Medical & Scientific Advisory Board

Stephen J. Noga, M.D., Ph.D., is Director of Medical Oncology and Hematology and the Cellular Therapeutics Program at the Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore in Maryland, and Associate Professor of Oncology and Pathology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr Noga received his Ph.D. in experimental pathology from the University of Florida in Gainesville. He then received his MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he completed both a postdoctoral fellowship in oncology in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and a senior clinical fellowship also in oncology, as well as a residency in internal medicine.

Dr Noga is currently on the editorial boards of Clinical Geriatrics and Transfusion. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Bone Marrow Transplant Scientists of Australasia Association (BMTSAA), the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the European Hematology Association (EHA). Dr. Noga is the immediate past –President of the International Society for Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering (ISCT). He currently chairs the steering committee for the NHLBI Production Assistance for Cellular Therapy (PACT) initiative and is a member of the Cellular Therapy Steering Committee for the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). Furthermore, he has chaired and organized numerous conferences and scientific sessions, and is the author or co-author of over 140 articles, abstracts, and book chapters.

Dr. Boeckh is a member of University of Washington Physicians , a not-for-profit group practice of physician specialists caring for patients at various sites in Seattle, including the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance .  Dr. Boeckh's clinical area of expertise is infections in the immunocompromised host. Areas of particular interest include diagnosis, prevention and treatment of CMV, VZV, BK virus, adenovirus and respiratory virus infections.

Richard Kahn, Ph.D., is Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Diabetes Association located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Dr. Kahn is responsible for all of the scientific and medical affairs of the Association, which can be divided into five major areas.  First, he is responsible for the Association's professional education activities, consisting of  many clinical conferences and symposia, research conferences, and the largest diabetes-related clinical and scientific meeting in the world -- the Association's Annual Scientific Sessions.  Second, Dr. Kahn manages the development of the Association's clinical practice guidelines and clinical consensus reports, which provide guidance and direction to health professionals who deliver diabetes care.  Third, he is responsible for the Association's research program which awards over 40 million dollars of support to both basic and clinical scientists nationwide.  Fourth, Dr. Kahn provides senior staff direction for the many professional books and journals produced by the Association.  Finally, he oversees the Association's two professional "certification" or Recognition Programs - the Diabetes Education Recognition Program and the newly developed Provider Recognition Program.

Prior to joining the American Diabetes Association, Dr. Kahn was Chief of Scientific Affairs for the American Red Cross in St. Louis, Missouri, and an Associate Professor of Pathology at Washington University.  In these positions he established the first Tissue Bank in the Red Cross System and directed a large researach laboratory concerned with the pathophysiology of blood cells and the prevention of transfusion-transmitted diseases.

Dr. Kahn received his doctorate in physiology from Georgetown University and has published over 50 original research reports as well as numerous book chapters.  He has received many awards, honors, invited lectureships and is a member of a variety of professional organizations.

Dr. Naynesh Kamani has been a Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant physician for over two decades and has been actively involved with numerous national committees dealing with pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Marrow Donor Program and the Executive Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research.   He is nationally recognized for his contributions to the field of pediatric stem cell transplantation and currently serves as the chair of the Non-metabolic Diseases Strategy Group of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium.  His interests include the study of stem cell transplantation for immunodeficiencies and other non-malignant pediatric diseases and immune reconstitution following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Buff Mair, M.D. is the Medical Director and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Florida Blood Services in St. Petersburg, Florida and is also the Medical Director for Cryo-Cell International in Oldsmar, Florida. Dr. Mair attended medical school at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine where she was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. She completed her residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of South Florida and is Board Certified in Clinical Pathology and Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine. Dr. Mair is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University Of South Florida College Of Medicine and has been the author of numerous scientific articles published in transfusion medicine and clinical chemistry peer review journals. She serves on the transfusion committee at six of the major hospitals in the Tampa Bay Area and has also been a member of national committees including the Membership and Process Improvement Committee for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and the Transfusion Medicine Resource Committee for the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Bruce M. Zafran, M.D., is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and has been a practicing obstetrician for more than twenty years.  Dr. Zafran is President/CEO of Royal Palm Ob/Gyn, P.A., a single specialty group providing women’s health care for over 20 years. The practice, responsible for approximately 1,000 deliveries per year, is located in Coral Springs, Florida. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Florida.  Dr. Zafran received his M.D. degree from Hahnemann Medical College and served his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Allickson, is the Vice President of Laboratory Operations and R & D at Cryo-Cell International, Inc., an AABB accredited, and Florida based Family Cord Blood Bank. As Vice President of the Laboratory Dr. Allickson is responsible for all technical aspects of Operations to ensure a safe and high quality product produced in a cGMP-compliant cell processing environment. She is also responsible for all Research and Development activities associated with adult stem cells. Dr. Allickson serves as a member of the Cryo-Cell Medical Scientific Advisory Board. Prior to this position, Dr. Allickson worked for the University of Miami – School of Medicine, Diabetes Research Institute as the Laboratory Manager of the cGMP Cell Processing Facility where she was responsible for Hematopoietic Cell Processing Operations to include processing of vertebral body marrow as well as other hematopoietic cell types. She was also responsible for the design and implementation of the State Licensed Clinical Flow Cytometry Laboratory. Dr. Allickson was the lead in Regulatory Affairs for the cell processing laboratory of Islet and Hematopoietic Cell products which included oversight of all Investigational New Drugs (IND) and all external regulations. Prior to working for the University of Miami she worked for the American Red Cross managing the Hematopoietic Cell Processing and Platelet Serology Laboratory. During her tenure at the American Red Cross she served as a member of the National Stem Cell Task Force and participated in the preparation of national protocols developed for Hematopoietic Cell Processing Laboratories. Dr. Allickson was part of the team to perform the very first Bone Marrow Transplant at the University of Miami in 1990. Dr. Allickson has 20 years of laboratory experience and 17 years in Cellular Therapy Processing. She is board-certified as a Medical Technologist by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and is licensed in the State of Florida in all areas of the Clinical Laboratory. She has a Doctorate in Health Sciences along with a Master’s Degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences. She is one of the founding members of the International Society of Cellular Therapy in 1992 and has been a member of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) for 17 years. She has presented at national and international meeting related to adult stem cells. She is an inspector for ISCT and for AABB and is currently a member of the AABB Standards Committee for Cell Therapy Product Services.