In Memoriam – Ian K. McNiece, PhD
By Richard J. Jones, MD
Director, Bone Marrow Transplantation Program
The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
On May 29, 2023, the stem cell biology and transplantation communities lost one of our colleagues, Dr. Ian K. McNiece. Ian, a long-standing member of the FACT Board of Directors and Chair of its Regenerative Medicine Task Force, endured a prolonged illness over several years, but passed away peacefully in his home in Coral Gables, FL. Ian had a long and productive career in both industry and academics. Growing up in Australia, he received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Melbourne with his thesis work at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. Ian subsequently came to the United States as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Peter Quesenberry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
In 1988, Ian joined Amgen in Thousand Oaks, CA, as a Research Scientist, playing a key role in the emerging field of growth factor therapeutics. In 1994, he became Laboratory Head in the Department of Developmental Hematology at Amgen, and in 1995, he was appointed to head the Amgen Central Laboratory at Saint Luc University Hospital in Belgium. In 1997, Ian returned to academia as Director of Research for the Bone Marrow Transplant Program and Director of the Stem Cell Biology Program at the University of Colorado Health Science Center. In 2003, he moved to Baltimore as Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University, where he served as Director of the Cell Therapy Laboratory, as well as Director and CEO of the Division of Biomedical Sciences Johns Hopkins Singapore. In 2007, he was recruited to the University of Miami as Professor of Medicine in the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, and Director of the Experimental and Clinical Cell Based Therapies Program which supported translational clinical research in cellular therapy. In 2012, he was recruited to MD Anderson in Houston to be the Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Clinical Laboratories. Then in 2017, Ian returned to industry as Chief Scientific Officer of BioCardia, directing the development of cellular and cell-derived therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.
Ian’s research focused on stem cell biology, as well as translational medicine using stem cells and the generation of cellular products for clinical use. In addition to his work in the development of growth factor therapeutics, his later efforts focused on stem cell expansion for cord blood, as well as regenerative medicine strategies particularly for cardiovascular diseases.
On a personal note, Ian and his wife Peggy (an expert transplant nurse and case manager at University of Colorado, Hopkins, and currently at the University of Miami) were dear friends of my wife and me. I first met Ian when he was a post-doc in Peter Quesenberry’s lab almost 40 years ago, got to know him better when my lab was doing studies with various growth factors while he was at Amgen, and recruited him to direct the Hopkins clinical Cell Therapy Laboratory. I was not happy when my colleague at Hopkins, Josh Hare, convinced Ian to move with him down to Miami to develop a cellular therapeutics program and lab, although I must admit that a big part of my sadness was also losing Peggy, one of the best transplant case managers on the planet. However, we remained close, traveled together, and visited each other often (his son David still lives in Baltimore). He loved Australian rules football. (I hear he was quite a player in his day.) He also loved Denver Broncos football, beer, French wine, bicycling, golf, laughing, and of course Peggy and the grandkids. One of my favorite memories was when we were visiting Peggy and him on what just happened to be the weekend when Super Bowl favorite Denver was playing Baltimore in the 2012 NFL playoffs. He and Peggy were wearing Peyton Manning jerseys and my wife and I Joe Flacco jerseys, while watching the game at a Denver Broncos bar in Miami. The bar was going crazy after Denver scored the apparently game-winning touchdown late in the 4th quarter, and then the Mile High Miracle unfolded. For the first and only time since I met him, Ian actually remained quiet for the rest of the evening.
Ian was always a force of nature, and his scientific impact to the fields of stem cell biology and transplantation will endure. We will certainly miss him but will treasure the memories forever.
Richard J. Jones, M.D.
Director, Bone Marrow Transplantation Program
The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
Dr. McNiece’s Many Contributions to FACT and ISCT
FACT:
- FACT Board of Directors: 2010-2018
- Chair, FACT Regenerative Medicine Task Force: 2010-2023
- Member, FACT Common Standards Steering Committee: 2017-2023
- FACT Inspector since 1998 and performed 17 cellular therapy inspections
ISCT:
- Member of ISCT since 1995
- Chair of the ISCT Hematopoietic Stem Cell Committee from 2004 to 2011
- Co-Chair ISCT 2008 Annual Meeting and Organizing Committee member from 2005-2009
- Cytotherapy Editorial Board Member from 2009 to 2022
- ISCT representative on FACT Board of Directors from 2010 to 2018
