Crystal Mackall is the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Stanford University, the Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Stanford, and Associate Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. During a career spanning more than three decades, she has led an internationally recognized translational research program focused on immune-oncology and engineered cell therapies, with a major focus on children’s cancers. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the AACR Academy and the Academy of Immunooncology. She has co-founded 4 biotech companies, published over 250 manuscripts and filed more than 35 patents.

Her team pioneered ground-breaking advancements in immunotherapy, showcasing the efficacy of CD19-Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells  in paediatric leukaemia (Lancet 2015). They further revolutionized treatment with the development of a CD22-CAR, heralded as the sole salvage therapy for CAR19 resistant B cell malignancies (Nat Med 2018, J Clin Onc 2020, and Blood 2021). Their innovative research also unveiled the promising preclinical efficacy of GD2 targeting CARs in paediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (Nat Med 2018),  and established the superiority of regional CNS delivery of CAR T cells for brain tumours (Nat Med 2020). Notably, their clinical trial (NCT04196413) demonstrated remarkable clinical activity of GD2-CAR T cells, marking a milestone in the treatment of this disease. Moreover, their work stands at the forefront of demonstrating the substantial efficacy of CAR T cells in solid cancers, representing a paradigm shift in cancer therapy, as reported in Nature (2022).

Due to the unique characteristics of children's immune systems and their tumours, which diverge significantly from those found in adults, Crystal will deliver the keynote talk on (CAR) T cell development with a specific focus on paediatric cancers. Her presentation promises to shed light on the latest advancements in this cutting-edge field, providing invaluable insights and inspiration to those committed to combating childhood cancer.