Kevin Hay
Positions
Associate Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Member
Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Contact information
Phone number
Office: 403.210.6191
Preferred method of communication
Admin Assistant
Benedicta Odame-Ankrah
Email: b.odameankrah@ucalgary.ca
Office: 403.220.3029
Background
Educational Background
MSc Immunology, University of Manitoba, 2008
MD University of Manitoba, 2011
Biography
Dr. Kevin Hay is a Clinician Scientist at the University of Calgary and Charbonneau Cancer Institute. Dr. Hay received a Master of Science in Immunology at the University of Manitoba (2008), followed by an MD (2011). After completing residency in Internal Medicine (2014) and a clinical fellowship in Haematology (2016) at the University of British Columbia, he was awarded a scholarship through the Clinician Investigator Program of UBC to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in cellular immunotherapy at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle Washington under the mentorship of Dr. Cameron Turtle. In 2019 he then took a position with Leukemia/BMT Program of BC and UBC, where he served as Director of Clinical Cell Therapy Laboratory and developed a research program in CAR-T cell therapy, before moving to the University of Calgary in 2023. He continues to serve as Medical Director of the Conconi Family Immunotherapy Laboratory, a facility in Victoria, British Columbia dedicated to the manufacturing of cellular immunotherapies, and maintains a research laboratory at the BC Cancer Research Institute as well as at the Charbonneau Cancer Institute in Calgary.
Research
Areas of Research
- Translation of Cellular Immunotherapy, with a focus on CAR-T cell therapy
- Clinical trials
- Microenvironment
- Stem cell transplantation
The overarching goal of our research program is the successful development and translation of novel cellular therapies to the bedside. As such, my research laboratory focuses on correlative studies in patients who have received cell therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells in order to understand how to improve efficacy and decrease toxicity. We then apply this knowledge to developing new CAR-T cells that can: (1) target novel antigens, (2) persist longer in the body, and (3) alter the tumour microenvironment (TME). I also have an active clinical research program, focusing on early phase trials in cellular immunotherapy. Specific highlights of my research include:
- Providing one of the earliest descriptions of the unique toxicities associated with CD19 CAR-T cell therapy which has helped form clinical care guidelines and is highly cited in the field; major publications in Blood 2017 and Cancer Discovery 2017.
- Running and analysis of data from clinical trials of CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, including local point of care manufacturing; published in Blood 2019 and Frontiers in Immunology 2023.
- Oversight for and development of point-of-care manufacturing of CAR-T cells in Canada for academic trials; supported by NRC Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program (CSTIP) funding.
- Design of CAR-T cells to target various malignancies, including B-cell malignancies (BioCanRx grants for sdCD22 and multi-antigen targeting), acute myeloid leukemia and Ewing sarcoma (BC Children’s Subgrant), and multiple myeloma (CRS and IMS grants).
- Leadership of academic clinical trials in CAR-T cell therapy, including CLIC-2201, a CD22 CAR-T cell product (CIHR operating grant and clinical trial fund grant).
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