Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), who together pioneered the research and development of the world’s first personalized cellular therapy for cancer — also known as CAR T cell therapy — have announced plans with Costa Rica’s CCSS, or the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (Social Security Program), to facilitate CAR T research in Costa Rica. The effort is a step toward global equity in clinical research opportunities involving the use of CAR T cell therapies, which represent a leading-edge approach to cancer care not widely available across the world.

Today Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced that it has received a significant gift from Susan and Steve Kelly, local philanthropists and long-time supporters of CHOP, to establish the Susan S. and Stephen P. Kelly Center for Cancer Immunotherapy. The new Center, led by Dr. Stephan Grupp, will allow CHOP to create a more robust infrastructure to expand pediatric clinical trials and accelerate the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of novel treatments; increase the pipeline of innovative therapeutics and diagnostics; recruit and train top investigators and postdoctoral researchers to become the next generation of cancer immunotherapy experts; and increase equity and access to cell therapy clinical trials for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients.