager Yelena Sinitsyn. Seated: medical technologist Yijun Ou, left, and lead technologist Svitlana Shpontak. Not shown, administrative assistant Johanny Polonia.
Camelia Iancu-Rubin, PhD, Professor, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, sings the praises of the “extraordinary” laboratory team in the Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
“The Cellular Therapy Laboratory might be little known,” she says, “but the team’s dedication goes above and beyond to ensure safe and efficient delivery of cellular therapies to our patients.” Dr. Iancu-Rubin explains that cellular therapy is a treatment in which healthy live cells are infused into patients to replace or eliminate diseased cells, but many procedures are required before such cells become “living drugs”.
“This amazing team works tirelessly every day to make sure the cells are processed and stored on time, even when collections occur outside the routine working hours,” she says. “Under the expert leadership of their manager, our medical technologists prepare cells for infusion at times best suited for the patients, many times volunteering after hours and on weekends.”
Dr. Iancu-Rubin is grateful for the team’s “conscientiousness, flexibility, and commitment to patient safety.”