October 20, 2025
Joseph McGuirk, DO, division director of hematologic malignancies and cellular therapeutics and recipient of the prestigious Schutte-Speas Professorship in Hematology-Oncology at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, was awarded Kansas City University’s (KCU’s) Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award. Each year, the KCU Alumni Awards recognize exceptional individuals whose achievements embody their mission and values.
A nationally recognized leader in hematologic malignancies and a visionary in the field of cellular therapeutics, Dr. McGuirk’s career spans more than 3 decades. During this time, he built one of the country’s premier blood cancer treatment programs and helped establish The University of Kansas Cancer Center as a global leader in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy.
Over his career, Dr. McGuirk has led more than 2 dozen clinical trials focused on expanding cellular therapy’s potential across many cancer types. He serves as the principal investigator of numerous clinical trials in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapeutics and currently oversees many cellular therapy clinical trials, including 3 investigator-initiated trials for which his team holds an FDA investigational new drug (IND) application.
Dr. McGuirk has co-authored many practice-changing publications in top-tier journals, such as 4 manuscripts in the New England Journal of Medicine, others in Nature Medicine, Lancet, Blood and Journal of Oncology and more. Several of these studies have led to the first FDA approvals of CAR T therapies. Additionally, he chaired the national CAR T initiative through the Association of American Cancer Institutes, helping to shape practice and policy nationwide.
Through his leadership, scientific contributions and commitment to his patients, Dr. McGuirk has helped redefine the landscape of cancer treatment.