Burbank, CA 91505-4542
(818) 637-2000
Regal Medical Group (RMG)
With a network spanning more than 5,000 square miles and thousands of health care providers, Regal Medical Group is part of one of Southern California's largest managed health networks. That size works to your advantage, allowing us to be there to coordinate all of your health care, when and where you need us. In spite of our size, we remain rooted in close community and operate upon the simple, traditional principles of knowing our customer, and providing respectful, personal, quality care.
At Regal, we know that navigating the healthcare system can be complicated for patients and for physicians. We also believe that during a visit to your doctor, the focus should be on health and wellness. You should be discussing things like prevention, diagnosis, treatment and healing, not coverage, networks, claims, regulations and billing. That's where an IPA, like Regal Medical Group, is able to serve both patients and physicians, by managing the business of managed care so that you don't have to.
Regal Medical Group works together with your healthcare plan and your PCP to keep things running smoothly. We collaborate with our physicians to provide quality care, while focusing on minimizing your out of pocket expenses. One way that we keep your overall health care costs low is by emphasizing preventative care in order to keep you healthy.
« BackSierra Medical Group (SMG)
Sierra Medical Group represents the future of medicine. Throughout our twenty five year history serving Antelope Valley, we have diligently invested our time and resources in the development of programs and services responsive to the healthcare needs of today's patient, while adapting to the increasingly diverse needs of tomorrow's health care agenda.
At SMG your health is our priority. An excellent team of specialty physicians who are either board certified or board eligible supports our primary care physicians providing you with a comprehensive healthcare network that is fully committed to your individual needs.
At SMG, we work hard to ensure that our patients receive quality medical care. This is why you will find easy access to your doctor, minimal waiting time for referrals, and staff members that genuinely care for your well-being.
« BackDesert Oasis Health Care (DOHC)
DOHC is a team of highly skilled primary care physicians and ancillary providers, servicing the community with all their health care needs from newborn to senior care. We have convenient locations throughout the Coachella Valley, Morongo Basin and Yucca Valley areas.
DOHC’s services include access to 6 Immediate and Urgent Care Centers - Bermuda Dunes, Indio, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Yucca Valley. Our programs include Living and Aging Well, Home Health Services and Medication Management Services which are committed to improving your health proactively.
We are affiliated with every hospital in the Coachella Valley, which includes Eisenhower Memorial Hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center, John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and Hi-Desert Medical Center.
« BackBakersfield Family Medical Center (BFMC)
Bakersfield Family Medical Center provides excellence in health care to our patients in professional settings that promote wellness and preventive medicine in Kern County. Throughout the twenty year history of our medical group, we have diligently invested our resources in the development of programs and services responsive to the healthcare needs of today’s patient while adapting to the increasingly diverse needs of tomorrow’s healthcare agenda.
Our facilities offer superior patient convenience by providing Urgent Care, Pharmacy, Lab, Radiology, Pediatrics and a variety of specialty services at one convenient site. In addition, the Heritage Physician Network is a group of physicians located throughout Kern County who have joined together to form an Independent Physicians Association (IPA). These IPA physicians remain affiliated with BFMC although they maintain their own individual offices. Members who choose physicians in Heritage Physician Network will see their selected doctors in their conveniently located private offices. All members of Heritage Physician Network can access the full range of services, programs and specialists offered by BFMC.
« BackCoastal Communities Physician Network (CCPN)
CCPN is an Independent Practice Association (IPA) formed in 2006, consisting of a network of contracted physicians located throughout the San Luis Obispo and Tulare counties. These IPA physicians are affiliated with BFMC/CCPN for the coordination of care rendered to members who have selected CCPN as their primary medical group. Members who choose physicians of CCPN will see their doctors in their conveniently located private offices and also have access to a whole network of out-of-area specialists. All members of CCPN can access a full range of services, programs and specialists through these contracted providers.
« BackHigh Desert Medical Group (HDMG)
HDMG has a long-standing promise to provide residents of the Antelope Valley with the highest quality health care possible. Living up to our promise is an on-going commitment, which necessitates our growth as a multi-specialty medical group providing a wide range of health care services for our patients. For more than 25 years, we've been fortunate to have an impressive team of health care professionals, administrators, support personnel and dedicated volunteers who work in unison to help us deliver on our promise.
