The Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc. (CCF) is delighted to announce that Dalia Haydar, PharmD, PhD, will join the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) as a representative of Children’s National Hospital.
Following completion of her Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (2019–2022), Dr. Haydar joined Children’s National Hospital, where she now serves as research faculty in the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and serves as Program Director of the Cancer Biology Track within GWU’s Institute for Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Haydar leads a laboratory dedicated to advancing cellular immunotherapies for pediatric brain tumors, with a particular focus on engineering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and developing next-generation immune-based therapies. Her work spans both preclinical discovery and clinical translation, including the development and advancement of innovative cellular therapies into early-phase clinical trials for children with high-risk cancers.
Her research program is supported by competitive peer-reviewed funding and philanthropic investment, reflecting the urgent need and promise of immunotherapy approaches for pediatric brain tumors. In addition to her scientific leadership, Dr. Haydar is deeply committed to mentoring and training the next generation of scientists and physician-researchers dedicated to improving outcomes for children with cancer. Through her mentorship, she actively fosters multidisciplinary collaboration and supports emerging investigators in developing innovative strategies to combat pediatric malignancies.
