Today’s traditional research model relies on incremental innovation that builds upon the shoulders of other researchers’ work, making small but steady strides. Occasionally, leaps are made by researchers who develop new classes of therapy such as stem cell transplant or CAR-T immunotherapy. But cancer patients may not have the luxury to wait 20 years for the traditional scientific process to evolve for their cancer. They can’t wait for a cure.
By the end of 2022, Toni Monteiro had no fight left in her. She had been battling a rare blood cancer for three years. Her husband had just died. She was at risk of being evicted from her Washington, DC, apartment. Also, her heart was failing. “You’re really under stress,” Monteiro recalls her physician saying. ...
