OneOncology Appoints Michael Byrne, DO, as Medical Director for Cellular Therapy

Michael Byrne, DO, has been named medical director for cellular therapy for OneOncology, a physician-led national platform serving 29 practices throughout the United States. OneOncology announced Byrne’s appointment on July 7, 2025.

Michael Byrne, DO | Image: OneOncology

Byrne, a malignant hematologist at Tennessee Oncology, led the successful launch of Tennessee Oncology’s cellular therapy program that has expanded access for patients with cancer in Tennessee to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Tennessee Oncology is one of the first practices to deliver CAR-T cell therapy in the community setting. With the easing of FDA reporting requirements on these treatments, the opportunity exists for many more patients to receive CAR T-cell therapy close to home.

Before joining Tennessee Oncology 2 years ago, Byrne spent 7 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Marrow Transplant. He is also currently the medical director of hematologic malignancies at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown.

Byrne completed a fellowship at the University of Florida, a blood and marrow transplantation fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, and his residency at the Cleveland Clinic, the statement said.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr Byrne to OneOncology and look forward to his stewardship and support to enable our practice partners to develop cellular therapy programs across the nation,” said Davey Daniel, MD, chief medical officer for OneOncology. “Establishing cellular therapy programs in private practice centers requires significant expertise, coordination, and collaboration with hospital partners. Dr Byrne’s leadership establishing Tennessee Oncology’s CAR T program and his tenure at Vanderbilt make him the ideal person to scale cellular therapy programs at independent oncology practices nationwide.”

To this point, CAR T-cell therapies in the US have largely been available through academic medical centers, making it difficult for patients in rural areas to gain access to this advanced technology. Byrne’s mission at OneOncology is to find ways to help practices gain the expertise and resources to make these cutting-edge therapies available to patients regardless of where they live. This requires hospital collaboration for necessary inpatient monitoring and management of certain adverse events, but OneOncology foresees much of the process of cellular therapy delivery being carried out in local clinics. This would include patient evaluations, conditioning chemotherapy, infusion, and postinfusion outpatient monitoring.

Bringing cutting-edge therapies closer to where patients live promises to shave time off the period from diagnosis to treatment, which can make a difference in clinical outcomes.

“For too long, advanced cellular therapies like CAR T have been out of reach for many patients simply because of where they live,” Byrne said. “We have a tremendous opportunity to democratize this care by empowering local oncology practices to deliver these life-changing treatments. It’s about building a new, collaborative model that brings care closer to home, reducing the logistical burden on patients and their families. By leveraging the incredible expertise within our community practices, we can make this sophisticated care more convenient and accessible while maintaining the quality [of] care delivery that our patients deserve.”

Reference

Hoffman E. OneOncology appoints Dr Michael Byrne as medical director for cellular therapy. OneOncology. July 7, 2025. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.oneoncology.com/blog/oneoncology-appoints-dr-michael-byrne-as-medical-director-for-cellular-therapy/