Congratulations to Zach Reitman, MD, PhD, who was awarded a 2025 Young Investigator Summit Shark Tank grant from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF, funded by Northwestern Mutual) for his project, titled "Protecting CAR T Cells from Radiation." Dr. Reitman was chosen as one of six finalists to pitch his concept to a panel of expert "Sharks" at the 2025 Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Young Investigator Summit on November 6 in Philadelphia, and was selected as one of the two final prize winners.
Dr. Reitman's project seeks to improve outcomes for patients with high-risk medulloblastoma by enabling CAR T-cell therapy to work more effectively alongside radiation therapy. Although radiation can strengthen CAR T-cell activity, it also inadvertently kills T cells because they are highly radiosensitive. The proposed solution is to engineer CAR T cells with genes that confer radiation resistance, including genes from naturally ultra-radioresistant organisms such as tardigrades. Success would establish a new strategy for radioprotected CAR T-cell therapy, with potential applications beyond medulloblastoma to other solid tumors. This Shark Tank award will extend Dr. Reitman's $800,000 ALSF A Award in a bold new direction.