Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory

Our Vision

The CSTL’s vision is a world where all patients with Castleman disease, COVID-19, and other cytokine storm disorders live full lives in quality and quantity thanks to effective treatments and biomarkers.

Our Mission

The CSTL’s mission is to conduct groundbreaking translational research on Castleman disease, COVID-19, and other cytokine storms to discover novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutics, identify optimal treatment approaches, and provide world-class patient care.

The CSTL pursues its mission through basic & translational research, clinical research (ACCELERATE Natural History Registry; CORONA: COvid19 Registry of Off-Label & New Agents), clinical trials (NCT03933904), and multi-disciplinary patient care.

 

The CSTL is a Program of Excellence of the Penn Orphan Disease Center. 

Latest News

  • Discovery and validation of a novel subgroup and therapeutic target in idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease Tuesday, September 21, 2021

    CSTL study identifies blood proteins that indicate which patients with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease are most likely to benefit from siltuximab, uncovers JAK inhibitors as alternative.  

    Check out the PennMedicine Press Release!

  • CSTL Awarded $1 Million to Expand COVID-19 Treatment Discovery Platform Wednesday, March 31, 2021

    Dr. Fajgenbaum was awarded $1 million by the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) to expand the scope of the COvid19 Registry of Off-label & New Agents (CORONA) project and build out his team to accelerate treatment identification for COVID-19.

    Check out the PennMedicine Press Release!

  • New Article Published in New England Journal of Medicine Thursday, December 3, 2020

    CSTL Director, Dr. David Fajgenbaum, has written a paper on Cytokine Storms with Dr. Carl June that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on December 3, 2020! A “cytokine storm” is an immune response that spirals out of control and is characterized by uncontrolled release of proinflammatory cytokines. In this paper, Drs. Fajgenbaum and June developed the first unifying definition of a cytokine storm and highlighted the most up-to-date research into treatment approaches for diseases such as Castleman disease and COVID-19.

    To read more information about this paper on the CSTL website, please click here. 

     

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