Featured Expert:
Federico Caligaris-Cappio, MD
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
Dr. Federico Caligaris-Cappio reflects on his long-standing collaboration with Dr. Michael Keating and their shared passion for advancing CLL research. Dr. Caligaris-Cappio praises the CLL Global Research Foundation for fostering collaboration between seasoned experts and young investigators, fueling innovation in the field. Dr. Caligaris-Cappio also shares how the vision of the foundation has profoundly shaped the landscape of CLL, emphasizing scientific rigor, innovation, and the timely application to patient care.
Transcript
Dr. Caligaris-Cappio: My connection with the CLL Global [Research Foundation] is from the very beginning of the CLL Global for a number of reasons. The most important one was my connections with Dr. Keating.
We are very good friends. We worked together in the International Workshop on CLL. The IWCLL. And we have been together also in writing the guidelines for CLL. So, all these interactions led to my proximity to the CLL Global.
My relationship with Dr. Michael Keating dates back several years ago when we found ourselves at a meeting of the International Workshop of CLL (IWCLL). And we found that we were sharing the same passion for the disease.Or better, for the investigation of the disease. He was more clinically oriented. I was more lab oriented. But always with the idea that the data from the laboratory had to be moved to the clinics for the sake of patients. So, we were always sharing the same views, and that made it easy to interact.
It is vital to carry on funding research on CLL for a very simple reason, and the simple reason is that with research, we have learned how to improve the treatment and therefore the life of patients.
But in a sense, we have been trying or we have come to the situation of taming CLL. Not curing. With some exceptions. And some of those exceptions have been a merit of Dr. Keating, by the way. And so, we have to learn from the exceptions, but we have to realize that if we wish to have patients cured, we have to carry on with the investigation and science.
The value of the CLL Global [Research Foundation] is multiple. First, it intakes a number of people who are considered to be among the real experts. But at the same time, it intakes a number of young investigators who are the young. So, putting together let’s say the more seasoned people together with the younger people is what is vital for investigation in CLL. This is one point. The second point is that if you just have a look at the meeting and the people who are attending the meeting, most of them, and especially the young ones, are presenting data. Which has been supported by CLL Global [Research Foundation]. Implying that the enthusiasm of the young people, of the scientists is fueled by CLL Global.
Dr. Keating’s vision of CLL and CLL investigation has shaped the therapeutic and the investigation on the landscape of CLL for a number of reasons, which can be summarized in a sentence. When you apply to CLL Global and then you review the data, you have to answer some questions. And one of those questions is approach. And approach means is there strength and innovation of ideas? Is there a scientific rationale?
Is there a likelihood of near term advance or clinical applicability really in a timely manner? This last point is key. It’s a key point because for patients, time is the most precious thing. So, having pointing out the importance of obtaining data and applying data to patients in a timely manner is extremely important. That is one of the most important aspects that Dr. Keating’s vision has that influenced the landscape.
