Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center received the 2026 Innovator Award from the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) for developing a fully outpatient Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy program. Andrew Dalovisio, MD, director of the myeloma, lymphoma, and cellular therapy program along with Michele Nichols, senior director of quality services and compliance, collaborated with key partners, such as Baton Rouge General, and teams across the organization.
Presented during the ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference on October 22 in Boston, the award recognizes the Cancer Center’s approach to making highly specialized cellular therapy more accessible to patients in the region.
CAR-T is an advanced form of immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own genetically modified immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells. Traditionally delivered in hospital settings, the therapy can require extensive travel and lengthy stays away from home and family. Dalovisio helped Mary Bird Perkins become one of the first cancer centers in the region to offer CAR-T therapy in a fully outpatient setting, allowing eligible patients to receive treatment locally and closer to established supports systems.
Developing the program required adapting in-patient hospital-based treatment protocols to an outpatient environment without compromising patient safety or quality of care. Through extensive planning, multidisciplinary collaboration and staff development, Mary Bird Perkins established specialized patient monitoring procedures, partnerships with local healthcare organizations and comprehensive caregiver education to support patients through treatment and recovery.
Michele Nichols accepted the award on behalf of Dalovisio and the Cancer Center. Nichols also presented the program’s development and approach to outpatient care to oncology professionals attending the national conference.