Leading CAR T-Cell Therapy Expertise Supports Lurie Children’s New Advanced Leukemia Program

The cutting-edge CAR T-Cell Therapy Program at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is integral to the hospital’s newly established Cal’s Angels Advanced Leukemia Clinical and Research Program, which provides comprehensive care to pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients with high-risk subsets of leukemia, supported by basic and clinical research to advance care.

Access to Early Phase CAR T-Cell Clinical Trials

Currently, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy is FDA approved to treat children and adolescents with B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) that is resistant to chemotherapy or that has relapsed multiple times. In efforts to expand this indication, Lurie Children’s soon will join a Phase 1b/2 multinational clinical trial that offers a CAR T-cell option for pediatric patients with a high-risk first relapse of B-ALL. This trial, sponsored by Autolus, also will recruit patients with multiply relapsed or refractory B-ALL, and patients with relapsed/refractory B-non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“We’re excited to launch this trial in Chicago, which enables us to provide earlier treatment to youth with relapsed B-ALL,” said Kevin McNerney, MD, who heads the CAR T-Cell Therapy Program and is the Principal Investigator at Lurie Children’s. “Our program was an early adopter of CAR T-cell therapy, and we have developed considerable expertise with this innovative approach. We now perform the most CAR T-cell infusions for children and young adults in Illinois.

National Leadership in CAR T-Cell Research

Dr. McNerney is a national leader in CAR T-cell therapy research, with a focus on this treatment’s toxicities and their management. He is Director of Clinical Research of the Pediatric Real World CAR Consortium, a national organization launched in 2019 to understand the true functionality and limitations of standard-of-care CAR T-cells. Jenna Rossoff, MD, Program Director of the Advanced Leukemia Program at Lurie Children’s also is on the consortium’s Steering Committee.

Last year, Lurie Children’s proudly hosted the 2025 INSPIRED Symposium, which attracted 350 physicians in the pediatric CAR T-cell therapy field. Experts from 16 countries and 84 pediatric institutions met to strengthen collaboration and improve future outcomes for patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy. Dr. McNerney was instrumental in organizing the symposium and was one of over 40 speakers. (View videos of symposium presentations.) He will be the Co-Chair of the next INSPIRED Symposium.

Dr. McNerney’s recent publications include a study on characterization and prediction of hematotoxicity in pediatric patients receiving tisagenlecuecel, published in Blood Advances. Another paper, published in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, presents results of a survey of pediatric CAR T-cell providers on management practices of CAR T-cell-related inflammatory toxicities.

Dr. McNerney’s research is supported through Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) K12 award and Hyundai Hope on Wheels Young Investigator Award.

New CAR T-Cell Clinic

Patients undergoing CAR T-cell treatment receive comprehensive monitoring in a dedicated clinic that opened in 2025 at Lurie Children’s. The new CAR T-cell clinic meets monthly.

“Monitoring in our CAR T-cell clinic is linked to structured plans for relapse prevention,” explained Dr. McNerney. “We monitor B-cell aplasia and intervene if we see that the CAR T-cell infusion is no longer working. We also perform highly sensitive tests that use leukemia genetics to detect disease recurrence. We have implemented consistent practices in the clinic to optimize outcomes following CAR T-cell therapies.”

Referrals and Consultations

The Advanced Leukemia Program accepts referrals and provides consultations. A multidisciplinary team of experts from the CAR T-Cell Therapy Program, Hematological Malignancy Program, Stem Cell Transplantation and Hematopathology collaborates to review patient records and provide evidence-based recommendations to patients, their families, and their provider teams. The Advanced Leukemia Program team offers consultative recommendations in-person or via telemedicine for residents of Illinois.

Contact the team at 312.227.7842 or Advanced_Leukemia_Program@luriechildrens.org with any questions. The CAR T-Cell Therapy Program can be reached at 1.800.543.7362.