Salah-Eddine Bentebibel, Ph.D.
Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Melanoma Medical Oncology - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Melanoma Medical Oncology - Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2014 | Institute of Biomedical Studies, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, US, Biomedical Studies, Ph.D |
| 2007 | Catholic University of Lyon, Lyon, FR, Biotechnology, Specialized Degree on Biotechnology |
| 2005 | University of Clermont - Ferrand 2, Clermont Ferrand, FR, Master of Science, M.S |
| 2003 | University of Constantine School of Veterinary Medicine, Constantine, DZ, Doctor of Vetinary Medicine, DVM |
Postgraduate Training
| 2016-2021 | Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2015-2016 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, Dallas, Texas |
| 2009-2014 | Research Assistant, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, Dallas, Texas |
| 2006-2009 | Research Assistant, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, Dallas, Texas |
| 2006-2006 | Trainee Research, National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), Clermont-Ferrand |
Honors & Awards
| 2019 | Research Publication Featured in the Highlights of the Issue and Accompanied 2019 by a Commentary, Cancer Discov, 2019 Jun; 9 (6): 711-721 |
| 2015 | FOCIS Travel Award, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Annual Meeting |
| 2013 - 2015 | The Roche Postdoctoral Fellowship (RPF) Programme, Roche Pharmaceuticals |
| 2010 | AAI Minority Scientist Travel Award, American Association of Immunologist Annual Meeting |
| 2010 | Best Poster Award, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research Annual Retreat |
| 2010 | FOCIS Travel Award, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Annual Meeting |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Regional Presentations
- 2015. Poster Presentation,Induction of blood ICOS+CXCR3+ memory Tfh cells is associated with antibody affinity maturation in influenza vaccination. Conference. Immunology Symposium. Forth Worth, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2023. Intratumoral CD40 Agonist Sotigalimab with Pembrolizumab Induces Rapid Activation of Dendritic Cells and Macrophages and Drives Anti-Tumor Responses in Noninjected Distant Tumors in Metastatic Melanoma. Invited. Leading Edge of Cancer Research Symposium, MDACC. Houston, TX, US.
- 2022. Intratumoral Sotigalimab with Pembrolizumab Activates Antigen-presenting cells and Induces Local and Distant Anti-tumor Responses in First-line Metastatic Melanoma: Results of a Phase I/II Study. Invited. SITC, The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Annual Meeting. Boston, MA, US.
- 2022. Intratumoral CD40 agonist sotigalimab with pembrolizumab induces broad innate and adaptive immune activation in local and distant tumors in metastatic melanoma. Invited. AACR, American Association for Cancer Reserach Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2018. Poster Presentation, Phase 1 Dose Escalation of Image Guided Intratumoral CD40 Agonistic Monoclonal Antibody (APX005M) in Combination with Pembrolizumab for Treatment-naïve Melanoma Patients. Invited. SITC, The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. Washington D.C, WA, US.
- 2017. Poster Presentation, The Novel IL-2 Cytokine Immune Agonist NKTR-214 Harnesses the Adaptive and Innate Immune System for the Treatment of Solid Cancer. Invited. SITC, The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. National Harbor, MA, US.
- 2015. 15th Annual Meeting, Oral Presentation, Induction of blood ICOS+CXCR3+ memory Tfh cells is associated with antibody affinity maturation in Influenza vaccination. Invited. FOCIS, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2010. 10th Annual Meeting, Oral Presentation, Human T follicular helper cells comprise subsets specialized for help of distinct B cell subsets. Invited. FOCIS, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies. Boston, MA, US.
- 2010. 97th Annual Meeting, Oral Presentation, Human T follicular helper cells comprise subsets specialized for help of distinct B cell subsets. Invited. AAI, The American Association of Immunologists. Baltimore, MA, US.
International Presentations
- 2022. Clinical outcome and preliminary immune analysis of phase II clinical trial of combination of tocilizumab with ipilimumab and nivolumab for patients with treatment naive metastatic melanoma. Invited. European Society of Medical Oncology Immuno-Oncology Congress. Geneva, CH.
