NEW YORK CITY — Patients, colleagues and peers gathered in midtown Manhattan last week to celebrate Carl June, MD, and Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, who shared the 13th annual Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine. The prize, which is made possible by the generosity of Feinstein Institutes board vice chairman Jack Ross and his wife, Robin, assistant vice president of principal gifts at the Northwell Foundation, recognizes biomedical scientists whose discoveries have transformed how medicine is practiced. Established in 2013, it is awarded annually through the Feinstein Institutes’ peer-reviewed, open-access journal Molecular Medicine. June and Sadelain are both well-known in immunotherapy circles but could not disguise their delight at being recognized for their pioneering work in developing CAR T-cell therapy for cancer treatment. June is an immunologist and cancer researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He serves as the director of both the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn. Sadelain, who holds dual French and Canadian citizenship, is a professor of medicine at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he directs the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy. With so many people wanting a chance to congratulate and interact with June and Sadelain—some even requesting autographs—it was hard to get more than a few minutes of their time to chat. June told me the award was a “huge honor” personally as well as a great way to recognize the efforts of those who have worked with…
