UT MD Anderson establishes Center for Cellular Language Intelligence with $10 million gift from Peggy and Carl Sewell

Center will accelerate insights by integrating emerging technologies to understand cellular behaviors at unprecedented resolution

MD Anderson News Release April 28, 2026

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced a $10 million gift from Peggy and Carl Sewell to establish the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence, a groundbreaking new research center created to understand the behavior of cancer cells at an unprecedented resolution, enabling earlier cancer detection, smarter prevention and more precise, personalized treatments. 

Cancer behaves as a dynamic ecosystem where tumor, immune and support cells constantly interact to influence behavior. The “language” of cancer refers to how individual cancer cells and neighboring normal cells organize, communicate, function and adapt across space and time. Using advanced spatial technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and clinical insights, the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will decipher this language to accelerate the translation of discoveries into advances that will improve patient care.

“This gift reflects the Sewells’ continued and enduring commitment to supporting our mission to end cancer,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of UT MD Anderson. “The Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will empower our teams to decode the fundamental mechanisms that shape cancer behavior, positioning UT MD Anderson at the forefront of a new frontier in cancer research that will have a truly extraordinary impact on advancing next-generation therapies.” 

The Sewells’ gift provides critical support for strategic recruitment, infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary capabilities needed to launch the center and establish a path for long-term success. These resources will help build the center’s scientific and operational foundation by bringing together top minds and leading technologies to deliver clinical meaningful advances. 

This support brings further momentum to UT MD Anderson’s $2.5 billion comprehensive philanthropic campaign,  Only Possible Here, The Campaign to End Cancer, and to the institution’s strategic focus on Breakthroughs. This historic effort already has raised more than $2 billion, accelerating progress in groundbreaking innovations and transformative advancements that define UT MD Anderson.

“We are grateful for the Sewells’ longstanding support of research at UT MD Anderson,” said Albert Koong, M.D., Ph.D., interim chief scientific officer. “This gift will accelerate the translation of discoveries into clinical trials that have the potential to change the treatment paradigm for cancer therapy for the benefit of our patients.”

Center will accelerate discovery by decoding the language of cancer
For decades, scientists have studied the genetic and molecular features of tumors, offering important but limited insights. Advances in spatial biology, functional genomics, big data, and AI are making it possible to study cancer at the individual cell level to understand how they are organized within tissues, how they interact with neighboring cells, and how those interactions shape disease progression and treatment response.

The Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will build on these advances to unlock the complex communications that govern tumor ecosystems. Its research will reveal the principles of cellular organization within tissues and identify signaling “hubs” and biological programs that influence cancer initiation, progression, and response to therapy. The center will be led by Linghua Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine, associate member of the James P. Allison Institute™ and focus area co-lead with the Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO).

Wang will position the center as an institutional hub, collaborating closely with UT MD Anderson’s leading research institutes, focused research programs, translational initiatives and the clinical research enterprise to connect enterprise breakthroughs across disciplines. By linking discovery, causal validation, and clinical translation within a single integrated framework, the center aims to accelerate the pace of discovery and deliver new therapeutic targets, predictive biomarkers, and prevention strategies for patients.  

“We are deeply grateful for this gift, which will allow us to build a first-in-class center at UT MD Anderson and an integrated hub for AI-driven discovery and translation,” said Wang. “This is an extraordinary moment in cancer research, as advances in spatial biology, functional genomics, big data, and AI are giving us the ability to decode cellular language in ways that were not possible before. We can now harness these tools to identify key drivers, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets and translate high-dimensional discoveries into actionable biological and clinical insights that can make a real difference for our patients.” 

Wang is an internationally recognized leader in single-cell and spatial biology, computational oncology, tumor cell plasticity and the tumor microenvironment. Her laboratory has developed computational tools and AI-enabled analytical frameworks and generated major discoveries that have advanced understanding of tumor-immune interactions, therapy response and resistance, and biomarker development. The Wang Laboratory already has generated impactful findings that are helping to shape new strategies for precision cancer care and therapeutic translation. 

A visionary investment from dedicated stewards of cancer research
For more than four decades, Peggy and Carl Sewell have dedicated their time, talent and leadership to advancing UT MD Anderson’s mission. Based in Dallas, the civic-minded couple have an extensive history of supporting charitable causes across the state and nation, many involving higher education and health care. Carl is the longtime chair of Sewell Automotive Companies, where Peggy also serves in the roles of officer and board member. The organization is a national leader in the automotive industry.

Peggy joined UT MD Anderson’s Board of Visitors in 1983, for which she serves as a Life Member, a recognition bestowed upon her in 2024 for her years of service to the institution. The Sewells’ support is further evident in the establishment of the Sewell Family Distinguished University Chair in honor of the institution’s Chief Scientific Officer. Peggy’s extensive participation across various committees, as well as the couple’s shared role in shaping some of the institution’s most successful fundraising initiatives, further underscores the immense and lasting impact of their support. 

“We’re honored we could help establish this new center given the tremendous opportunities for discovery, innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration it will support,” Peggy said. “At the convergence of UT MD Anderson’s existing institutes and strategic initiatives, the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will accelerate advances in care and treatments, bringing us closer to a cure."

Peggy has been one of the key driving forces behind A Conversation With a Living Legend®, helping propel the signature series to more than $61 million raised since its launch in 1990. Together with Carl, she has worked to cultivate strong engagement for the annual Making Cancer History® seminar series and summer programs in Aspen, Colorado. Their generosity has strengthened UT MD Anderson across numerous fronts, supporting biomedical imaging, research innovation and essential capital projects.

“UT MD Anderson stands for excellence in every way, and what’s happening there is going to change the world,” Carl said. “We are pleased to support such an impactful institution and this exciting center in its efforts to innovate cancer research.”