- 2022. Phase II clinical trial: safety and efficacy study of tocilizumab (Toci) in combination with ipilimumab (Ipi) 3mg/kg plus nivolumab (Nivo) 1mg/kg in patients (pts) with metastatic melanoma (MM). Invited. European Society of Medical Oncology Congress. Paris, FR.
- 2019. Poster Presentation, Intratumoral CD40 Agonist (APX005M) in Combination with Pembrolizumab Induces Broad Innate and Adaptive Immune Activation in Local and Distant Tumors in CPI Treatment Naïve Metastatic. Conference. CICON, CRI-CIMT-EATI - 5th AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy. Paris, FR.
- 2012. Poster Presentation, Emergence of blood ICOS+CXCR5+ Th1 cells predicts antibody responses in seasonal influenza vaccination. Conference. Cell Symposia Human Immunity. Lisbon, PT.
Formal Peers
- 2023. Different Shades of “in Situ Activation”: Small Molecules and Antibody Approach. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
- 2013. CXCR3+ T follicular helper cells suppress germinal center response. Invited. Dallas, TX, US.
- 2013. Poster Presentation “Induction of ICOS+CXCR3+CXCR5+ Th cells correlates with antibody responses to influenza vaccination. Invited. Hong Kong, CN.
- 2012. Induction of ICOS+CXCR3+ Tfh cells predicts antibody responses to Influenza vaccination. Invited. Dallas, TX, US.
- 2010. Poster Presentation, Human B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) expressing CD4+ T cell subset specialized for B-cell help outside germinal centers. Invited. Dallas, TX, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
| Title: | Integrative Analysis of Transcriptomic, Radiomics and Multiplexed Imaging Data to Identify Immune Landscapes Associated with Response and Resistance to Checkpoint Inhibitors in Acral Melanoma |
| Funding Source: | SITC-Bristol Myers Squibb |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
| Title: | Phase I/II Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Isunakinra in Combination with Ipilimumab and Nivolumab for Advanced Melanoma Patients |
| Funding Source: | Institutional Research Grant( IRG) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2023 - 2024 |
| Title: | Modeling Tumor Immune Microenvironment (TIME) Architecture for the Quantification of the Response to Immune-Oncology Agents. MRF Breakthrough Consortium Pilot Translational Grant PI |
| Funding Source: | Melanoma Research Foundation |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Date: | 2023 - 2024 |
| Title: | Integrative Analysis of Single Cell Transcriptomic and Multiplexed imaging data to Identify Immune Landscapes Associated with Response and Resistance to anti-CD40 and PD1 therapy in Melanoma |
| Funding Source: | Melanoma Research Foundation |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Sarilumab plus ipilimumab/nivolumab for patients with metastatic melanoma |
| Funding Source: | Gateway for Cancer Research Foundation |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 4528884894 |
| Title: | Phase I/II Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Isunakinra in Combination with Ipilimumab and Nivolumab for Advanced Melanoma Patients |
| Funding Source: | Gateway to Cancer Research |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | A Phase II randomized open-label study of sarilumab combined with ipilimumab/nivolumab versus ipilimumab/nivolumab alone in patients with previously untreated unresectable or metastatic melanoma |
| Funding Source: | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Phase I/II Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Isunakinra in Combination with Ipilimumab and Nivolumab for Advanced Melanoma Patients |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Phase I Dose Escalation and Expansion Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of mbIL15IMA203 in Recurrent and Refractory Melanoma Patients |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-I |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Hickman A, Koetsier J, Kurtanich T, Nielsen MC, Winn G, Wang Y, Bentebibel SE, Shi L, Punt S, Williams L, Haymaker C, Chesson CB, Fa'ak F, Dominguez AL, Jones R, Kuiatse I, Caivano AR, Khounlo S, Warier ND, Marathi U, Market RV, Biediger RJ, Craft JW, Hwu P, Davies MA, Woodside DG, Vanderslice P, Diab A, Overwijk WW, Hailemichael Y. LFA-1 activation enriches tumor-specific T cells in a cold tumor model and synergizes with CTLA-4 blockade. J Clin Invest 132(13), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35552271.
