Dr. Moutih Rafei | Vaccine Development | Best Researcher Award
Full Professor at Université de Montréal | Canada
Dr. Moutih Rafei is a Full Professor at Université de Montréal specializing in pharmacology, immunology, and molecular biology. He is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in T-cell development, cell therapy, cytokine biology, and vaccine engineering. As founder and CEO of Axiom Services Inc., and former CSO of multiple biotech companies, he bridges academic innovation with industry translation. His career includes over 60 peer-reviewed publications, six patents, and leadership in high-impact immuno-oncology projects. Dr. Rafei is a sought-after keynote speaker, scientific advisor, and grant reviewer, contributing significantly to advancing novel therapeutic platforms for cancer, infectious diseases, and immune system modulation.
Publication Profile
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Education
Dr. Rafei earned his B.Sc. Honours in Immunology from McGill University, completing a thesis on Giardia lamblia DNA vaccine design. He pursued a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill under Dr. Jacques Galipeau, focusing on fusokine-based immunosuppression strategies. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Université de Montréal with Dr. Claude Perreault, studying innate and classical CD8 T-cell development. Complementing his scientific expertise, Dr. Rafei completed the Mini-Entrepreneurship Program at HEC-Poly-UdeM, gaining business strategy training. His multidisciplinary education combines deep immunological research skills with innovation management, positioning him at the intersection of cutting-edge biomedical science, translational medicine, and biotech entrepreneurship.
Experience
Dr. Rafei’s professional experience spans academia and industry. In academia, he is a Full Professor at Université de Montréal, leading translational hemato-oncology research and mentoring over 60 trainees. In industry, he founded Axiom Services Inc. and co-founded IntelliStem Technologies Inc., guiding R&D in T-cell and stem cell therapies. He served as Chief Scientific Officer for Defense Therapeutics Inc. and IntelliStem, and as Head of Discovery at Medicenna Therapeutics, advancing IL-2 superkine programs to clinical trials. He has presented at major international conferences, secured over $6.5 million in research funding, and consulted for biotech and pharma companies, bridging scientific discovery and product development.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Rafei has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing his research excellence and leadership. These include the Science Features Excellence Award, recognition among the Most Influential Healthcare Leaders to Watch, and Canada’s Most Visionary Men Leaders in Healthcare. He earned the AAI-Life Technologies Trainee Achievement Award, American Society of Hematology Travel Awards, and the Cedarlane Greenberg Award. His work has been ranked among the Quebec and earned multiple competitive fellowships, including CIHR, Terry Fox Foundation, and FRSQ. He has also been nominated for national innovation awards, consistently in peer-reviewed competitions and gaining international recognition for scientific impact.
Research Focus
Dr. Rafei’s research integrates immunology, cell therapy, and biotechnology to develop next-generation therapeutic strategies. His expertise includes T-cell development, cytokine and chemokine biology, fusokine engineering, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and vaccine design. He applies high-throughput screening for small-molecule discovery and engineers DNA-, peptide-, protein-, and cell-based vaccines. His current work emphasizes mesenchymal stromal cell platforms (ARM-X) for cancer immunotherapy, immune-oncology drug development, and novel approaches for infectious disease prevention. By combining basic immunology with translational application, Dr. Rafei aims to generate safe, effective, and customizable therapies to treat cancer and modulate immune responses in diverse clinical contexts.
Publication Top Notes
Mesenchymal stromal cells ameliorate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by inhibiting CD4 Th17 T cells in a CC chemokine ligand 2-dependent manner
Mesenchymal stromal cell–derived CCL2 suppresses plasma cell immunoglobulin production via STAT3 inactivation and PAX5 induction
Cell therapy: types, regulation, and clinical benefits
Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Nociceptor neurons affect cancer immunosurveillance
A granulocyte-macrophage colony–stimulating factor and interleukin-15 fusokine induces a regulatory B cell population with immune suppressive properties
Inflammatory monocytes promote progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and can be therapeutically targeted via CCR 2
Characterization of Gaucher disease bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells reveals an altered inflammatory secretome
Mesenchymal stem cells beyond regenerative medicine
An engineered GM-CSF-CCL2 fusokine is a potent inhibitor of CCR2-driven inflammation as demonstrated in a murine model of inflammatory arthritis