{"id":132601,"date":"2026-06-04T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=132601"},"modified":"2026-06-03T08:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:10:59","slug":"what-if-that-could-be-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/06\/04\/what-if-that-could-be-me\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What if that could be me?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p><em>In its <a href=\"https:\/\/stories.nufoundation.org\/what-if-that-could-be-me\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/stories.nufoundation.org\/what-if-that-could-be-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"May Pride of Place publication, opens in a new window\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">May Pride of Place publication<\/a>, the University of Nebraska Foundation featured a pioneering MS clinical trial that has given Beth Smith new hope. Donor support is helping turn groundbreaking CAR T-cell innovation into life changing reality.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beth Smith has been living with multiple sclerosis for 25 years, and she always believed there had to be a better option for people diagnosed with this chronic disease. Smith remembers reading about people across the world participating in new, innovative treatments for MS and thinking to herself, &#8220;What if that could be me?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Late last year, that possibility became reality when Smith became the third person in the world to participate in a first-of-its-kind clinical trial for a new MS therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Innovation that changes lives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Led by Lakshman Narain Arcot Jayagopal, MBBS, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, the trial is supported by the Gene and Cellular Support Service led by Matthew Lunning, DO. Dr. Lunning, medical director of the Gene and Cellular Therapy Program and UNMC\u2019s assistant vice chancellor of clinical research, specializes in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR T-cell therapy. What makes this treatment remarkable is that it trains a person\u2019s body to fight its own disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UNMC and Nebraska Medicine have used CAR T-cell therapy since the 2010s to treat patients with lymphoma and leukemia. Buoyed by that success, researchers began exploring new possibilities. UNMC was among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/08\/06\/nebraska-medicine-patient-is-first-to-receive-new-ms-therapy\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"first institutions in the world, opens in a new window\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first institutions in the world<\/a>\u00a0to use CAR T-cell therapy in patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The clinical trial Smith participated in used allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy, in which T cells from a healthy donor are genetically modified to target and destroy the harmful immune cells that drive autoimmune disease.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Beth Smith talks with Matthew Lunning, DO, medical director of the Gene and Cellular Therapy Program at UNMC.\" class=\"wp-image-132604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PrideOfPlace2052726.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matthew Lunning, DO, talks with Beth Smith at the Chihuly Sanctuary in the Fred &amp; Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Since receiving the infusion of T cells, Smith has experienced changes that are \u201ccompletely noticeable.\u201d She can tap her toes on both feet \u2014 something she couldn\u2019t do before. She remembers demonstrating the change for Dr. Lunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was sitting in my wheelchair, and Dr. Lunning came in and hopped up on the exam table. I tapped my toes, and he said, \u2018Beth, can I record your toe tapping?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Absolutely.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt showed that he cares,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe wants what I want. He\u2019s all in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Shortening the distance from question to answer<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Lunning is passionate about \u201cbreaking down barriers\u201d so that researchers and clinicians can quickly bring their innovations to patients like Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs the medical director of the UNMC Clinical Research Center, I want to make research easy for people on our campus,\u201d Dr. Lunning said. \u201cI want to shorten the distance between question and answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philanthropy has been key in helping Dr. Lunning achieve that goal. Dr. Lunning was recently named the inaugural holder of the James O. Armitage, MD, Chair in Hematological Malignancies at UNMC, which was created through the generosity of donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHolding this chair is a great honor, and the support it provides is crucial for advancing gene and cellular therapy at UNMC and recruiting the next generation of world-class researchers and clinicians,\u201d Dr. Lunning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Smith, the impact is deeply personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo have this opportunity to support research and make a difference for everyone in the MS community has been life changing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt continues to be one of the greatest experiences of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aidan\u2019s enduring legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AidanONeil012926.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-129380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AidanONeil012926.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AidanONeil012926-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AidanONeil012926-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>After losing their daughter Aidan to Burkitt Lymphoma at age 9, Rob and Sara O\u2019Neil of Papillion established the Aidan O\u2019Neil Foundation for the Prevention of Childhood Cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Central to its mission was understanding the risk factors that contribute to causing the disease. Now, after 33 years, the O\u2019Neils have chosen to sunset the foundation and transfer its $4.2 million in assets to the University of Nebraska Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The O\u2019Neils\u2019 gift will create two endowed chairs at the NCI-designated Fred &amp; Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and establish the Aidan O\u2019Neil Gene and Cellular Therapy Research Fund. Matthew Lunning, DO, assistant vice chancellor of clinical research at UNMC, said this gift will support advancements in CAR T-cell therapy by expanding infrastructure and research capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis investment puts us in a position to discover new pathways to progress,\u201d Dr. Lunning said, \u201cby allowing us to be nimble as we look toward the future of gene and cellular therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside UNMC\u2019s groundbreaking clinical trials and the philanthropy helping to change lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":132603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"64100,49794,34396,40104,34633,105552","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3606],"class_list":["post-132601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cancer-center-research","topic-patient-care","topic-research","department-fred-pamela-buffett-cancer-center","department-internal-medicine","department-neurological-sciences","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-maddie-pospisil-university-of-nebraska-foundation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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