- Hailemichael Y, Johnson DH, Abdel-Wahab N, Foo WC, Bentebibel SE, Daher M, Haymaker C, Wani K, Saberian C, Ogata D, Kim ST, Nurieva R, Lazar AJ, Abu-Sbeih H, Fa'ak F, Mathew A, Wang Y, Falohun A, Trinh V, Zobniw C, Spillson C, Burks JK, Awiwi M, Elsayes K, Soto LS, Melendez BD, Davies MA, Wargo J, Curry J, Yee C, Lizee G, Singh S, Sharma P, Allison JP, Hwu P, Ekmekcioglu S, Diab A. Interleukin-6 blockade abrogates immunotherapy toxicity and promotes tumor immunity. Cancer Cell 40(5):509-523.e6, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35537412.
- # Federico L, # McGrail DJ, # Bentebibel SE, Haymaker C, Ravelli A, Forget MA, Karpinets T, Jiang P, Reuben A, Negrao MV, Li J, Khairullah R, Zhang J, Weissferdt A, Vaporciyan AA, Antonoff MB, Walsh G, Lin SY, Futreal A, Wistuba I, Roth J, Byers LA, Gaudreau PO, Uraoka N, Cruz AF, Dejima H, Lazcano RN, Solis LM, Parra ER, Lee JJ, Swisher S, Cascone T, Heymach JV, Zhang J, Sepesi B, Gibbons DL, Bernatchez C. Distinct tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte landscapes are associated with clinical outcomes in localized non-small-cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol 33(1):42-56, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34653632.
- Horiuchi S, Wu H, Liu WC, Schmitt N, Provot J, Liu Y, Bentebibel SE, Albrecht RA, Schotsaert M, Forst CV, Zhang B, Ueno H. Tox2 is required for the maintenance of GC TFH cells and the generation of memory TFH cells. Sci Adv 7(41):eabj1249, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34623911.
- Sahaf B, Pichavant M, Lee BH, Duault C, Thrash EM, Davila M, Fernandez N, Millerchip K, Bentebibel SE, Haymaker C, Sigal N, Del Valle DM, Ranasinghe S, Fayle S, Sanchez-Espiridion B, Zhang J, Bernatchez C, Wu CJ, Wistuba II, Kim-Schulze S, Gnjatic S, Bendall SC, Song M, Thurin M, Lee JJ, Maecker HT, Rahman A. Immune Profiling Mass Cytometry Assay Harmonization: Multicenter Experience from CIMAC-CIDC. Clin Cancer Res 27(18):5062-5071, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34266889.
- Haymaker C, Johnson DH, Murthy R, Bentebibel SE, Uemura MI, Hudgens CW, Safa H, James M, Andtbacka RHI, Johnson DB, Shaheen M, Davies MA, Rahimian S, Chunduru SK, Milton DR, Tetzlaff MT, Overwijk WW, Hwu P, Gabrail N, Agrawal S, Doolittle G, Puzanov I, Markowitz J, Bernatchez C, Diab A. Tilsotolimod with Ipilimumab Drives Tumor Responses in Anti-PD-1 Refractory Melanoma. Cancer Discov 11(8):1996-2013, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33707233.
- #Diab A, #Tannir NM, #Bentebibel SE, Hwu P, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Haymaker C, Kluger HM, Gettinger SN, Sznol M, Tykodi SS, Curti BD, Tagliaferri MA, Zalevsky J, Hannah AL, Hoch U, Aung S, Fanton C, Rizwan A, Iacucci E, Liao Y, Bernatchez C, Hurwitz ME, Cho DC. Bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) plus Nivolumab in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: Phase I Dose-Escalation Study of Safety, Efficacy, and Immune Activation (PIVOT-02). Cancer Discov 10(8):1158-1173, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32439653.
- Sharma M, Khong H, Fa'ak F, Bentebibel SE, Janssen LME, Chesson BC, Creasy CA, Forget MA, Kahn LMS, Pazdrak B, Karki B, Hailemichael Y, Singh M, Vianden C, Vennam S, Bharadwaj U, Tweardy DJ, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Huang S, Rajapakshe K, Coarfa C, Hurwitz ME, Sznol M, Hwu P, Hoch U, Addepalli M, Charych DH, Zalevsky J, Diab A, Overwijk WW. Bempegaldesleukin selectively depletes intratumoral Tregs and potentiates T cell-mediated cancer therapy. Nat Commun 11(1):661, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32005826.
- Bentebibel SE, Hurwitz ME, Bernatchez C, Haymaker C, Hudgens CW, Kluger HM, Tetzlaff MT, Tagliaferri MA, Zalevsky J, Hoch U, Fanton C, Aung S, Hwu P, Curti BD, Tannir NM, Sznol M, Diab A. A First-in-Human Study and Biomarker Analysis of NKTR-214, a Novel IL2Rβγ-Biased Cytokine, in Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors. Cancer Discov 9(6):711-721, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30988166.
- Schmitt N, Liu Y, Bentebibel SE, Ueno H. Molecular Mechanisms Regulating T Helper 1 versus T Follicular Helper Cell Differentiation in Humans. Cell Rep 16(4):1082-1095, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27425607.
- Bentebibel SE, Khurana S, Schmitt N, Kurup P, Mueller C, Obermoser G, Palucka AK, Albrecht RA, Garcia-Sastre A, Golding H, Ueno H. ICOS(+)PD-1(+)CXCR3(+) T follicular helper cells contribute to the generation of high-avidity antibodies following influenza vaccination. Sci Rep 6:26494, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27231124.
- Schmitt N, Liu Y, Bentebibel SE, Munagala I, Bourdery L, Venuprasad K, Banchereau J, Ueno H. The cytokine TGF-β co-opts signaling via STAT3-STAT4 to promote the differentiation of human TFH cells. Nat Immunol 15(9):856-65, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25064073.
- Schmitt N, Bustamante J, Bourdery L, Bentebibel SE, Boisson-Dupuis S, Hamlin F, Tran MV, Blankenship D, Pascual V, Savino DA, Banchereau J, Casanova JL, Ueno H. IL-12 receptor β1 deficiency alters in vivo T follicular helper cell response in humans. Blood 121(17):3375-85, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23476048.
- Bentebibel SE, Lopez S, Obermoser G, Schmitt N, Mueller C, Harrod C, Flano E, Mejias A, Albrecht RA, Blankenship D, Xu H, Pascual V, Banchereau J, Garcia-Sastre A, Palucka AK, Ramilo O, Ueno H. Induction of ICOS+CXCR3+CXCR5+ TH cells correlates with antibody responses to influenza vaccination. Sci Transl Med 5(176):176ra32, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23486778.
- Bentebibel SE, Schmitt N, Banchereau J, Ueno H. Human tonsil B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6)-expressing CD4+ T-cell subset specialized for B-cell help outside germinal centers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(33):E488-97, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21808017.
- Morita R, Schmitt N, Bentebibel SE, Ranganathan R, Bourdery L, Zurawski G, Foucat E, Dullaers M, Oh S, Sabzghabaei N, Lavecchio EM, Punaro M, Pascual V, Banchereau J, Ueno H. Human blood CXCR5(+)CD4(+) T cells are counterparts of T follicular cells and contain specific subsets that differentially support antibody secretion. Immunity 34(1):108-21, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21215658.
- Schmitt N, Morita R, Bourdery L, Bentebibel SE, Zurawski SM, Banchereau J, Ueno H. Human dendritic cells induce the differentiation of interleukin-21-producing T follicular helper-like cells through interleukin-12. Immunity 31(1):158-69, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19592276.
Invited Articles
- Bentebibel SE, Diab A. Cytokines in the Treatment of Melanoma. Curr Oncol Rep 23(7):83, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34003395.
Other Articles
- Olson DJ, Gutierez R, Bentebibel SE, Sweis RF, Hamid O, Diab A, Jonson DB Novel immunotherapies and novel combinations of immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma. Cutaneous Melanoma. Springer, Cham:1165-1186, 2020.
- Bentebibel SE, Ueno H Phenotyping assessment of human blood T follicular helper cells by flow cytometry. The Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies(4), 2014.
