Christian Capitini graduated with an MD with Distinction in Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2002. He then completed a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota in 2005, where he was inducted into the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Honor Society. Dr. Capitini then completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology through the joint program of Johns Hopkins University/National Cancer Institute in 2008. He also served as Chief Fellow in the last year of fellowship. Dr. Capitini joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an Assistant Professor in 2011, and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. He is board certified in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Dr. Capitini focuses his research on using allogeneic bone marrow transplant (alloBMT) to cure pediatric cancers. The goal of this research is two-fold: to improve graft-vs.-tumor effects using immunotherapies that have potential to be translated into the clinic, and to reduce or eliminate graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) through modulation of antigen presenting cells. Ongoing laboratory work is combining NK cells with antibodies to stimulate NK cell proliferation and activation against several pediatric tumors in the alloBMT setting. He is also developing MRI techniques to monitor NK cells in vivo. Clinically, Dr. Capitini is a site investigator for clinical trials studying chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells for relapsed leukemia.