Christian Capitini, MD, Principal Investigator, along with UW Co-Principal Investigator Krishanu Saha, PhD (Biomedical Engineering), were recently awarded a one-year $50,000 grant for their project, “Optimization of CD19 CAR NK cells for B cell leukemia,” submitted for the UW Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) Leukemia Research Funding Opportunity. This project will compare the ability of natural killer (NK) cells to mediate anti-leukemia effects using a CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) versus CAR T cells. The NK CAR cells will be developed using non-viral approaches, such as with CRISPR-Cas9. In addition, the team will develop an assay to assess the risk for neurotoxicity, a potential life threatening complication, from the NK CAR cells. Congratulations!