Abstracts
- Bentebibel SE, Johnson D, Pazdrak B, McGrail D, Lecagoonporn S, Haymaker C, Duose Y, Wani K, Safa H, Burks J, Hwu P, Sungnam C, Bernatchez B, Ekmekcioglu S, Lizée G, Diab A. Intratumoral sotigalimab with pembrolizumab activates antigen-presenting cells and induces local and distant anti-tumor responses in first-line metastatic melanoma: Results of a phase I/II study 10(Suppl 2):A813-A813, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Bentebibel SE, Johnson D, Amariae R, McGrail D, Lecagoonporn S, Haymaker C, Duose D, Wani K, Safa H, Glitza I, Patel S, Wong M, Tawbi H, Burks J, Yang X, Hwu P, Yee C, A Davies M, Murthy R, Bernatchez C, Ekmekcioglu S, Diab A, Lizée G. Intratumoral CD40 agonist sotigalimab with pembrolizumab induces broad innate and adaptive immune activation in local and distant tumors in metastatic melanoma. Cancer Research 82(12):CT039-CT039, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Johnson D, Hailemichael Y, Foo WC, Hess K, Haymaker C, Wani K, Lazar A, Saberian C, Bentebibel SE, Burton E, Abu-Sbeih H, Yi W, Hwu P, Diab A. Interleukin-6 potential target to de-couple checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis from antitumor immunity. Journal of Clinical Oncology 37. 15 Suppl:2616, 2019. e-Pub 2019.
- Diab A, Tykodi S, Curti B, Cho D, Wong M, Puzanov I, Lewis K, Maio M, Daniels G Spira A, Tagliaferri M, Hannah A, Clemens W, Imperiale M, Bernatchez C, Haymaker C, Bentebibel SE, Zalevsky J, Hoch U, Hurwitz M. Immune monitoring after NKTR-214 plus nivolumab (PIVOT-02) in previously untreated patients with metastatic Stage IV melanoma. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Proceedings of 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 6((Suppl 1:04):s40425-018-0423-x, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Sharma M, Khong H, Fa'ak F, Chesson B, Pazdrak B, Kahn L, Janssen L, Bharadwaj U, Karki B, Xiao Z, Hailemichael Y, Singh M, Vianden C, Tweardy, D, Bentebibel SE, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Diab A, Hoch U, Zalevsky J, Overwijk W. NKTR-214, an engineered IL-2, selectively depletes intratumoral Tregs and expands immunotherapy- induced effector T cell responses. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Proceedings Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting 2018 6((suppl 1)), 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Johnson D, Bentebibel SE, Lecagoonporn S, Bernatchez C, Haymaker C, Murthy R, Tam A, Yee C, Amaria R, Patel S, Hassan A, Glitza I, Davies M, Hwu, W-J, Hwu, P, Overwijk W, Diab A. Phase I/II dose escalation and expansion cohort safety and efficacy study of image guided intratumoral CD40 agonistic monoclonal antibody APX005M in combination with systemic pembrolizumab for treatment naive metastatic melanoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology, Proceedings of 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting 36, 15-suppl, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Johnson D, Haymaker C, Wani K, W-C F, Bentebibel SE, Curry J, Diab A, Wargo J, Reuben A, Burton E. Interleukin-6 gene expression is highly upregulated in immune checkpoint mediated enterocolitis. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 6(Suppl 1), 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Haymaker C, Uemura M, W-J H, Ravi M, James M, Bhatta A, Bentebibel SE, Brevard J, Geib J, Lipford K, Cornfeld M, Chunduru S, Yee C, Woodman S, Amaria R, Patel S, Tawbi H, Glitza I, Davies M, Overwijk W, Hwu P, Bernatchez C, Diab A. TLR9 agonist harnesses innate immunity to drive tumor-infiltrating T cell expansion in distant lesions in a phase 1/2 study of intratumoral IMO-2125+ipilimumab in anti-PD1 refractory melanoma patients. Journal of Clinical Oncology, Proceedings 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2018, National Harbor, Maryland 35(7, Suppl 136), 2017. e-Pub 2017.
Book Chapters
- Bentebibel SE, Jacquemin C, Schmitt N, Ueno H. Analysis of human blood memory T follicular helper subsets. In: Methods Mol Biol, 187-197, 2015.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 22, 2026