Patrick Hanley, PhD, receives inaugural international award from ISCT

Patrick Hanley, PhD, chief and director of the Cellular Therapy Program at Children’s National Hospital, was recognized with the inaugural 2026 Mid-Career Award from the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), one of the leading global organizations advancing cell and gene therapy research and clinical translation.

The award honors mid-career leaders who have made “significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of cell and gene therapy translation,” recognizing measurable impacts on science, innovation and patient outcomes. In its award letter, leaders praised Dr. Hanley’s “sustained scientific excellence, international standing and transformative leadership within the Society.”

Dr. Hanley was formally recognized during the organization’s 2026 annual meeting in Dublin, where leaders in cell and gene therapy from around the world gathered to discuss the latest advances shaping the future of medicine. Children’s National researchers made a strong showing throughout the meeting, with seven combined presentations, posters and panels, highlighting the institution’s growing leadership in advancing cell and gene therapy research.

Dr. Hanley’s work has helped advance the field through leadership in the discovery, optimization and manufacturing of novel cell and gene therapies for clinical application. The award citation highlighted his oversight of more than 650 cellular therapy products and his leadership of centralized manufacturing efforts supporting multicenter trials led by the Children’s Oncology Group and the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network.

At Children’s National, Dr. Hanley leads research focused on developing advanced cellular immunotherapies for children with cancer and other serious diseases. His work centers on engineering immune cells that can better recognize and fight disease while improving the safety, scalability and accessibility of these therapies for pediatric patients.

His research program has helped drive progress in areas including CAR T-cell therapy, virus-specific T-cell therapies and other next-generation cellular immunotherapy approaches. Dr. Hanley and his collaborators are working to accelerate the translation of promising discoveries into clinical trials designed specifically for children.

The organization also recognized Dr. Hanley’s longstanding leadership and service within the field, including roles as Cytotherapy commissioning editor, North America regional vice president, co-chair of the Workforce Development Committee, co-chair of the Immuno-Gene Therapy Committee and co-founder of the Early-Stage Professionals Committee.

Among the additional Children’s National researchers recognized at the meeting was Kajal Chaudhry, PhD, who received a Technologist Award for research focused on next-generation cellular immunotherapy approaches for pediatric solid tumors. Her award-winning abstract, Multimodal CAR-TA T Cell Therapy Combining B7H3 and PRAME Targeting With TNG–TGFBTII Armoring Elicits Enhanced Anti-tumor Potency in Solid Tumor Models, explored strategies to enhance the effectiveness of engineered immune cells against difficult-to-treat cancers.

Children’s National also earned the conference’s Best Poster Award, presented to Conrad Russell Y. Cruz, MD, PhD, recognizing additional research excellence from the institution.

Together, the honors underscore Children’s National Hospital’s continued investment in translating cutting-edge discoveries into new therapies for children and reflect growing international recognition of its leadership across discovery science, translational research and clinical innovation in cell and gene therapy.