Share

Philippe Leboulch

M.D.

Member of The Faculty, Harvard Medical School

Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Professor of Medicine, University of Paris


Dr. Leboulch is a Professor of Medicine (emeritus-active) at the University of Paris-Saclay and at Harvard Medical School, where he remains as a Harvard Medical School Corresponding Faculty Member.

He has served on the HMS Faculty for 15 years in the Genetics Division of the Brigham & Women's Hospital. He was also Unit Director at France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) - France's NIH equivalent -, Founding Director of France’s Institute of Emerging Diseases and Innovative Therapies (iMETI), and CEA’s High Councilor for Medical Innovation. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Ramathibodi Medical School of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. He was the lead scientific founder of the US Gene Therapy companies Genetix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of which he was its Chief Scientific Officer, and bluebird bio Inc., of which he was co-chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Leboulch has made pioneering contributions to the field of Gene Therapy and authored landmark publications in high profile journals (Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, etc.). He has led the development of bluebird bio’s LentiGlobin vector and protocols that resulted in the first worldwide market approval of ZyntegloTM in Europe and the US for the Gene Therapy of selected beta-hemoglobinopathies. In a Feature Article (“Gene therapy finds its niche”. Nat Biotech 2011;29:121-28), Nature Biotechnology cited Prof. Leboulch’s achievements as one of the 13 most important milestones in the history of the field of Gene Therapy. He is the recipient of a Grand Prize from France’s National Academy of Sciences and other awards, of multimillion dollar NIH and European grants, and has been knighted in France’s National Order of the Legion of Honor.

He has received his MD from the Faculty of Medicine of Paris where he was selected as a Resident in Medicine (Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris). He then pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before being appointed on the HMS Faculty.

Philippe Leboulch

M.D.

Member of The Faculty, Harvard Medical School

Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Professor of Medicine, University of Paris


Dr. Leboulch is a Professor of Medicine (emeritus-active) at the University of Paris-Saclay and at Harvard Medical School, where he remains as a Harvard Medical School Corresponding Faculty Member.

He has served on the HMS Faculty for 15 years in the Genetics Division of the Brigham & Women's Hospital. He was also Unit Director at France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) - France's NIH equivalent -, Founding Director of France’s Institute of Emerging Diseases and Innovative Therapies (iMETI), and CEA’s High Councilor for Medical Innovation. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Ramathibodi Medical School of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. He was the lead scientific founder of the US Gene Therapy companies Genetix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of which he was its Chief Scientific Officer, and bluebird bio Inc., of which he was co-chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Leboulch has made pioneering contributions to the field of Gene Therapy and authored landmark publications in high profile journals (Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, etc.). He has led the development of bluebird bio’s LentiGlobin vector and protocols that resulted in the first worldwide market approval of ZyntegloTM in Europe and the US for the Gene Therapy of selected beta-hemoglobinopathies. In a Feature Article (“Gene therapy finds its niche”. Nat Biotech 2011;29:121-28), Nature Biotechnology cited Prof. Leboulch’s achievements as one of the 13 most important milestones in the history of the field of Gene Therapy. He is the recipient of a Grand Prize from France’s National Academy of Sciences and other awards, of multimillion dollar NIH and European grants, and has been knighted in France’s National Order of the Legion of Honor.

He has received his MD from the Faculty of Medicine of Paris where he was selected as a Resident in Medicine (Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris). He then pursued a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before being appointed on the HMS Faculty.

Recent Publications

Futuristic global cell and gene therapy regulations based on a review of today's leading frameworks

Published On 2026 Apr 03

Journal article

The advancement of cell and gene therapies (CGT) represents a pivotal shift in the treatment model for cancers and a broad spectrum of other diseases, particularly rare and orphan disorders. Despite major advances, information regarding global regulatory pathways is scarce and often perplexing. Essential technicalities to approval, such as current good manufacturing practice, good laboratory practices, critical process parameters and pathways that accelerate the approval process (like orphan...


Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction-based quantitation of therapeutic lentiviral vector copies in transduced hematopoietic stem cells

Published On 2024 Mar 29

Journal article

CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the ddPCR technique has the potential to precisely detect LV copy numbers in the host genome, which can be used for VCN estimation, calculation of infectious titer and multiplicity of infection for HSPC transduction in a clinical setting.