Shaji Kumar Hematology Research Award

Federico Mario Aletti, MD, is one of the 2026 recipients of the Shaji Kumar Hematology Research Award. Dr. Aletti received the fellow grant of $25,0000 for his project "Preclinical safety studies of anti-KIR3DL2 CAR T cells incorporating a novel antibody-drug conjugate-targetable safety switch" at Binaytara's National Summit on Hematologic Cancers.

CAR T-cell therapy, which reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer, has transformed care for some blood cancers but has lagged for T-cell lymphomas because the cancer cells closely resemble healthy immune cells. Dr. Aletti, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, is developing CAR T cells that target a marker found on many aggressive T-cell lymphomas but rarely on healthy cells, along with a built-in “off switch” that lets doctors quickly eliminate the engineered cells with an existing FDA-approved drug if serious side effects occur. The work moves the therapy toward clinical trials, and the off switch could make other cell therapies safer as well.

"I am honored to have received such a prestigious award, and above all to have presented our research to an audience of leading experts in the field," said Dr. Aletti. "I am confident that, with the support of Binaytara, we will soon be able to offer a novel, safe and effective treatment option, and new hope to patients with relapsed/refractory cutaneous and systemic T-cell lymphomas."

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