Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Our stem cell transplant and cellular therapy program has reached a major milestone, earning designation as a Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) Core Center. At the same time, the program is expanding access to care with the opening of a new outpatient satellite at University of Miami Health System SoLé Mia.
Amer Beitinjaneh serves as Sylvester’s institutional site principal investigator for the NHLBI-funded BMT CTN Core Center grant. Through sustained leadership in cooperative group research, deep national collaborations and long-standing engagement with the BMT CTN, Dr. Beitinjaneh played a key role in positioning Sylvester for Core Center designation and continued participation in this NIH-supported network.
Learn how this milestone reflects the program’s continued growth, national engagement and commitment to advancing transplant and cellular therapy care.
Sylvester Strengthens Its National Role in Transplant Innovation and Expands Care Locally
By Debby Teich
With a new BMT CTN Core Center designation and expanded access at SoLé Mia, Sylvester has solidified its position as a national leader in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy, reflecting years of program growth, strategic research leadership, and expanding national engagement.
The stem cell transplant and cellular therapy program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System and Miller School of Medicine, has reached a major milestone by earning designation as a Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) Core Center. At the same time, the program is expanding its clinical reach with a new outpatient satellite at SoLé Mia in North Miami.
Together, these developments mark a significant advance for Sylvester, amplifying its national scientific presence, strengthening its leadership in cooperative clinical research, and expanding access to highly specialized care across South Florida.
This milestone reflects the program’s continued growth and expanding national engagement. Amer Beitinjaneh, M.D., professor of medicine and leader of the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Clinical Research Site Disease Group, serves as Sylvester’s institutional site principal investigator for the NHLBI-funded BMT CTN Core Center grant. Through his sustained involvement in cooperative group research, national collaborations, and long-standing engagement with the BMT CTN, he helped position Sylvester for Core Center designation and ongoing participation in this National Institutes of Health-supported network.
“This designation represents years of focused effort to build a mature, nationally engaged transplant and cellular therapy research program,” said Dr. Beitinjaneh. “It positions Sylvester to contribute meaningfully to trials that define future standards of care, while ensuring our patients have access to the most innovative therapies available.”
South Florida’s Only BMT CTN Core Center
Sylvester now joins Emory University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham as one of fewer than 20 BMT CTN Core Centers nationwide – an elite distinction supported by a seven-year NHLBI U10/UG1 grant.
Established in 2001, the BMT CTN is the nation’s leading cooperative research network for multicenter clinical trials in blood and marrow transplantation and cellular therapy. With more than 16,000 patients enrolled, the network has shaped national standards of care and accelerated the development of transformative therapies supported by the NIH and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
As South Florida’s only BMT CTN Core Center, Sylvester will now provide access to high-priority clinical trials available exclusively within the Core Center network, significantly expanding its clinical trial portfolio and enabling patients to receive cutting-edge therapies locally rather than traveling outside the region.
“Serving as a Core Center places Sylvester among a small group of institutions that actively shape national transplant research,” said Dr. Beitinjaneh. “It allows us not only to participate in pivotal studies, but also to help guide the scientific questions that matter most to patients.”
In his role as site principal investigator, Dr. Beitinjaneh oversees Sylvester’s participation in all BMT CTN protocols, leads institutional trial activation and execution, and ensures alignment with national research priorities. He also plays a key role in integrating emerging therapies into the program and matching patients to the studies most appropriate for their disease and clinical needs.
SoLé Mia Brings High-level Expertise Closer to Home
As the program expands, Dr. Beitinjaneh has also opened a new outpatient clinic at the UHealth SoLé Mia Medical Center. The AI-enabled, state-of-the-art, seven-story, 370,000-square-foot ambulatory facility is UHealth’s largest outpatient facility to date. It gives patients across South Florida—especially those in northern Miami-Dade and southern Broward counties—unprecedented access to specialized transplant and cellular therapy expertise while significantly reducing travel time and logistical strain.
“Treatment often requires frequent visits each week for several months, placing a heavy burden on patients and caregivers,” said Dr. Beitinjaneh. “By bringing high-level expertise closer to where people live, we’re ensuring that more patients across the region can access truly cutting-edge care.”
The SoLé Mia clinic offers comprehensive services, including pre-transplant evaluation, post-transplant follow-up, long-term survivorship care, and cellular therapy management. Its modern, patient-centered design is seamlessly integrated with Sylvester’s main transplant program and expansive clinical trial infrastructure.
This level of coordinated care is essential because transplant patients rarely face a single medical issue. Alongside cancer or bone marrow failure disorders, they often experience complex complications that arise before, during, and long after transplant. Treatments such as high-dose chemotherapy, immunosuppression and cellular therapies can affect nearly every organ system and require coordinated, multidisciplinary oversight.
SoLé Mia brings this full spectrum of experts and services together under one roof, creating an integrated, healing-focused environment that streamlines care and elevates the patient experience.
“Patients have a multidisciplinary team working together on their behalf,” said Dr. Beitinjaneh. “No other clinic in the area offers this level of coordinated support and specialized care.”
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