Our mission is to pioneer cell therapies for clinical application. Our vision is to improve the human condition through functional cures by bioengineered cell transplantation.
Pioneering Cell TherapiesTM
Advancing cell therapies from concept to benchside to clinic.


CellTrans Services
Clinical Services
CellTrans provides world-class services for autologous and allogeneic islet isolations for the purpose of clinical transplantation.
Pre-Clinical Services
Includes contract research ranging from proof of concept to planning and execution of IND/IDE enabling pre-clinical testing.
In-Vitro Services
CellTrans has unique expertise in complex in vitro cell product assessments. We can help you develop batch release testing for your cellular product.
Meet the CellTrans Team.

José Oberholzer, MD
Founder & President

James McGarrigle, PhD
Chief Operating Officer
Prior to CellTrans, Dr. McGarrigle served as Assistant Research Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in the Department of Surgery, evaluating various cell therapies and biomaterial products to combat diabetes, as well as research projects aimed to improve and better assess human islet manufacture and transplantation. Earned bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry and a PhD in Microbiology, both from the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Giovanna La Monica, PhD
Director of Quality

Peter Rios, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer

Ira Joshi, MS
Senior Research and Manufacturing Associate

Sofia Ghani
Quality Manager

David Cook, MS
Manufacturing Associate

Daisy Lopez
Research and Manufacturing Associate

Hafsa Nasir
Research Associate

Quetzalli Rodriguez
Undergraduate Research Assistant
In her free time, Quetzalli enjoys reading medical memoirs and spending time with her family.

Sharon Roberts
Undergraduate research assistant
Fun Fact: Sharon collects antiques that included novels and music boxes dating back to the 1800s.

Yi Li, Ph.D
Director of Biostatistics

Jenny Cook, CPA
Chief Financial Officer

Yong Wang, MD, MS
Vice President
Publications
Clinical
Research focused on achieving a functional cure for Type I diabetes through islet transplantation
Pre-Clinical
Research focused on microencapsulation of islets to prevent immunorejection and achieve long-term islet graft
In-Vitro
Research focused on bioengineering of microfluidic biochips to study beta-cell physiology