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On April 13, it was announced that Sean Parker, known for his involvement in starting Napster and Facebook, had donated $250 million to cancer immunotherapy research. With this donation, the Parker Foundation launched the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which combines the research efforts of several academic institutions across the country—including that of Penn Medicine / University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Carl June, whose T-cell therapy trial saved Emily's life.

We were honored to be invited by Parker to spend the week in Los Angeles, California and be present for the launch of this amazing new initiative. On the evening of April 13, we had the additional honor of attending the official launch gala for Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, hosted at Parker's home in Beverly Hills, California.

 

While there, we had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people, including actor Bradley Cooper. He spoke about Emily and shared her story with those in attendance before welcoming us and Dr. Carl June to the stage to speak. This was the first event at which Emily spoke and she did an amazing job saying a few words. Afterwards, she said she would like to start speaking more.

 

Emily was later invited back to the stage by Lady Gaga during her performance at the gala, which she was very excited about!

 

To learn more about the launch of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, check out the NBC Nightly News segment below, which mentions Emily as well.