Update from Dr. Margolis

7.29.2026

Here is a bulleted update with all the great work thanks to the HOOT Fund…..and I do think the most important bullet is survival after a BMT now is more likely compared to when Sam had his transplant.  That is because of all the work we and others do, and in no small part due to the novel clinical trials that our Cellular Therapy Laboratory, supported by HOOT since it’s inception, has enabled us to do!

THANK YOU

Sam’s Doc/aka Dr. Dave/aka #16

• Supporting  innovative cellular therapy clinical trials, including virus-specific T-cell (CTL) therapies for patients with refractory or life-threatening viral infections following bone marrow transplantation. These studies provide access to cutting-edge treatments for patients with limited therapeutic options.

  
  

• Support Bone Marrow Transplant Fellowship training and research. Funding has supported BMT fellow Ryan Guerrettaz, whose research includes studies in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and a CIBMTR outcomes analysis comparing adolescent and young adult (AYA) transplant recipients treated at pediatric versus adult transplant centers. Dr. Guerrettaz has secured a faculty position in the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Indiana beginning in July 2027 as a BMT attending.

• Support clinical outcomes and registry-based research through the work of Julie Waldhart, RN, including CIBMTR data management, outcomes research, and investigator-initiated projects that contribute to improving transplant care and advancing the field.

• Future Directions: Purchase of the Next Generation Prodigy machine which will perform Bone Marrow Transplant in an automated fashion with Alpha Beta T cell depletion which we have been performing since 2017. This new technology will enable us to offer more patients cutting edge transplants with no immune suppression needed post transplant. This support will enable us to open a clinical trial using this technology.