ATLANTA (Oct. 30, 2025) – Thanks to a significant grant from the late Bernie Marcus and The Marcus Foundation, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta announced the opening of the Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy. Through cutting-edge clinical trials, the center will facilitate the manufacturing and delivery of cellular and gene therapies, which are some of the most novel treatments available to patients with diseases resistant to standard care protocols. Children’s anticipates the lab will significantly shorten wait times for cellular and gene therapy by allowing patients to receive the therapies in-house at Arthur M. Blank Hospital, and that it will help expedite Children’s-led research examining new uses for cellular and gene therapy.

“We want to express our sincere gratitude to the late Bernie Marcus and The Marcus Foundation for the Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy,” said Doug Graham, MD, PhD, Chief of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. “We also want to thank The Marcus Foundation on behalf of our patients who will benefit from this center, as well as our researchers who will now be able to develop ideas and deliver them directly to our patients. The center is the one of the only labs for pediatrics in the country offering a full range of cellular therapy treatments for a broad spectrum of diseases – not just cancer.”

“The lab will manufacture and deliver cellular therapies directly to patients,” said Muna Qayed, MD, Medical Director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy. “This will provide children with quicker access to therapies that may be otherwise unavailable to them, bringing potentially life-saving options directly within reach.”

Cellular and gene therapy uses cells, derived from a patient or healthy donor, to treat various diseases and conditions. It works in a variety of ways, such as regenerative medicine where cells are used to help repair diseased or damaged tissues; another method involves retraining the cells to help fight disease. In gene therapy, clinicians use gene editing to correct genetic defects to help treat a patient’s disease.

Children’s currently is planning or conducting cellular and gene therapy clinical trials in efforts to address a variety of diseases, including dilated cardiomyopathy, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, neuroblastoma, osteogenesis imperfecta, high-risk leukemia and lymphoma, neuroblastoma and sickle cell disease.

In fact, the center recently treated its first patient, Gabrielle, during a cell therapy transfusion of newborn donor stem cells to try to combat dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes enlarged and stretched, or dilated, causing the heart to become weak and pump inefficiently. Gabrielle is part of a safety trial, also funded by The Marcus Foundation, to establish the correct dosage of cells. Children’s will enroll 24 patients total for the study.

In addition to the numerous benefits to patients, the Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy will allow Children’s investigators to pursue their own cellular and gene therapy research without having to take manufacturing off-site, allowing them to bring the treatments to the bedside more quickly.

“Because we now have this facility in our hospital, it can enable discoveries made by Children’s investigators,” said Trent Spencer, PhD, Research Director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy. “Our own researchers will be able to advance and deliver their cutting-edge solutions directly to our patients. And in some cases, it might be the only place in the country where these therapies are offered.”

Dr. Graham added that the next phase for the center is to determine how to partner with other centers across the country to be able to deliver the treatment options not only in Atlanta, but through a variety of sites around the nation: “We're really excited about the care for the patients we serve here in Atlanta, but also the potential to deliver these treatments across the country.”

The Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy is registered for accreditation with the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and will receive this designation after one year of operations. The center meets the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations for human pharmaceuticals established by the FDA, which ensure proper design, monitoring and control of manufacturing processes and facilities. It includes four ISO 7 manufacturing clean rooms, a GMP analytical laboratory for quality control testing, a cryogenic storage facility, quarantined good storage area, sample processing area and a released goods storage area, as well as closed bioreactor systems. It also includes flexible configurations to support client requirements, high-volume manufacturing and dual production lines for early and late-stage clinical trials. More information about the cellular and gene therapy studies Children’s is participating in is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov.