Carl June

Carl June is a highly respected immunologist, researcher, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is known as a pioneer in the field of CAR T-cell therapy, a revolutionary cancer treatment. This therapy, developed by Carl and his team, uses a patient’s own immune cells, called T cells, to fight cancer. The T cells are taken from the patient, genetically altered in a lab to better identify and destroy cancer cells, and then returned to the patient’s body. This groundbreaking method has been especially effective for certain types of blood cancers, including leukemia. Carl’s work led to the first-ever FDA approval of a personalized cellular therapy for cancer in the U.S. In addition to his research, Carl is the Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He has published over 500 scientific papers and has received numerous awards for his contributions, including being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018 and the prestigious 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.