Marco Davila, Senior Vice President, Translational Research at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, shared on LinkedIn:

“Sixteen years ago, i gave my first American Society of Hematology oral presentation focused on a preclinical model of CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

We were working on a fundamental question: how could we make genetically engineered T cells work against leukemia? Looking ahead to ASH 2026, it’s remarkable how far the field has come. That early question has grown into a much broader conversation involving scientists, clinicians, pharmacists, nurses, and industry:

How do we make responses more durable and overcome resistance?
How do we reduce toxicity and better identify patients at risk?
How do we bring these therapies to more patients and make delivery more practical and affordable?

At the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center I’m grateful to help pursue these questions alongside colleagues whose work connects laboratory discovery, clinical investigation, and patient care. Supporting trainees and junior faculty as they help shape the next chapter is an especially meaningful part of that work.I’m excited to be a coauthor on several abstracts accepted for ASH this year.

I’ll share the details on our studies in a follow-up on November 4, when the abstracts become public. If this is how much the conversation has changed in 16 years, I can only imagine what will be the discussion at ASH 16 years from now.”

Title: T Cells Genetically Targeted to CD19 Eradicate B-ALL In a Novel Syngeneic Mouse Disease Model