Together, we partner with local hospitals, medical experts and business leaders, and we actively support numerous organizations, educational, cultural and recreational events. Our team of healthcare professionals is available and ready to help you with all of your medical needs. We accept over 85 different health plans, including HMO, PPO, POS, EPO, Private and Medicare plans. Our Lancaster facility offers the convenience of having your Primary Care Physician, Lab, X-Ray, Urgent Care, Pharmacy, a Health Education Department, Infusion Center, and a multitude of subspecialties all under the same roof. In addition, our Urgent Care is now open daily 6am - 8pm.
« BackHeritage Victor Valley Medical Group (HVVMG)
Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group has exceeded our members’ expectations since its inception in 2003 through personalized care by a staff of skilled professionals, a speedy referral system, and a panel of specialists to serve all your medical needs.
We believe the most important aspect of healthcare is tending to the personal needs of our patients. Our facilities are equipped with some of the finest diagnostic equipment and technicians available. We have the resources and commitment to always bring the best to meet the new challenges and ever-changing health care needs of the Victor Valley region.
« BackLakeside Medical Group (LMG)
Lakeside Medical Group is a comprehensive healthcare provider with a network of physicians and services throughout the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa Clarita Valleys, as well as parts of Ventura and San Bernardino Counties. We aim to deliver quality, affordable healthcare to the communities we serve.
We bring more than 20 years of innovation in healthcare delivery and management systems to our integrated network of services, which include hundreds of primary care physicians and over a thousand specialists; ancillary services, such as an outpatient surgery center, urgent care centers and physical therapy; and affiliations with premier hospitals, labs and other support services.
Our commitment to complete patient care includes developing new and better ways of delivering healthcare. From our approach to prevention and disease management to our hospitalist program and more, your care is coordinated so that you have the best possible outcomes.
« BackADOC Medical Group (ADOC)
ADOC Medical Group (ADOC) is an independent practice association, a medical group of over 275 private physicians and 600 specialty physicians who are dedicated to providing affordable, quality healthcare for individuals of all ages. We are affiliated with most major health plans, including many HMOs.
With offices throughout the greater Orange County area, chances are board-certified primary care physician and board certified specialists you need are in your own neighborhood.
Our goal is to help you make better care decisions for yourself and your family.
« BackCarl June, Bruce Levine, Isabelle Rivière, and Michel Sadelain receive the 2025 Merkin Prize at the Broad Institute for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy
The 2025 Richard N. Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology was jointly awarded to Carl June, Bruce Levine, Isabelle Rivière, and Michel Sadelain in a ceremony and symposium at the Broad Institute on September 30, 2025. The prize, created by the Merkin Family Foundation and administered by the Broad, recognizes novel biomedical technologies that have significantly improved human health and carries a $400,000 award. [Event Video]
2025 Merkin Prize Laureates Bruce Levine, Isabelle Rivière, and Michel Sadelain with Dr. Richard N. Merkin. Credit: Erik Jacobs, Anthem Multimedia.
June, Levine, Rivière, and Sadelain were announced as winners in May for pioneering CAR T-cell therapy, a technology that has reshaped how physicians treat leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma — and is now showing promise in treating autoimmune and infectious diseases [Bios of June, Levine, Rivière, and Sadelain]. Early stage clinical trials for CAR T-cell therapy are also underway for breast, pancreatic, prostate, and other cancers that claim millions of lives every year.
In CAR T-cell therapy for cancer, a patient's own immune cells are engineered into precise tumor killers, becoming what has been called “the first living drug.” They are removed from the patient’s body, reprogrammed to attack tumor cells, and infused back in. They then can turn into an army of hundreds of millions of cells in the patient that continue to multiply and guard against cancer after eliminating the last tumor cell. More than 45,000 cancer patients worldwide have been treated with CAR T-cell therapy, extending their lives and, in many cases, delivering complete and sustained remissions.
In remarks at the symposium, Richard N. Merkin praised the prizewinners for their persistence and tenacity: “They looked for the possible in the impossible. They pushed through their comfort zones, they made things happen. They challenged themselves, sometimes boldly, to depart from current processes. They challenged conventional wisdom; daring the world to abandon the known for an uncertain tomorrow is a bold and provocative act. Breakthroughs require pattern breaking, but being extraordinarily different is the key to any breakthrough.”
Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, the Lewis Thomas University Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and chair of the Merkin Prize selection committee, noted that the Merkin Prize’s emphasis on impactful technologies is “not characteristic of prizes in general. Most prizes are given for discoveries — finding something new — as opposed to inventing a process that becomes useful. Our charge has been to identify someone or some group of people who have put together a technological triumph that has had beneficial effects on large numbers of people.”
