At CureFest 2026 earlier this month, I spoke with a family who’d recently lost their child to an aggressive brain tumor, and as we stood talking they shared that a close family friend had just been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Hearing their story was moving, especially given my own family history with cancer, and a stark reminder of the relentless reach of this disease and the collective work ahead of us. It was exactly why I traveled to Washington, D.C. alongside Laguna CMO Kevin Heller, MD, and Sr. Clinical Director Anna Butturini, MD. We wanted to be there in person because, while our days are spent in the lab and meeting room developing our science, therapies, and studies, connecting directly with the community grounds us in exactly why we do this work.

It’s incredibly important to include patients and families in everything we do because it aligns directly with our mission and values of being curious about others and showing up for each other. We can’t build effective treatments in a vacuum, we have to integrate their perspectives into our strategy and decision-making. A few of the ways we’re doing this:

• Designing our studies with their input: Data alone doesn't reveal the daily realities of a cancer journey. By listening to families, we learn how to limit the burden on patients - like how to schedule follow-ups to minimize travel time or how long a child can reasonably sit for an infusion - allowing us to design studies uniquely suited to pediatric populations.

• Designing age-appropriate educational and consent materials: We want families to understand their options without feeling overwhelmed by dense medical jargon. We take care to create accessible, thoughtful materials that clearly explain to young patients and their parents exactly how our therapies and studies work. See below for an example.

• Attending and participating in these events: Being physically present in the community fosters a mutual exchange of knowledge. We are able to learn directly from their lived experiences while also sharing our own progress, giving families a window into emerging research and new modalities.

I want to sincerely thank the CureFest organizers and every family who generously shared their time and stories with us. For those unable to attend, I invite you to explore the educational materials we shared over the weekend to learn more about our science and our open clinical study in pediatric leukemia post-transplant. Finally, the fight against pediatric cancer requires a collective effort. I strongly encourage you to support this community by donating to, or volunteering with, the incredible pediatric cancer advocacy organizations working tirelessly to fund research and support these families.