The J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine
2025 Taylor Prize laureate: Dr. Carl June
Dr. Carl June is internationally recognized for pioneering CAR T-cell therapy, a revolutionary treatment that reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to target and destroy cancer. Once considered an improbable idea, this breakthrough has transformed oncology and saved countless lives worldwide.
A professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, June’s research led to the first pediatric success story in 2012, when a young patient with aggressive leukemia achieved lasting remission through CAR T-cell therapy. Known as “living drugs,” these engineered cells continue to protect patients for years after treatment.
Today, CAR T-cell therapy is approved for multiple blood cancers, and June is advancing its potential for solid tumours and autoimmune diseases. His groundbreaking work has inspired scientists across the globe and offers new hope for patients facing life-threatening disease.
laureates
2025 | Dr. Carl June
Dr. Carl June is internationally recognized for pioneering CAR T-cell therapy, a revolutionary treatment that reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to target and destroy cancer. Once considered an improbable idea, this breakthrough has transformed oncology. CAR T-cell therapy is approved for multiple blood cancers, and Dr. June is advancing its potential for solid tumours and autoimmune diseases, offering new hope for patients facing life-threatening disease.
2024 | Fred “Rusty” Gage
In 1998, Fred "Rusty" Gage discovered the human brain’s ability to generate new neurons throughout life. The discovery, called neurogenesis, offers hope that the human brain's regenerative power can be the key to reversing or healing the damage caused by age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
J. Allyn Taylor
J. Allyn Taylor
About the
Taylor Prize
The Taylor Prize is one of Canada’s most prestigious medical research prizes. The international prize, which includes a cash award of $50,000, is given annually by the Robarts Research Institute at Western University for achievements in basic or clinical research in a particular field.
