At age 11, Joy was diagnosed with AML, a serious form of leukemia. After failing treatment both in her home country in Asia and at a prestigious California medical center, her family searched the world for a cure. Following the recommendation of a leading Los Angeles hematologist, Joy found life-saving treatment with Prof. Shimon Slavin, the Medical and Scientific Director of CTCI.

Joy is the first case of successful allogeneic cell therapy using intentionally mismatched donor lymphocytes activated with short-acting interleukin-2 (IL-2), with no engraftment of donor stem cells.

Now, over 17 years later, Joy has completed medical school, is married, and has a child of her own.