The 2025 Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology was awarded to researchers for their role in developing CAR T-cell therapy to fight blood cancer

Four pioneering researchers were just awarded the 2025 Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology for their role in developing CAR T-cell therapy to fight blood cancer. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy works by reprogramming a patient’s own immune system to attack the cancer. This therapy is now helping patients fight blood cancers that were once considered incurable and is even being explored to treat other serious diseases. Michel Sadelain, M.D., Ph.D., Herbert & Florence Irving Professor of Medicine & Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy, joins Newell to talk about it.