Research Matters - How cell & gene therapies can reach every community

October 6, 2026

Register for the Inclusive Research Symposium on October 19 at EQTY 2026

On October 19, the Inclusive Research Symposium will bring together leaders across biotechnology, life sciences, patient advocacy, clinical research, and health care to explore what it takes to move scientific breakthroughs into treatments that reach every community. The conversation continues on October 20 at the mainstage event, EQTY 2026: Forward by Design.

If you are a BMC Health System faculty, staff, or research team member, use code "BMCHS26" to register for a complimentary ticket.

Learn more and register here →

BMC and Boston University Researchers Develop Scalable Method to Generate Key Immune Cells for Cancer Therapy

Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at BMC and Boston University have developed a scalable method for generating CD4+ helper T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells, overcoming a longstanding challenge in the development of stem cell-based immunotherapies. The findings could help advance efforts to create off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapies that can be produced at scale and made more readily available to patients.

Learn more about the research on Drug Discovery News →

Researcher Spotlight

Name: Alysse Wurcel, MD
Department: Infectious Disease
Research Focus: I study not only how to improve care for people who use drugs, but also how to give them the best, most respectful care possible.
Why BMC: My heart was always at BMC and aligned with its mission, its approach to patient care, and the kind of doctor I want to be. When I walked into my BMC clinic and encountered patients with new HIV diagnoses and others with advanced AIDS, I saw infectious diseases in a way that fundamentally shifted my worldview. It made me realize how much there was to understand about caring for patients with complex infectious diseases, and inspired my research today.
Favorite Movie: Spaceballs

Find out more here →

Selected Research Publications

Amirault, J., Heinze, D., Yang, M., Kerr, C. M., Bawa, P. S., Polanco, L., Sgambettera, G. M., Wang, F., Belkina, A. C., Snyder-Cappione, J. E., & Mostoslavsky, G. (2026). Generation of effector CD4⁺ T cells from human iPSC. Stem Cell Reports.
Austad, K. E., Nguyen, N., Jadovich, E., Poznanski, B., Laguerre, M., Fernandez, A., Drainoni, M. L., Jack, B., Mitchell, S., Salloum, R. G., & Moore, G. (2026). Adapting a complex health intervention guided by the core functions and forms model: a methodology and case example of participatory adaptation. Frontiers in Health Services.
Hsu, H. E., Homer, C. J., Chomilo, N. T., & Perrin, J. M. (2026). Medicaid and the Financing of Pediatric Healthcare: Strengths and Opportunities. Academic Pediatrics.
Lykins, J., Pierre, C., Sperring, H., Johnson, S., Jamison-Harris, M., Yun, B., Arbelaez, C., Scrudder, K., Ruiz-Mercado, G., & Schechter-Perkins, E. M. (2026). Implementation and outcomes of routine HIV screening in the emergency department of an urban, tertiary care hospital. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Morone, N. E., Faurot, K. R., Weinberg, J., McTigue, K., Roth, I., Barnhill, J., Gardiner, P., Thomas, H. N., Lathren, C. R., Castro, M. G., Baez, J., Lawrence, S., Harr, E., Elhadidy, N., White, A. M., Nguyen, P. T., Dore, G., Rodriguez, R., Gaylord, S. A., & Greco, C. M. (2026). Mindfulness-Based Group Medical Visits for Persons With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine.
Schulson, L. B., Hatfield, L., Chen, A., Anderson, T. S., Souza, J., Ayanian, J. Z., & Landon, B. E. (2026). Health Care Utilization and Equity in Medicare Advantage Compared With Traditional Medicare. JAMA Network Open.
Solomon, M., Vaidya, A., Waikar, S. S., & Verma, A. (2026). Joint Impact of Aldosterone and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol on Cardiovascular Risk in CKD. American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
Walley, A. Y., Cheng, D. M., Vandergrift, N., Larochelle, M., Holloway, J., Brown, J. L., Chandler, R., Fanucchi, L. C., Feaster, D. J., Freeman, P. R., Hunt, T., Lofwall, M. R., Knudsen, H. K., Nunes, E. V., Oga, E., Oyler, D. R., Samet, J. H., Villani, J., Walsh, S. L., & Winhusen, T. J. (2026). The association between naloxone distribution, buprenorphine treatment and retention and incident high-risk opioid prescribing with opioid overdose death in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Ohio, United States: An exploratory community-level cohort study of data from the HEALing Communities Study. Addiction.
Wurcel, A., Crabtree, D., Asupoto, O., Eippert, M., Ngassa, Y., Tam, R., Kohut, I., Foong, K. S., Stone, V., Daudelin, D., Bartels, S., & Blumenthal, K. G. (2026). Strategies to Increase Equitable Access to Penicillin Allergy Delabeling Interactions: A Qualitative Study. JAMA Network Open.

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