Updates

Areas of Research Center for Advanced Innate Cell Therapy

The Center for Advanced Innate Cell Therapy (AICT) is a component of the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center. The AICT was established in 2021 with the overarching goal of developing safe and effective therapies for childhood cancer using natural and engineered properties of the immune system.

Center for Advanced Innate Cell Therapy (Cells)

Vα24-invariant Natural Killer T cells engineered to express Chimeric Antigen Receptor against the GD2 ganglioside effectively localize to the tumor site and kill tumor cells in a humanized mouse model of neuroblastoma.

Within the AICT, multidisciplinary teams of basic, translational, and clinical investigators work collaboratively toward this goal.

Ongoing research projects include:

  • identification of new molecular targets for cancer therapy in tumor and tumor-supportive cells,
  • studying unconventional immune effector cells that target malignant cells, and
  • employing state-of-the-art technologies to engineer therapeutic cells that selectively destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissues.  

Director

Leonid S. Metelitsa, MD, PhD
Dr. Leonid Metelitsa’s research focuses on understanding the role of Vα24-invariant natural killer T (NKT) cells in tumor immunity and

Leonid S. Metelitsa, MD, PhD

 translating this knowledge into NKT cell-based cancer immunotherapies. His group was the first to demonstrate that NKT cells localize to primary tumors in human patients and that presence of these cells at the tumor site is associated with favorable outcomes in the clinic (Metelitsa et al., JEM, 2004).

Explore Our Areas of Research in Cancer and Blood Disorders

Bone Marrow Failure Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Bone Tumors Brain Tumors Cancer Genetics and Genomics Cancer Survivorship Cell and Gene Therapy Developmental Therapeutics Epidemiology (Cancer and Hematology) Ewing Sarcoma Hemostasis and Thrombosis Histiocytosis Immune Hematology Immunotherapy Leukemia Liver Tumors Lymphoma Menorrhagia and Young Women's Bleeding Disorders Neuroblastoma Precision Oncology Rare Tumors Retinoblastoma Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia Soft Tissue Sarcoma Solid Tumors Thyroid Tumors
Bone Marrow Failure Bone Tumors Cancer Genetics and Genomics Cell and Gene Therapy Epidemiology (Cancer and Hematology) Hemostasis and Thrombosis Immune Hematology Leukemia Lymphoma Neuroblastoma Rare Tumors Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia Solid Tumors Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Brain Tumors Cancer Survivorship Developmental Therapeutics Ewing Sarcoma Histiocytosis Immunotherapy Liver Tumors Menorrhagia and Young Women's Bleeding Disorders Precision Oncology Retinoblastoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma Thyroid Tumors
Bone Marrow Failure Cancer Genetics and Genomics Epidemiology (Cancer and Hematology) Immune Hematology Lymphoma Rare Tumors Solid Tumors Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Cancer Survivorship Ewing Sarcoma Immunotherapy Menorrhagia and Young Women's Bleeding Disorders Retinoblastoma Thyroid Tumors Bone Tumors Cell and Gene Therapy Hemostasis and Thrombosis Leukemia Neuroblastoma Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia Brain Tumors Developmental Therapeutics Histiocytosis Liver Tumors Precision Oncology Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Ranked #6 in Cancer

Proud to be ranked one of the best children’s cancer centers in the country by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years.

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