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Q&A with Azlann Arnett:  Reprogramming CAR T Cells to Overcome Barriers in Treating Solid Tumor Cancers

April 1, 2025

PhRMA Foundation awardee Azlann Arnett, a PhD student at the Baylor College of Medicine, is working to make CAR T cell therapy effective for solid cancer tumors.

It’s not hard for Azlann Arnett to stay motivated through the ups and downs of scientific research when he works just a short walk away from the patients he is trying to help.

Arnett, a PhD student at the Baylor College of Medicine, often visits cancer patients undergoing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in the building next door to his lab, where he is working to make this treatment effective for solid cancer tumors. CAR T cell therapy works by allowing immune cells called T cells to recognize and kill cancerous cells. Unfortunately, solid tumor cancers cause the CAR T cells to eventually become dysfunctional and no longer able to effectively kill tumor cells.

Arnett received a 2025 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Discovery for his efforts to find genes that improve the function of T cells and determine how they do so. He aims to activate these genes to reprogram CAR T cells to effectively eliminate patients’ solid tumors.

Watch this video to learn more about Arnett and his research.

Learn more about the PhRMA Foundation’s fellowship and grant opportunities. Check out more researcher stories on our blog.