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Explore lectures, presentations, and highlights from CICET, including Professor Michel Sadelain’s award-winning work in cell therapy.
2025 Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology
Dr. Michel Sadelain, along with Isabelle Rivière, Carl June, and Bruce Levine, has been jointly awarded the 2025 Richard N. Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology for pioneering the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. This breakthrough in personalized cancer immunotherapy reprograms a patient’s own immune system to target cancer, resulting in several FDA-approved treatments that have been given to more than 45,000 patients, including many who had exhausted all other options and thousands who achieved durable remissions.
Watch the Ceremony Read Article
2025 Broermann Medical Innovation Award
Dr. Michel Sadelain has been named a 2025 Broermann Medical Innovation Award laureate, alongside Dr. Carl June, for their pioneering development of CAR-T cell immunotherapy. Their groundbreaking research has demonstrated how science can transform patient care and shape the future of medicine. This honor recognizes Dr. Sadelain’s leadership in translating fundamental discoveries in cellular engineering into therapies that are redefining modern medicine.
2025 King Faisal Prize in Medicine
Professor Michel Sadelain was awarded the prize for his pioneering work in the field of cellular therapy and, in particular, for the genetic engineering of immune cells with “chimeric antigen receptors” (CAR-T). Dr. Sadelain led the team that expertly designed and tested clinically effective and novel CAR-T agents for the treatment of blood cancers. His group identified CD19 as an effective CAR target and included a CD28 domain in the CAR construct, resulting in strikingly effective clinical responses. Dr. Sadelain continues to improve CAR-T cell efficacy by devising strategies to overcome treatment resistance. This approach now also shows promise in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and solid tumors. His work is a shining example of the translation of basic science into transformative therapies.
2024 Breakthrough Prize (Life Sciences)
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Dr. Michel Sadelain received the 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for the development of chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy, whereby the patient’s T cells are modified to target and kill cancer cells. For the development of chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy, whereby the patient’s T cells are modified to target and kill cancer cells.
2024 Living Drugs Documentary
Dr. Michel Sadelain, Physician-Scientist and Genetic Engineer, conceived a treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer, which, for the first time, produced remissions in adults with acute leukemia.
It is revolutionary. It is the first genetically engineered cell to be approved by the US FDA as a medicine. It is a living drug, a cell of the immune system that is genetically modified to attack cancer cells. It is presently approved for some blood cancers. While the price of this treatment is set by pharmaceutical corporations and the US government and covered by insurance, scientists like Dr. Sadelain are conducting research to make these therapies more broadly accessible and more affordable.