Todd Golub, director and founding core institute member of the Broad Institute and a physician-scientist who pioneered the application of genomics to cancer biology, offered his perspective on CAR T-cell therapy: “You have to understand how contrarian this idea was. It was not at all obvious that you could tweak the immune system to do anything useful against cancer. When I did my clinical training, the conventional wisdom was that there was no role of the immune system in combating cancers.”
Tom Furdon, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2019 but now fully recovered, shared his journey as one of the first patients to receive CAR T-cell therapy. “In no time, I was feeling much better and on my way to recovery,” he said. “The speed of these [CAR T-] cells is amazing. Within a week, I was finally on my way home after almost two months in the hospital.”
Both Furdon and his wife, Cheryl, thanked the awardees and the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital — including Matthew Frigault, who oversaw Furdon’s CAR T-cell therapy and was in attendance. “I wouldn't have a husband if it wasn't for all of you,” Cheryl Furdon said. “Six years ago, that would've meant me coming home and telling my eleven-year-old and my nine-year-old that their father would not be home. That's torturous. And it's a lot to have to live with. Six years later, here we are.”
Marcela Maus, professor at Harvard Medical School and director of cellular immunotherapy at Mass General Brigham, explained how CAR T-cell therapy works, and expressed her appreciation for the many years of collaborative research that brought CAR T-cell therapy from labs to the clinic.
The four prizewinners each gave short presentations outlining their roles in pioneering CAR T-cell therapy. Sadelain talked about the early stages of the development of CAR molecules and the selection of the protein CD19 as a therapeutic target in CAR T-cell therapy. Levine detailed the process of turning CAR T-cell therapy from a technology developed in academic labs into a therapy suitable for clinical trials. Rivière described the manufacturing process of CAR T-cells, including steps for quality assurance and regulatory compliance. June added his remarks via a recorded video message: “The prize isn't just for us four individuals. It's a testament to the collective and often arduous scientific journey and the power of our long-term collaboration.”
Following the prizewinner presentations, Varmus moderated a panel discussion with Levine, Maus, Rivière, and Sadelain on the present and future of CAR T-cell therapy.
Merkin's partnership with the Broad includes the Merkin Institute Fellows, established in 2012 as the Broad’s first endowed fellowship; the Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, launched in 2017 to support paradigm-shifting projects from researchers at the Broad, Harvard, MIT, and the Harvard-affiliated hospitals; the Richard Merkin Professorship (also established in 2017), an endowed professorship held by David Liu, who leads the Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare; and a generous new commitment in 2021 that advanced the aforementioned programs and launched the Merkin Prize. It was also in 2021 that, in recognition of Merkin's partnership, the Broad named its building at 415 Main Street the Richard N. Merkin Building.
Nominations for the 2026 Merkin Prize are now open and will close on December 5, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. For further information on how to nominate for the 2026 Merkin Prize, please visit the prize website. Eligibility extends to all investigators who have developed relevant health innovations, regardless of their place of employment, including academia, the commercial sector, or government. Both teams and individuals who have made a profound impact on medicine by pioneering a transformative technology are eligible.
About the Merkin Family Foundation
The Merkin Family Foundation was founded by visionary health care executive Richard Merkin, M.D., who is the founder and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN). HPN is one of the largest physician-founded and physician-owned managed care organizations in the country dedicated to value-based healthcare delivery improvements. HPN develops and manages coordinated, patient-doctor centric, integrated health care systems that offer strong solutions for the future of health, care, and cost in the U.S. HPN and its affiliates operate in New York, California, and Arizona, providing high-quality, cost-effective healthcare with over one million patient members. HPN is dedicated to quality, affordable health care, and putting patients’ wellness first.
About the Broad Institute
Broad Institute is an independent, non-profit research organization whose mission is to understand the roots of disease and close the gap between new biological insights and impact for patients.
Founded in 2004 by the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, the Broad Institute exists at the intersection of scientific disciplines, convening scientists and experts from genomics, cell biology, chemistry, engineering, neuroscience, therapeutics, artificial intelligence/machine learning, computational biology, and public health. The Broad Institute engages thousands of scientists from MIT, Harvard, Harvard's primary teaching hospitals, other academic institutions, and leading corporate partners in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, all sharing the goal of translating research findings into safe and effective therapies for all common and rare diseases.