HealthTree Celebrates the Accomplishments of Carl June, Father of CAR-T

Carl June, the director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Baylor College of Medicine.

He has published more than 500 manuscripts and is the recipient of over 14 prestigious scientific achievement awards. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. 

In 2024, Dr. June will add the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences to his accomplishments for his tireless commitment to advancing T-cell immunotherapy research. 

June is internationally recognized for pioneering the CAR T-cell therapy, which led to the first FDA-approved personalized cellular therapy for children and young adults with the blood cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, in August of 2017. 

This has spurred five additional approvals of the technique in other blood cancers, including the May 2022, April 2022, and June 2022 FDA approvals for three CAR T-cell therapies for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 

Dr. Carl June joined the medical team at Penn in 1999, building momentum for Penn to become a global hub for cell and gene therapy.

Gene-modified T-cells engineered in June’s lab to retrain a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer were used in the first clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy in 2010.

Some of the earliest children and adults treated with this therapy have experienced long-lasting remissions of 10 years or more.

In addition to the FDA approvals that have made the therapy commercially available to patients globally, thousands more have benefited from clinical trials testing these transformative treatments, including for the treatment of solid tumors and even autoimmune diseases like lupus.

CAR T-cell therapy is changing the game in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and experts look forward to seeing this potentially life-saving therapy approved in a front-line setting. 

Read more about this exciting accomplishment of Dr. June here: Father of CAR T Wins 2024 Breakthrough Prize.