Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Laurence Cooper is Chief of Pediatric Cell Therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in Houston, Texas. In addition to caring for children and young adults undergoing bone marrow transplantation, he supervises a laboratory that develops and implements new immune-based therapies. One of his approaches is based upon adapting T-cells (immune cells) so that they can be rendered specific for CLL cells. In collaboration with his colleagues at MDACC and University of San Diego, he uses a combination of gene therapy and immunology to generate the CLL-specific T-cells in a fashion that are suitable for clinical trials.