Advancements in Health Care
Dr. Parameswaran Hari
Armand J. Quick/William F. Stapp Professor of Hematology; chief in the Division of Hematology and Oncology
Medical College of Wisconsin
Bret Carroll, a 52-year-old Wisconsin man diagnosed with lymphoma, a terminal illness, last year participated in a clinical trial for CAR T-cell therapy, the first clinical trial in the world of its kind.
Dr. Parameswaran Hari collaborated with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the Versiti BloodCenter of Wisconsin faculty and staff to complete the innovative immunotherapy treatment trial.
T-cells, white blood cells that are part of the immune system, develop from stem cells in the bone marrow. In October 2017, Hari and his team harvested Brett’s T-cells, then genetically modified them in a lab to target and fight his cancer. The entire process took about three weeks.
Brett’s immune system responded positively and 28 days after receiving the treatment, his cancer was in remission. This breakthrough treatment and Brett’s encouraging results pave the way for more effective and efficient treatment options for patients who have not had success with other therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation.
Thanks to Hari, the Froedtert & MCW Clinical Cancer Center is one of very few centers that offers this high-level personalized medicine expertise. A second patient has already begun the treatment process and a pediatric clinical trial for CAR T-cell therapy is also underway.
Hari is a researcher in hematology with numerous scientific publications, in addition to national and international lectures on various hematology and oncology topics. He is the scientific director of the plasma cell disorders working committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research.
