5th Annual Transform Your Life & Health Luncheon
Wed, Sep 30
|River Oaks Country Club
Event Chairs: Cathy Trask & Mollie Wallace Guest Speaker: May Daher, MD
Time & Location:
Sep 30, 2026, 12:00 PM
River Oaks Country Club, Houston, TX
Event Details:
The 5th annual Transform Your Life & Health Luncheon, chaired by Cathy Trask and Mollie Wallace, will take place on Wednesday, September 30 at River Oaks Country Club. The guest speaker will be Dr. May Daher, Associate Professor of the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Daher will share her groundbreaking work in cellular therapy — exploring how the body's own immune cells can be engineered into powerful, targeted treatments for even the most difficult-to-treat cancers. We hope you will join us for what promises to be an inspiring and eye-opening afternoon. You do not want to miss this opportunity to hear from one of cancer research's most innovative minds!
Our Speaker:
Dr. May Daher is a physician-scientist at the rank of Associate Professor, serving as the Associate Director of Translational Research in the Cell Therapy Institute for Discovery and Innovation and the Associate Director of the Cell Engineering group in the Department of Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her laboratory research is dedicated to developing novel cellular engineering strategies aimed at enhancing the potency of cellular therapy products, particularly natural killer (NK) cells, while reducing toxicity, overcoming the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and circumventing tumor-driven immune evasion mechanisms.
Her research program centers on the immunometabolism of NK cells within the tumor microenvironment, with a particular focus on reprogramming NK cell metabolism to improve cytotoxicity under metabolically hostile conditions. The overarching goal of her work is to design safe, effective, and off-the-shelf cellular therapy products that improve outcomes for patients with cancer.
Dr. Daher has successfully developed multiple cellular therapy products currently advancing to clinical translation through MD Anderson’s GMP facility. Clinically, she specializes in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy for the treatment of patients with various malignancies. She is deeply committed to translating innovative cellular therapy platforms from bench to bedside, with a particular focus on treating difficult-to-treat cancers.