News — Kevin McNerney, MD, at Lurie Children’s was recently named a K12 Scholar in the Multidisciplinary Mentored Career Development Program that is part of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute. Through his award, he will launch a clinical trial that aims to improve the safety of CAR T-cell therapy in children with B-ALL. While CAR T-cells have emerged as a highly effective immunotherapy for B-cell leukemias and lymphomas, inflammatory toxicities like cytokine release syndrome (CRS) develop in most CAR T-cell recipients and are often severe. When severe, CRS is associated with an increased risk of neurotoxicity, infection, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), and the need for prolonged inpatient recovery. Furthermore, severe CRS is life threatening, and, when complicated by HLH, has been independently linked to inferior CAR T-cell outcomes.
A clinical trial of preventative use of an IL-1 receptor antagonist called anakinra following CAR T-cell treatment in adults with lymphoma resulted in low rates of inflammatory toxicities without impairing CAR T cell efficacy. Dr. McNerney’s two-year study will investigate the efficacy and safety of anakinra for prevention of severe CRS in children with B-ALL undergoing CAR T-cell therapy. If successful, this strategy could improve the safety of CAR T-cells overall, and potentially allow for increasing the dose or expanding use of CAR T-cells in children who were previously ineligible.
Lurie Children’s is proud to announce the appointment of new leadership across key programs and sections within the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
Angela Waanders, MD, MPH, MS, has been appointed Section Head of Neuro-Oncology after having served in the interim role since April 2021. With this appointment, she has also been named the Gus Foundation Chair in Neuro-Oncology. Dr. Waanders also leads the Precision Medicine in Oncology Program, which houses an important biorepository of biological samples facilitating genetic research across childhood cancers and blood disorders. She is a nationally recognized leader in consortia such as CONNECT, the Children’s Brain Tumor Network and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium. She is also an active clinical investigator with interests focused on novel therapeutics, post-mortem tissue banking, application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to tumor detection.
Sara Zarneger-Lumley, MD, has been appointed Medical Director of the Hematological Malignancy Program (Leukemia/Lymphoma). Dr. Zarneger-Lumley was recruited in late 2023. She completed her residency at Lurie Children’s, followed by fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is nationally recognized for her rising leadership within the Children’s Oncology Group with expertise and research interests focused on developing and leading clinical trials for novel therapeutics in refractory/relapsed myeloid malignancies. She has additional expertise and interests in bone marrow failure syndromes that predispose to myeloid malignancy, as well as onco-fertility preservation as part of cancer treatment.
Rukhmi Bhat, MD, has been appointed Interim Section Head of Hematology. Dr. Bhat has been a longstanding member of the Hematology Section since completing her fellowship at Lurie Children’s in 2009. She also serves as Director of the Thrombosis Program and Co-Chair of the Safe Anticoagulation Committee at Lurie Children’s. Dr. Bhat is nationally recognized for her expertise and scholarly activity in the areas of neonatal thrombosis, risk stratification and the role of direct oral anticoagulants in children. She has been a site Principal Investigator for several NIH and industry-sponsored clinical trials and studies focused on pediatric thrombosis and novel anticoagulation agents. She was also recently appointed to the American Society of Hematology Guidelines Panel on pediatric venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation.
Amy Walz, MD, has been appointed Interim Section Head of Oncology. She completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in 2015 and a fellowship in Developmental Therapeutics in 2016 at Lurie Children's. She joined Lurie Children’s as faculty with a specialization in solid tumors in July 2016. She is nationally recognized for her clinical expertise and research focused on the study of pediatric high-risk renal tumors and their underlying genetic drivers. As a member of the Children's Oncology Group's Renal Tumor Committee and the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Consortium Disease Committee, she participates in the development of new therapeutic clinical trials, including early phase clinical trials, for renal tumor patients. She serves as the Developmental Therapeutics co-lead for the Renal Tumor Committee and will be leading a Children's Oncology Group-wide clinical trial for the treatment of pediatric patients with newly diagnosed rhabdoid tumor.
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